This course provides an overview of some of the major trends in Latin American literatures since 1888, modernismo, the historical avant-garde, the "Boom," and end of the 20th century. The readings, class discussions and assignments will offer many opportunities to improve students’ oral and written Spanish. The course will emphasize various literary styles and ideological constructions that, in different ways, reflect the complexity of Latin American writing.
Aventuras con Libros
Erick Mota’s Habana Undergüater and Cuba’s Collective Trauma of 1990 Socialism’s Collapse
The enthralling Mota's plots and characters reflect the ongoing negotiation of Cuban national identity at the dawn of the twenty-first century to a world that feels like a post-apocalyptic future. This integration of Afro-Cuban mythology also challenges traditional Western narratives: He never justifies the choice and instead presents a universe where diverse ontologies and knowledge systems coexist. It is a liberating and subversive political project, but still full of conflicts.
When your body stops being evidence of your humanity
Today I will discuss four stories written by people who don't remember much about the world before the fall of the Berlin Wall where the body is an ethical and technological focus: "Chunga Maya" by Alejandro Martín Rojas (1984), "Dulce" by Iris Rosales Valdés (1984), "Mulas" (Mules) by Dennis Mourdoch Morán (1985), and "Ojos de cocodrilo" (Cocodrile Eyes) by Malena Salazar Maciá (1988).
Seven Hundred Eighteen Words Apropos of “Anxiety Loops”
In “Blacceleration Then and Now," Professor Tavia Nyong'o proposes exploring "Black fabulation as a mode of dwelling within disaster," since we already are in the apocalypse. From the get-go, it is not complicated to deduce that for him, bad readings of science fiction equal disaster. As a prime subject for state-sponsored techno-vigilance (victim) and language teacher (victimizer), I concur.
Cuando tu cuerpo deja de ser evidencia de tu humanidad
Les presento cuatro relatos escritos por personas que no recuerdan mucho del mundo antes de la caída del Muro de Berlín, recogidos en la antología Prietopunk. Antología de afrofuturismo caribeño (2022). En “Chunga Maya” de Alejandro Martín Rojas, “Dulce” de Iris Rosales Valdés, “Mulas” de Dennis Mourdoch, y “Ojos de cocodrilo” de Malena Salazar Maciá, el cuerpo es foco ético y tecnológico.
#Porfavorleapoesía
Kykubi dice: Cuando comencé a compartir poemas en Facebook usando el hashtag #Porfavorleapoesía (obra del poeta y promotor cultural mexicano, Miguel Asa) yo estaba segura de que sería un intercambio equivalente. Me iba a costar caro en tiempo y disciplina, y a la vez iba a ganar mucho, porque no son solo los poemas, el verso, sino…
Bitácora de viaje 