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Modern Fiction in Spain: Studies in Genre (335-0-1)

Instructors

Francisco Miguel Caballero Vazquez

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-430: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

Studies in Genre: Fanzines

We will study how the DIY culture can be applied to literature, visual arts, and the publishing industry by exploring a genre that has been often marginalized: fanzines. Fanzines are non-professional, low-resources publications about a specific topic, movement, aesthetic, or group. Specifically, we will study fanzines produced by the counter-culture, punk, queer and feminist groups in Spain since the end of the fascist dictatorship to the present (1975-today). We will study their relationship to mainstream literature through the reading of a contemporary classic novel that includes, and reflects on, fanzines, Cristina Morales's Lectura fácil (2018). Topics addressed in the novel and the fanzines include disability, feminism, dance, mental health, and politics. Students will read this contemporary classic, will study diverse fanzines, and, in groups, will design, print, and distribute their own fanzines as final project. This class may include interviews with creators of fanzines and local visits in the Evanston/Chicago area. Prequisite: 1 course out of SPANISH 250-0, 251-0, 260-0, or 261-0.

Registration Requirements

Prequisite: 1 course out of SPANISH 250-0, 251-0, 260-0, or 261-0.

Learning Objectives

- Reflect on literary and visual art genres and publishing typologies from the DIY perspective of amateur publications.
- Reflect on the construction of cultural canons and counter-canons by focusing on a marginalized publishing genre.
- Practice their creative skills by conceptualizing, designinf, writing and publishig their own fanzine.
- Practice group work skills by collaborating in the design of the fanzine.
- Get familiar with a canonic contemporary novel in Spain that explores the world of counter-canonic literature
- Explore relevant topics, including disability, feminism, dance, mental health and politics, through literature
- Improve their writing skills in Spanish
- Improve their reading skills in Spanish.
- Improve their spoken Spanish.

Class Materials (Required)

Cristina Morales. Lectura fácil. Barcelona: Anagrama, ISBN: 2018 9788433998644

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Prerequisite: 1 course from SPANISH 250-0, SPANISH 251-0, SPANISH 260-0, or SPANISH 261-0