Critical Thought in Latin Amer (349-0-1)
Instructors
Jorge F Coronado
847/491-8277
3-135 Crowe
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-440: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
This course has two goals. First, it seeks to familiarize students with Latin American intellectual traditions in the modern period. In order to do so, it surveys a representative selection of pivotal figures in three different, and crucial, historical moments: the post-revolutionary 19th century and its responses both to Independence and an emerging neocolonial order; the frenetic 1920s and 30s and the articulations of a properly Latin American identity and culture; and the late 20th century, which has witnessed an attempt to reckon with the failure of the revolutionary projects of the mid- century. Second, within and across these historical constellations, the course will analyze prominent conceptual paradigms that have defined intellectual discourse in the region, such as anti-colonialism, utopia, mestizaje, hybridity, and heterogeneity, focusing particularly on their evolution and metamorphoses. As we consider the advent and waning of elite, lettered production's influence and power to shape national and regional conceptualizations, we will pay special attention to how universality, particularity, alterity and coloniality inflect the region's intellectual production. Readings will be derived from a list of primary texts with secondary supplements from scholarly sources. Prerequisite: SPANISH 250-0, SPANISH 251-0, SPANISH 260-0, or SPANISH 261-0.
Registration Requirements
Prerequisite: SPANISH 250-0, SPANISH 251-0, SPANISH 260-0, or SPANISH 261-0.
Learning Objectives
Course learning outcomes:
- Observe the forms, genres, and styles of critical expression in Latin America from the 19th through 20th centuries through practices of close reading and analysis.
- Gain awareness of the social, political, cultural, and historical factors influencing critical expression, the relations between the critic and the public, and the potential of analytical writing to challenge or to affirm social and cultural norms. This will include discussions of regionalism and nationalism in Latin America, the emergence of discourses on colonialism and independence, and more broadly the consideration of writing and intellectuals in the continent's society and history.
- Appreciate how criticism reveals the differences and diversity, as well as the continuity and unity, of human and non-human cultures. Key topics in this category will include coloniality, inequality, imperialism, utopia, dystopia, and the invention of regional and national literatures, cultures and identity.
- Through class participation and writing assignments, produce acts of persuasive interpretation, analysis, and commentary on critical and theoretical texts.
- By emulating the subtleties of criticism, students develop their Spanish writing skills and sharpen their powers of interpretation, critique, and analysis. This will involve summarizing, close reading, contextualizing, and synthesizing analyses of course texts in short writing assignments and a final portfolio.
Class Materials (Required)
All course materials will be available on Canvas.
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression
Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Ethics & Values Distro Area
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Registration for Majors and Minors in either Spanish or Portuguese until the end of preregistration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisite.
Students must have completed SPANISH 250-0, 251-0, 260-0 or 261-0 to register for this class.