Skip to main content

Topics in Latin American, Latina and Latino, and/or Iberian Cultures (395-0-1)

Topic

Beyond Political Order: Literature and Revolution

Instructors

Johan R Gotera Osorio

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-331: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

Beyond political order. Latin American Literature and Revolution

This course explores how some Latin American writers and artists discussed ways of inhabiting social space during times of political intensity. Their proposals will be examined as tools to reflect on and confront the limits of historical demands, and to highlight a different desire for the political canon. The course's premise suggests that historical contexts are insufficient to explain the behavior of works of art, which can construct a different kind of experience within the prevalent politics climate. Topics such as community (and discomfort within the community), the construction of the national subject, and the politicization of existence will be addressed. The course will explore the debate on literature and revolution during the second half of 20th-century Latin America. The analysis will focus on Cuba, particularly after 1959, the year of the Cuban Revolution's triumph, as an epicenter that spread revolutionary ideas which ignited movements throughout Latin America. Special attention will be given to the process of politicization of life during the height of the revolution and the development of revolutionary order. Literary texts (as well as films and performances) will be examined to explore the impact of the revolution on these works and how writers and artists responded to the new political landscape. We will explore how literary texts sustain, challenge, or even ignore the reinvention of life and social relations typical of these times, and how politics, in turn, challenge literature. Prerequisite: SPANISH 250-0, 251-0, 260-0, or 261-0.

Registration Requirements

Prerequisite: SPANISH 250-0, 251-0, 260-0, or 261-0.

Learning Objectives

Students will learn more about the ways artists and writers experienced and represented the times of political upheaval and how they responded to the politization of society during the revolutionary period in Latin America (20th and 21st centuries).

Class Materials (Required)

All course materials will be provided on Canvas.

Class Notes

No recording.

Class Attributes

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