Spain: Studies in Culture and Society (360-0-1)

Topic

Immigration, Literature, and Identity in Contempor

Instructors

Jeffrey Coleman

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 3-410: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

Immigration, Literature, and Identity in Contemporary Spain

This course examines the rich and growing body of literature produced by and about immigrants in Spain from the late twentieth century to the present. As Spain has transformed from a nation of emigrants into one of Europe's primary destinations for migrants, its literary landscape has shifted dramatically, giving rise to new voices, genres, and aesthetic strategies that challenge traditional notions of Spanish national identity, belonging, and cultural memory.

Students will engage with novels, short stories, poetry, testimonial narratives, and hybrid texts written by authors of African, Latin American, and Asian descent, alongside works by Spanish-born writers who engage critically with migration as a social and political phenomenon. The course explores how these texts negotiate questions of language, displacement, assimilation, racism, labor exploitation, and legal precarity; and how they intervene in broader debates about what it means to be Spanish in an increasingly globalized world. Prerequisite: 1 course from SPANISH 250-0, SPANISH 251-0, SPANISH 260-0, or SPANISH 261-0.

Registration Requirements

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

Learning Objectives

• Read, analyze, and discuss literary texts in Spanish with attention to narrative voice, style, genre, and rhetorical strategies
• Produce well-argued academic essays and presentations in Spanish that engage with primary texts and secondary critical sources
• Trace the historical arc of Spain's transformation from a country of emigration to one of immigration, and situate literary texts within that broader sociohistorical context
• Identify the major communities of immigrants represented in contemporary Spanish literature and understand the distinct political, economic, and cultural circumstances that shaped their migrations
• Analyze how immigration literature intersects with Spain's postcolonial relationships with Latin America, Africa, and the Arab world
• Apply key concepts from postcolonial theory, diaspora studies, and critical race theory to the interpretation of literary texts
• Reflect on their own positionality as readers engaging with testimonial and marginalized narratives
• Engage respectfully and critically with perspectives shaped by experiences of racism, poverty, legal exclusion, and cultural dislocation

Class Materials (Required)

Course pack available in the bookstore.

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