HISP 206 - Reading and Writing about Hispanic Culture

Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)

Reading, writing and speaking skills are developed through study of cultural and literary texts and audiovisual materials. Ms. Woods, Ms. Guzman (a), Mr. Vivalda (b).

Topic for 2014/15a: Migraciones y encuentros forzados o soñados. This course introduces Spanish and Latin American history and culture while it develops reading, writing and speaking skills in Spanish. Through the study of cultural and literary texts (plays, short stories, poetry and essays) and audiovisual material (fiction, documentary and experimental films, music, painting, comics and digital arts) we cover a series of twentieth-century historical events that inspired the intellectual and artistic production of both Spanish and Latin American artists, writers and filmmakers. Ms. Woods.

Topic for 2014/15a: Indigenous Currents of Thought in Latin America: Subversive Influences and Connections. In this course, we will focus on indigenous epistemologies in Latin America. We will study non-Western conceptions of reality and history in different indigenous texts and performances. In order to do so, we will examine how contemporary indigenous thinking is related to the colonial system that began in the sixteenth century and remains today. Reviewing historical details about constitutive moments in Latin America, including the development of the first indigenous government in the region (Bolivia), will permit us to understand the political significance of our texts. Material for this class will include texts from the colonial period to the present, along with mythic narratives, poetry, songs, performances and films. At the same time, we will review important grammatical structures for improving writing and speaking in Spanish. Improvement of Spanish language skills will be one of the main goals of this class. Ms. Guzman.

Topic for 2014/15b: Censorship and Human Rights in Latin America. Human rights literature assumes a very personal yet collective voice that inserts itself within the ample boundaries of communal history. This semester we will explore several literary texts that encompasses the human experience of suffering and redemption through an aesthetic that urges for responsibility and action on the reader’s part, as well as critical thinking and responsiveness. The selection of works we will analyze shows the strength of a literature that denounces and questions, that defies censure and denounces the moral vacuum in which the abuses took place. The course will look at a variety of texts and cultural artifacts -testimonial narratives, short stories, novels, and visual arts projects- seeking to understand problems of subjectivity, memory and subalternity in Latin America’s long history of oppression. Mr. Vivalda.

Prerequisite: HISP 205 or four years of high school Spanish.

Two 75-minute periods, plus one hour of oral practice.