HISP 216 - Topics in Multidisciplinary Analysis

Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)

This course develops a set of methodological and theoretical tools for the investigation of cultural practices such as literature, popular and mass culture, social movements and institutions in Spanish-speaking countries.

Topic for 2021/22a: Reading Latin America through its Horror and Fantastic Short Stories. In Latin America, terror stories comprise not only the narration of paranormal and psychological delusions but also a very effective mirroring of specific social and political conditions. This course introduces students to literary analysis through the lens of horror and fantastic fiction. Materials for analysis include literary texts by Rubén Darío, Leopoldo Lugones, Horacio Quiroga, Mariana Enríquez, and Samanta Schweblin. We also examine films by Guillermo del Toro, Jorge Michel Grau, and Adrián García Bogliano. Nicolas Vivalda.

Topic for 2021/22a: Reading and Writing Short Stories. This course explores ways of reading the Latin American short story in the context of its historical development, while unctioning as a creative writing workshop in Spanish. Mario Cesareo.

Topic for 2021/22b: Fiction and Non-Fiction in the Multidisciplinary Classroom. This course develops the theoretical and methodological tools for the study of the ambiguous boundaries of the fictional and scientific representation of social reality in Latin American cultural discourse and practice. Through the examination of hybrid texts that combine elements of fiction, science, journalism, photography, and art the course explores assumptions underlying different conceptions of documentary and imaginary representation. Students consider models of analysis originating in cultural studies with others from the social sciences in order to arrive at an integral and multidisciplinary understanding of the formal and social characteristics of these diverse texts and practices. Michael Aronna.

Prerequisite(s): HISP 206 or permission of the instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS