LALS 229 - Postcolonial Latin America

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as HISP 229) Studies in Latin American literary and cultural production from the emergence of the nation states to the present. Thematically structured, the course delves into the social, political, and institutional processes undergone by Latin America as a result of its uneven incorporation into world capitalist development.

Topic for 2023/24a: Women Writers of the Rio de la Plata. This course explores the most salient narrative production of women from the Rio de la Plata region (Argentina and Uruguay) from the 20th century to the present. Readings include short stories, essays, poetry, and cinema, discussed in their socio-historical context. Mario Cesareo.

Topic for 2023/24b: Micropolitics of life: Chilean and Indigenous Mapuche Poetics. Everyday life is political, and it can become a tool for rebelling against systemic oppression by practicing alternative ways of inhabiting the world and relating to one another rather than the dominant ones. In this course, students engage with literary and audiovisual works by contemporary Chilean and Indigenous Mapuche authors, artists, and activists through the lens of the everyday micropolitics of life and diverse forms of creative imagination. Throughout the course, students acquire and practice analytical skills to critically approach and dialogue with cultural texts. Critical analysis and reflection focus on topics such as more-than-human community care, resistance to settler colonialism, cis-hetero-ableist normativity, and racial capitalism. The course is taught in Spanish. Montserrat Madariaga Caro.

Prerequisite(s): HISP 216 or HISP 219.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS