Span 405W - Major Seminar

Institution:

Washington University in St Louis

Subject:

Description:

An undergraduate seminar. Topics vary. This is a writing-intensive course, which requires a minimum of three papers of approximately four to five pages in length, with rewrites; 50 percent of the grade must come from written work. Prerequisites: Span 307D and Span 308D and at least two 300-level literature courses taught in Spanish. In Spanish. Section 01. Tales of Marvel, Fantasy, and Magic in Spanish-American Narrative. This course studies the world of the fantastic, the marvelous, and the extraordinary through textual analysis of selected narratives by the following writers from Spanish America: Horacio Quiroga, María Luisa Bombal, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez, Armonia Sommers, Rosario Ferré, Luisa Valenzuela, Antonio Benítez Rojo. Integrating a wide range of sources (theoretical essays, paintings, film) we undertake an exploration of texts that evolve around obsession, metamorphosis, dream, magic, and ritual. Section 02. Tales of Marvel, Fantasy, and Magic in Spanish-American Narrative. This course studies the world of the fantastic, the marvelous, and the extraordinary through textual analysis of selected narratives by the following writers from Spanish America: Horacio Quiroga, María Luisa Bombal, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez, Armonia Sommers, Rosario Ferré, Luisa Valenzuela, Antonio Benítez Rojo. Integrating a wide range of sources (theoretical essays, paintings, film) we undertake an exploration of texts that evolve around obsession, metamorphosis, dream, magic, and ritual. Section 03. Nation Building: 19th-Century Spanish-American Writers Confront the Challenge. The writers of 19th century Latin America collaborated in the period's efforts of construction and reconstruction by proposing new models for their newly independent countries. This course analyzes the works of the most prominent writers whose works deal with the concepts of nation, identity, class, and race. Based on readings of different genres, we explore how these texts prescribe, describe, and carry out theories that contributed to the building of the Latin American "Nation." Authors include Bello, Heredia, Sarmiento, Martí, Rodó, and Isaacs, among others. Section 04. The Feminine as Submission and Subversion: Short Stories by Latin-American Women. A study of short stories by Spanish-American women to examine the female subjects that are constructed from the various literary strategies. The analysis focuses on the conventions established by the dominant systems to regulate the feminine, such as love, family, and the erotic, among other aspects, and how the literary productions confront these conventions. Section 05. Absolutely Fabulous? Fable and History in Spanish-American Colonial Narrative. Study of the relationship between fable and history in colonial narratives. Reflection on the role that stories had in larger narratives, which allowed digression but in a flowing kind of unity to add a moral or ironic commentary. Sources are the historical and fictional accounts written by Spanish, Mestizos, and Indigenous people during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Section 06. An Island With a View: Contemporary Cuban Literature and Culture. The course seeks to develop a critical perspective from which to study the uniqueness of Cuban cultural production from the Revolution to the present. Examining a variety of forms, from prose fiction and poetry to political speeches, personal testimonies, and film, we give special attention to the interplay of such issues as repression and exile; the politics of race and sexuality; censorship and dissent. Readings by Miguel Barnet, Senel Paz, Antonio Benítez Rojo, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Fidel Castro, Nancy Morejón, Virgilio Piñera. We also examine art work by Ana Mendieta, and films by Néstor Almendros, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, and Estela Bravo.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.wustl.edu

Phone Number:

(314) 935-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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