Everyday Language, Subgeneric Literature, and Less-Than-Mainstream Film
Semester: Year
Level: Intermediate
Spanish
This course is intended for students who have mastered the basics of Spanish, both theoretically and as vehicle of oral exchange. Although due importance will be given to the formal study of Spanish morphology and syntax, the approach to teaching will be eminently practical. The emphasis of the course work will be placed on the development and consolidation of increasingly effective communicative skills, seeking to have students put their linguistic competence to work outside the classroom context. Whenever possible, they will be encouraged to engage in activities related to service learning and community service. Conceptually, the seminar will revolve around the relationship between literature and film in the Spanish-speaking world. As far as literature is concerned, without neglecting canonically sanctioned forms, we will pay special attention to subgenres, such as comics, magazines, popular novellas, and other nonconventional formats. We will take a similar approach to films: the less conventional, the better. The course is not confined to the two regular class meetings; thus students must double-check that they can attend all the seminar components, none of which is optional. Besides weekly film screenings, they will have to attend small workshops directed by one or two of the language assistants. The contents of these will be carefully integrated into the overall structure of the seminar. Conference work will be tailored to the individual needs of the students.

 

 

Literature in Spanish: Atlantic Crossings: The Pan-Hispanic Canon

Semester: Year
Level: Advanced
Spanish
The idea of this seminar is to study literary works written in any of the twenty-some nations where Spanish is spoken. Our primary object of attention will be fiction, but we will also study poetry, drama and, very especially, the essay. Translation, understood both as craft and as one of the vital concerns in philosophy of language, will be one of the mainstays of the course of study. The first semester will be devoted to the examination of the most recent productions by the youngest generations of Spanish language writers. As we proceed, we will shake off a good number of clichés associated with the Hispanic canon, still prevalent among scholars inside and outside the field. Once we have seen what the youngest writers have to say, we will conduct a cross-disciplinary examination of the historical roots of a wildly diverse set of cultures whose common vehicle is Spanish. As we study the evolution of the language, we will dissect crucial moments in the history of Spanish, from the American chronicles of the sixteenth century to the post-/ cross-ethnic, post-/cross-generic (both sexual and textual) postliterary hybrid artifacts of U.S. Latinos.
Reading ability in Spanish required.