HUMS 651
Tales of Resistance: Modernity and the Latin American Short Story
Robert Conn
| Course Description |
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Latin American writers from the early twentieth century forward have regarded the short story as a vehicle through which to make their mark and engage the great cultural issues of the day. Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar, two of Latin America's most well-known literary figures, dedicated their careers almost exclusively to the genre. In this course, as we consider the privileged status of the short story in Latin American letters, we will examine the ways in which writers have used the genre to comment on important aspects of modernization both within and outside their respective countries. Some of those aspects will concern the Mexican Revolution, bourgeois and mass culture, nationalism, globalization, as well as immigration to Europe and the United States. |
| Papers |
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6 two-three-page papers in addition to one final paper of 10-15 pages. All assignments will involve close reading of texts and contextualization. |
| Supplementary Readings |
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These will include writings of critics in the field of Latin American literary and cultural studies such as Beatriz Sarlo, Carlos Alonso, and William Rowe as well writings of theoreticians and thinkers like Thorstein Veblen, Matei Calinescu, Julien Benda, and Ortega y Gasset. |
| Schedule |
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Horacio Quiroga (Uruguayan writer, 1878-1937), Cuentos de amor, de locura y de muerte (1917) Labor and its “Rewards”: Between Poe and Maupassant June 24 “The Premature Burial” (1844) "The Purloined Letter" (1844) "In the Country and "His Son" from The House of Madame Tellier (1882) The Decapitated Chicken and Other Stories ***Submit first paper by Thursday at noon. June 26 The Decapitated Chicken and Other Stories Juan Rulfo (Mexican writer, 1918-1986), El llano en llamas (1953) Mexican “Campesinos” Adrift: Reflections on the ***Submit second paper by Monday at 6. P.M. July 1 The Burning Plain and Other Stories Jorge Luis Borges (Argentine writer, 1899-1986), El jardin de senderos que se bifurcan (1941), Artificios (1944) Toward a New Cosmopolitanism: Thinking Linearity and Identity in the Age of Nationalism July 3 Labyrinths ***Submit third paper by Monday at 6. P.M. July 8 Labyrinths Julio Cortázar (Argentine writer, 1914-1984), Historias de cronopios y de famas (1962); Final del juego (1956) The Middle Class in Argentina: The Question of Culture July 10 Cronopios and Famas ***Submit fourth paper by Monday at 6 P.M. July 15 Blow-Up and Other Stories July 17 Blow-Up and Other Stories Rosario Ferré (Puerto Rican writer, 1942- ), Papeles de Pandora (1976) Puerto Rican Independence: New Genealogies of the Nation ***Submit 5th paper by Monday at 6 P.M. July 22 The Youngest Doll July 24 The Youngest Doll Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian writer, 1928- ), Doce cuentos peregrinos (1992) Latin Americans in Europe ***Submit 6th paper by Monday at 6 P.M. July 29 Strange Pilgrims July 31 Strange Pilgrims ***Submit final paper |