Course Description
The course is a survey of indigenous and Latin American Literature until 1888, with a special emphasis on the Popol Vuh, a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the post-classic Maya. It will cover the most representative works in three literary genres: narrative, poetry, and theater. We will study the texts chronologically, focusing on the different literary periods and aesthetic tendencies. The students’ critical approach will be supported by different literary theories and strategies of literary analysis. We will also review several literary terms and basic concepts of literary and cultural criticism. Emphasis on understanding the various processes by which literature helped to construct the idea of identity and independence. Theoretical frame based on cultural studies: the relationship between knowledge and power, the text, and its context. Conducted in Spanish.
Course Credits: 3
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students should know or understand:
- The texts’ attempt at representing cultural identity and independence.
- The overall socio-historical contexts of literary production during the colonial period studied.
- The aesthetics, ideology, and personal and social issues represented in the assigned texts and literary movements.
- The relation between knowledge and power as represented in the texts.