Courses » » Hispanic Studies 350. Studies in Spanish American Literature

Spring 2012 Semester

Transatlantic Detective Fiction

This course focuses on detective and mystery novels in Spanish, specifically, hard-boiled detective novels from Spain, Argentina, Cuba and Mexico. Although this genre has been considered “minor” and “trashy,” in the Hispanic world has served to present and to criticize the contemporary political situation of a given country, either dictatorships or their aftermath. The detective novels offer a location from which the discussion of key contemporary historical moments both in Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean can be especially fruitful. These novels are a privileged cultural product to study both high and low culture and the intersection of class, race and sex. These novels and their protagonist serve as a record of the quotidian culture of the city. Cities like Barcelona, Buenos Aires, La Habana, and México D.F. that in the Hispanic detective novel are celebrated and loved.

Fall 2011 Semester

One Hundred Year of Solitude: A Mythical Foundation of Latin America

The principal objective of this course is to familiarize the student with the literary context, themes and narrative techniques of one of the most celebrated masterpiece of Latin American literature: One Hundred Years of Solitude. Through a close reading of this important work the student will be exposed to some of the main critical approaches to García Márquez’s novel, although our focus will be not simply learning what others have said about the novel, but rather allowing each student to develop her/his own interpretation of the work. This is an intensive —and surely enjoyable!— reading course. The class will be taught entirely in Spanish. We’ll use the recent and accessible edition of One Hundred Years of Solitude published by Real Academia Española in 2007, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the novel.