SPAN 576 Intellectual Debates in Latin America
This seminar will explore debates over the idea of Latin America and its cultural and political identity in the 19th and 20th centuries through and in depth study of the essay genre and selected novels and films. Building from foundational texts by Sarmiento, Marti and Rodó, the course will follow cultural debates such as indigenismo, mestizaje and transculturacion, cannibalism as a cultural metaphor, cultural hybridity, modernity and post-modernity. Authors include Vasconcelos, Mariategui, de Andrade, Freyre, Ortíz, Rama, Retamar, Galeano, Cornejo Polar and Garcia Canclini. The course will be conducted in Spanish. A Spanish version of texts in Portuguese will be provided.