Women's writing in Latin America today
A Kenwood
8 points * 2 hours per week * Second semester * Clayton
This subject studies the contribution made by women writers to contemporary Latin American culture. Centred on four key literary figures - Isabel Allende (Chile), Elena Poniatowska (Mexico), Marta Traba (Argentina) and Luisa Valenzuela (Argentina) - the subject sets the prescribed reading materials in their historical and cultural context; surveys the changing roles of women in contemporary society, their quest for identity, and the causes and consequences of their increasing political and social activism; and seeks the sources of the literary techniques used to emphasise these concerns in surrealism, feminism, ideological and psychoanalytic theories.
Assessment
One seminar paper (1500 word): 25% * One essay (1500 words): 25% * One assignment (3000 words) or one examination (3 hours): 50%
Prescribed texts
Allende I Cuentos de Eva Luna Plaza y Janes, 1990
Poniatowska E Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela Era, 1984
Traba M Conversación al sur Siglo XXI, 1988
Valenzuela L Cola de lagartija Brugera, 1983
Valenzuela L Como en la guerra Sudamericana, 1977