SPN3850

The Spanish American `boom' of literature

J Paredes

8 points
* 2 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
* Prerequisites: SPN2130 or SPN2150 or permission from the department

Objectives On completion of this subject, students should have acquired a strong knowledge of both the writers and the literary works that elevated Latin American literature to a preeminent place in the world in the last thirty years. Students will also gain a broad understanding of the social, economic, political and philosophical issues affecting Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s.

Synopsis Through a careful and methodical reading of the prescribed texts, this subject studies the main works of narrative produced in Latin America since 1955. The analysis of the different novels will allow for an understanding of basic principles of literary theory affecting Latin American writers (ie magical realism, mythology, cultural studies). Especial emphasis will be placed on the study of Gabriel Garc'a Márquez, the 1982 Nobel Prize winner for literature, and his masterpiece Cien a- os de soledad, because both author and novel are the best examples of the world-class achievements of Latin American literature in the last thirty years.

Assessment Essay (3000 words): 40%
* Reading controls and assignments 20%
* Exams (2 hours): 40%

Prescribed texts

Allende I La casa de los esp'ritus
Carpentier A El siglo de las luces
Cortazar J Final del juego
Fuentes C La muerte de Artemio Cruz
Garc'a Márquez G Cien a- os de soledad
Vargas Llosa M La ciudad y los perros