Department of English

Course Description:

In this course we read texts that challenge the disciplinary divide between U.S. American, Latin American, and U.S. Latino literature and history. We question whether Spanish texts written and published in the U.S. should be considered a part of the U.S. American canon, the Latin American canon, both or neither?  Likewise, we ask ourselves whether texts written in English by Latin American authors and published in the U.S do the same?  Ultimately, we question how these works challenge such terms as immigrant, exile, Latino and Latin American, or simply affirm them and how they fit into and/or fall outside of current paradigms for exploring the Latino/Latin American experience in the U.S.?  We will read texts by the following authors: Amparo Ruiz de Burton, Tomás Rivera, Manuel Puig ,  Juan de Recacoechea, Ana Menéndez, Marie Arana, Yunot Díaz and Patricia Engel. All reading, writing and discussion are in English.

Texts: 

The Squatter and the Don (1885) by María Amparo Ruiz de Burton (SpanoAmerican/California)

Y no se lo tragó la tierra/This Migrant Earth (1971) by Tomás Rivera (U.S./Mexico Border)

Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages (1981) by Manuel Puig (Argentina)

American Visa (1994) by Juan de Recacoechea (Bolivia)

In Cuba I was a German Shepherd (2001) by Ana Menéndez (Cuba)

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007) by Yunot Díaz (Dominican Republic)

Lima Nights (2009) by Marie Arana (Peru)

Vida (2010) by Patricia Engel (Colombia)

Movies:

El Gringuito (Chile, dir. Sergio Castilla, 1998); Miel para Ochún (Cuba, dir. Humberto Solás, 2001); American Visa (Bolivia, dir. Juan Carlos Valdivia, 2005)

Course requirements: Critical response papers (250-500 words) (30%); One presentation per student (20%); Research Paper 10-12 pps. (25%); Participation (25%).