Study Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Transcription

1 Study Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina Course name: Contemporary Argentine Fiction Course number: LITT 3002 AFLA Programs offering course: Language and Culture Language of instruction: English U.S. Semester Credits: 3 Contact Hours: Term: 45 Summer 2016 Course Description This course is designed for students who have previous knowledge of Spanish and are interested in increasing their proficiency and performance in Spanish language through reading and analyzing short Latin American stories. Viewing and analyzing Argentinean contemporary films as a part the interpreting and discussing cultural and historic content is developed. Certain topics will be discussed related to the short stories and films such as the role on immigration, politics, poverty, civilization/barbarism, religion, representation of the animal in literature and films, are some. This course will allow the student become familiar with Latin American writers and their masterpieces, literary movements, and historical background of the region. Learning Objectives By completing this course, students will: Increase their reading and comprehension skills in the Spanish language Produce oral and written texts that are grammatically, discursively and contextually adequate Understand important social, political, historical, and cultural aspects of the Spanishspeaking world Gain language proficiency in formal and informal environments Reveal and develop cultural analysis through the films viewed and debated in class. Also accumulate experience in comprehension of Spanish language films, although subtitles may be used, oral comprehension should be developed too. Course Prerequisites None

2 Methods of Instruction Students must read the assigned reading (short stories) prior to coming to class or watch the assigned films. Active participation in class is required in order to increase the appropriate use of Spanish based on situation and context. Additionally, weekly oral presentations will enhance the discursive (comparison, description, narration) and strategic facets of the language. Large amount of pair and group work in class, as well as for presentations and written work. Audiovisual materials will be used and will be accessible through Flacso CIEE website and on regular internet basis browsers like youtube.com. There will be a series of topics proposed by your instructor that will invite you to contribute with your comments and ideas recording your voice (podcasting) or typing in Spanish (through Facebook website or a blog). You will also be required to comment on your classmates posts. Your free and spontaneous contributions to this blog in Spanish will be more than welcome and will help you improve your grade. Guest lectures will be articulated in some classes, such as writers read and artists that work with the representation of Peronism, for example. Finally, class debates and visiting museums as part of a cultural/ con-text interest will be part of the course. Assessment and Final Grade Homework - Written Report 25% Oral Presentations 25% Exams 25% Attendance and Class Participation 25% Course Requirements Homework - Written Report Completion of homework for each class: written reports of each author. This assessment is continuous through all the semester, each class the student must provide with a written reportaje about the author and a short analysis of the story worked in class previously. This assessment has a research commitment from the student. Their ability to express, write and do analytical synopsis will be evaluated. Oral Presentations Oral presentations. These are done sporadically all along the course. Their ability to incorporate new terms and vocabulary and perform a cohesive discourse will be evaluated. Exams One midterm, one final. These two exams will grade their Spanish production in relation to their understanding of the historical, cultural, literal context. Attendance and Class Participation Attendance, class and virtual participation - oral participation in class, as well as written participation in the web, as well as interaction with others all along the semester activities.

3 Weekly Schedule During this week, the students should read the assigned literature for each class and watch the film assigned. They are expected to increase their reading and comprehension skills in the Spanish language. Also the social, political and historical background of Argentina will be presented so they are expected to start relating cultural information to the fiction productions of the century. Critical theory is requested to be read. Open Facebook page to interact, give opinions, upload pictures related to topic. Week 1 Day 1 - Introduction Explanation of the learning objectives, assessment and grading, teaching and learning methods through written, oral and virtual interventions. Objectives for each class and for the course overall. An introduction to Argentina s historical, political and economic situation around the 1830 s. Representation of the bull/toro in El matadero, from Esteban Echeverría. Day 2 - Esteban Echeverría and the Romantic movement in Buenos Aires Story comprehension and debate. Question and answer game. Incorporating new and specific vocabulary. A brief written reportaje is required for class, to be able to understand the historical and cultural moment of the writer. Putting literature in context. Cultural, social and political components of the short story. Relation to Argentina s history. Rosas and the caudillos. Unitarians and Federals. The image of the brute and the civilized. Deep analysis of the jargon utilized in the short story is necessary to understand the cultural meaning. Introducing the myth of civilization and barbarism. Required reading: El matadero, from Esteban Echverría Day 3 - Literature and Film Debate and sharing ideas on the representation of social classes, gender, Europe versus Latin America, the place of the knowledge. Incorporating new and specific vocabulary, and explanation of terms used in the film. Introducing other forms of wildness and the place taken by religion. Promoting debate around the cultural, social and political components to deepen comprehension of Argentina s social and political history. A short group Oral presentation will be requested about the film. Required view: Camila, from Maria Luisa Bemberg. Required reading: Hayden White.

4 Day 4 - Leopoldo Lugones and Modernism Analyzing La lluvia de Fuego and Yzur by Leopoldo Lugones. Science, monsters, ambiguity. What does it mean to become modern? Discussion and debate. Comparing/contrasting, socializing interpretations, exploring the new vocabularyand nego-tiating meanings of words. What is man? Myths and legends. Science and the fantastic imaginary around man and ani-mals.an approach through the Latin-American perspective. Contextualize the short story in time and period. A written reportaje is requested on the writter. Required Reading: La lluvia de fuego and Yzur. Required Reading: Vaughan 1991.

5 Week 2 During this week, the students should read the assigned literature for each class. They are expected to increase their reading and comprehension skills in the Spanish language. Also the social, political and historical background of Argentina will be presented so they are expected to start relating cultural information to the fiction productions of the century. The dichotomy city vs country, the place of the technology and modern world, immigration related to different cultural groups Florida vs Boedo. At least a weekly intervention on Facebook page is required. Photos on writers, a brief description and article will be selected and uploaded to promote discussion. Day 1 - Horacio Quiroga: The Precursor of Modern Story Analyzing La gallina degollada, El almohadón de plumas, La lengua, La miel silvestre, La tortuga gigante, Las medias de los flamencos and Anaconda by Horacio Quiroga. Oral presentatios should be done for this class. Each student will choose one short story and develop their own interpretation, with the context and background given on Horacio Quiroga previously. Required reading: La gallina degollada, El almohadón de plumas, La lengua, La miel silveste, La tortuga gigante, Las medias de los flamencos, Anaconda Day 2 - New Perspectives about the Short Story Analyzing Los caracoles by Wermicke. Animals and insects. Spanish and Latin-American examples. Social implications and representations. A brief reportaje is requested for last class writter H. Quiroga and a brief written analysis of one of the short stories. Required view: La lengua de las mariposas. Day 3 - Socio-Political Context of Argentina in the 1930s Readings: Luna Roja and a selection of Aguasfuertes Porteñas from Roberto Arlt. Exploring the socio political context in Argentina around 1930s. Reading and commenting about some newspaper articles brought to class about Quiroga s life, about his legacy. An oral presentations is requested on 3 cronics of Arlt s journalism production on Aguasfuertes Porteñas. Putting Arlt in context. Literacy movements in Buenos Aires at that moment. Required readings: Luna Roja, Aguasfuertes porteñas Day 4 Midterm exam

6 Week 3 During this week, the students should read the assigned literature and viewing of films for each class. They are expected to increase their reading and comprehension skills in the Spanish language. Also the social, political and historical background of Argentina will be presented so they are expected to start relating cultural information to the fiction productions of the century. Visions of modernity will be discussed, theory is requested to be read. The place of the boom writer outside Argentina, the place of the translator, exploring the wildness, metamorphosis and other type of masks associated to the native Latin-American world. Female writing in Latin America. Facebook intervention is required. Day 1 - The Latin American Boom Analyzing Casa tomada, Carta a una Srta en Paris, Axolotl and Las babas del diablo by Julio Cortázar. Exploring the artistic and literal (cubism, surrealism) movements associated to this type of literature. Metafiction, hipertext. Reportaje on Cortazar should be brought to class. A group analyzis and a comparitive activity will be made between Casa tomada and Blow up. Oral presentations created in class will be shared promoting debate. Requested reading: Casa tomada, Carta a una Srta en Paris, Axolotl, Las babas del diablo McQuire Scott (1998) Requested viewing: Blow up. Day 2 - Site Visit Visit to Museum de la Lengua or Natural Science Museum. Explore the different areas of the museum. The professor will make a small lecture about science, museums, hegemony and students will produce a creative short story or poem using the artifacts of the museum as inspiration. Day 3 Female writing Analyzing El zorro, La metamorfosis, El jardín encontrado by Silvina Ocampo and Una niña mala by Montserrat Ordoñez. A female perspective. Animals, insects and body. Gender and class-based interpretation and representation. Female writing in Latin America. Reportaje on Silvina Ocampo and a brief analysis of a selected short story should be brought to class. We will create change groups and each one will work with a short story and in relation to a questionary they will analyze one the short stories. After, ideas will be shared. Requested reading: El zorro, La metamorfosis, El jardín encontrado, Una niña mala Day 4 - Representation of the Other Analyzing Dónde viven las águilas, Caperucita Roja and Aquí pasan cosas raras by Luisa Valenzuela. Exploring, describing, and analyzing possible interpretations after the readings of these short stories. Social and political analysis, metafiction, hypertext, myths, meaning of death. Requested reading: Donde viven las águilas, Caperucita roja, Aquí pasan cosas raras.

7 Week 4 During this week, the students should read the assigned literature and viewing of films for each class. They are expected to increase their reading and comprehension skills in the Spanish language. Also the social, political and historical background of Argentina will be presented so they are expected to start relating cultural information to the fiction productions of the century. How can we compare Argenitina s history of the 70 s with Brasilian history, from Manuel Puig and Hector Babenco s point of view? Who becomes the other in the last decades of the XX century? Day 1 - Brazilian Fiction Clips from El beso de mujer araña by Héctor Babenco Exploring the political situation in Brazil and compare it to Argentina s. Describe it. Selecting different scenes to explain the point. Making comparisons about this period in history. Type of communication between characters. Semantic analysis. Vocabulary and terms used. Analyzing an artistic production from a political point of view, and reflecting on uses of language in different contexts. What does the animal represents in this story? Requested viewing: El beso de la mujer araña. Day 2 - Argentine Politics Clips from El oso rojo by Israel Adrian Caetano Relate what happens in the film and the Argentinean political social context, what year is being described in the film. Write in groups the vision about the other and compare the view of the other with other films you have seen or stories you have read. Tracing the junction between the actions and the emotions of the characters. Who is the other? Identifying the key words in this film. Argentinean western. Brief analysis of the movie to turn in. Requested viewing: El oso rojo. Day 3 - Artistic Language Clips from Bombón, el perro by Carlos Sorín Worksheet created by the professor in order to identify and discuss the meaning of specific vocabulary used in the film. Discussing different representations elaborated about Argentine culture. What happends with the rest of Argentina during the last decades of the XX century? Relate the facts in the movie to the political and social environment in Argentina. Brief written analysis of the movie to turn in. Requested viewing: Bombón, el perro. Day 4 Final exam

8 Course Materials Readings (English translations will be provided). Achugar, Hugo. Sobre el balbuceo teórico latinoamericano, a propósito de Roberto Fernández Retamar en Roberto Fernández Retamar y los estudios latinoamericanos. Edición de Elzbie-taSklodowska y Ben A. Heller. Arlt, Roberto. Aguafuertes Porteñas: cultura y política. Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada, Arlt, Roberto. El Jorobadito. Buenos Aires: Editorial Altamira, 1933 Arlt, Roberto. Nuevas Aguafuertes. Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada, Borges, Jorge Luis. El oro de los tigres. Biblioteca Esencial, Edición Especial para La Nación, Fernández Retamar, Roberto. Todo Calibán. Puerto Rico, San Juan: Ediciones Callejón, Lugones, Leopoldo. Las fuerzas extrañas. Cuentos fatales. Buenos Aires: Colección Austral, Print. McQuire, Scott. Visions of Modernity: Representation, Memory, Time and Space in the Age of the Camera. London: SAGE Publications, Print.. Ocampo, Silvina. Las repeticiones y otros relatos inéditos. Editorial Sudamericana, Sarlo, Beatriz. La imaginación técnica. Sueños modernos de la cultura argentina. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Nueva Visión, Valenzuela, Luisa. Generosos inconvenientes. Antología de cuentos. Edición de FrancisaNogue-rol Jiménez. Menos cuarto, Vaughan, Alden T., and Virginia Mason Vaughan. Shakespeare's Caliban: A Cultural History. Cambridge [England: Cambridge UP, Print. Villanova, Angel. Literatura y cine: apuntes para el estudio de sus relaciones. Mérida: ULA, Wernicke, Enrique. Los caracoles. Buenos Aires: Editorial Tiempo Contemporáneo, White, Hayden V. Tropics of Discourse: Essays in Cultural Criticism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, Print.. Media Resources TBC Bombon, El Perro. TF1 Video, Film. Camila. Embassy Home Entertainment, Film. Kiss of the Spider Woman. Charter Entertainment, Film. Un Oso Rojo. Cameo Media, Film. La era del ñandú. Carlos Sorín Film La Lengua De Las Mariposas. Sogetel, Film. Blow Up. Warner Bros, Film.