SPAN 550 - Special Topics: Culture and Literature of South America

1. Colombia and Venezuela
2. The Andean Countries (Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia)
3. The Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay)

Special Topic: Colombia and Venezuela: This is a panoramic course beginning with the conquest and independence of both Colombia and Venezuela and will continue through the formation as a republic until the present day. The topics will include the first civilizations, the conquest, the War of Independence, Simon Bolivar and the ideal of unification. The course will continue with the political, social and economic condition between the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. In dealing with modern Colombia, we will dedicate specific attention to an exploration of violence, warfare, and the narco trade’s impact on national life as well as its influence on the international community. In Venezuela, special attention will be given to discuss the Caudillismo and the Llanero, the petroleum industry and the transformation of national life. The course will also discuss the positivist project of Guzmán Blanco, the dictatorial period, the Christian Democratic Project, militarism and Chavism as a unique phenomenon in Latin America. The previously menti1d topics will be also studied through the lens of literature, particularly in the evolution of the novel from the two country’s celebrated novelists: Rómulo Gallegos, José Eustacio Rivera and Gabriel García Méarquez among others.

Special Topic: The Andean Countries (Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia): This is a panoramic course beginning with Peru by exploring the conquest, independence and gestation into the present-day republic. The primary focus will be the cultural legacy of the Incan Empire, the War of the Pacific, Haya de la Torre, and the ARPA and conclude with contemporary political currents. Bolivia will be the next region of discussion and will focus primarily on the political, cultural and economic history of the country. Specifically, the Chaco War, and the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement of 1952. We will discuss the current political trends with Alan García (Peru), Evo Morales (Bolivia) and Rafael Correa (Ecuador) as well as the production of literature from the Andean region. The course will survey authors from Ollantay to Inca Garcilaso and essayists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will examine the indigenous novel from Peru and Ecuador and the works of Mario Vargas Llosa, César Vallejo and other prominent Andean authors.

Special Topic: The Southern Cone: Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. This is a panoramic course that explores the conquest, independence and gestation into the present-day republics of the countries in the southern cone of South America. The course will emphasize the military dictatorships and the transition to the current neoliberal economies. The literature of Argentina will center on Romanticism with Esteban Echeverría, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and José Hernandez. The study of Argentine literature will also include the Modernista Poetry of Alfonsina Storni and the new narrative with Jorge Luís Borges and Julio Cortázar. The literature of Chile will see epic poetry with Alonso de Ercilla as well as the Modernista and Vanguard poetry of Gabriel Mistral, Vicente Huidobro and Pablo Neruda. Attention will also be given to the novel of the Boom and Post Boom era with authors such as José Donoso and Isabel Allende. The literature of Uruguay and Paraguay will concentrate on the short stories of Horacio Quiroga, the Modernista poetry of Delmira Agustini and the novel with Augusto Roa Bastos.