Colonial and Postcolonial Studies | From the Colonial Subject to the Post-Colonial Latin American citizen
Course Description
This course examines contemporary postcolonial (re)writings of Latin American colonial past. “Postcolonial writings” stemmed from the deconstruction of the narratives fostered by the myth of modernity that has ruled the making of Latin America since the fifteenth century. We pay attention to two ways of deconstructing colonial texts: (1) by means of theoretical discourses (also called postcolonial theory or studies), and (2) by means of creative discourses such as historical novel and cinema, among others. Said this, in order to understand and discuss the postcolonial deconstruction of Latin America worlds, it is imperative to examine coloniality and its agents throughout history.
Learning Goals
At the end of this class, students should be able to:
1. Understanding the present in relation to the historical occurrences of the past
2. Distinguish between “colonial,” “postcolonial,” and “decolonial” and how these concepts apply to Latin America past and present
3. Engage critically with historical narratives (novel and cinema) within a specific historical context
4. Write final research and reflection papers of publishable quality
Required Materials
Novels
• Alejo Carpentier, El arpa y la sombra
• Abel Posse, El largo atardecer del caminante
• —. Los perros del paraíso
• Octavio Paz “Carta de más” Las trampas de la fe
• Tatiana Lobo, Asalto al Paraíso
• Gabriel García Márquez, Del amor y otros demonios
• Carmen Boullosa, Son vacas, somos puercos
Cinema and Television
• 1492.The Conquest of Paradise (dir. R. Scott, 1992)
• La Otra Conquista (dir. S. Carrasco, 1998)
• The Mission (dir. R. Joffé, 1986)
• Cabeza de Vaca (dir. N. Echevarría, 1991)
• Yo, la peor de todas (dir. M. L. Bemberg, 1990)
• El bien esquivo (dir. A. Tamayo Vargas, 2001)
• Crash (dir. P. Haggis, 2004)
• Alborada (prod. C. Estrada, 2005)
Rocío Quispe-Agnoli 