TWICE-TOLD TALES: COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS AND POSTCOLONIAL FICTION IN THE AMERICAS

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1 HISP 167B Spring 2015 Revised 1/29/15 TWICE-TOLD TALES: COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS AND POSTCOLONIAL FICTION IN THE AMERICAS Jerónimo Arellano Tuesday and Thursdays, 5-6:20 PM From different and at times conflicting perspectives, a wide range of modern and contemporary writers and artists in the Americas have examined the history and legacies of European colonialism in the continent. This course explores this persistent and ongoing engagement with colonialism in narrative fiction and cinema from Latin American and the United States. The first part of the course introduces keys texts from the colonial period, written by European and indigenous chroniclers of the colonization of the New World. We will be concerned with recognizing the multiple aspects of the term colonial : Is a colonial text always an exercise of power? Can it function also as a declaration of an empire s own anxieties, re-appropriated by the communities it is supposed to subject? Against this background, in the second part of the course, we will move to modern and contemporary works that re-tell colonial histories. A guiding hypothesis here will be that the artistic imagination with its power to invent what did not happen, its license to look beyond the limits of factual knowledge is capable of unraveling, perhaps more powerfully than any other practice, the inner workings of colonialism and its aftermath. Readings: Films: Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, The Shipwrecked Men William Shakespeare, The Tempest Abel Posse, Juan José Saer, The Witness Gerald Vizenor, Octavia Butler, Dawn (Xenogenesis Bk. 1) Werner Herzog, Aguirre, the Wrath of God Nicolás Echevarría, Cabeza de Vaca Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Como era gostoso o meu francés Icíar Bollaín, Even the Rain Peter Greenaway, Prospero s Books Ridley Scott, Blade Runner

2 Course Requirements 1) Weekly responses on LATTE (15% of final grade) 2) One position paper, derived from one of your latte posts (5-7 pages; 15%) 3) Final paper proposal (2 pages; 10%) 4) A final term paper (10-15 pages; 30%) 5) Oral Position Paper Presentation/Devil s Advocate Assignment: (20%): An individual presentation outlining a position/argument developed in relation to text or film discussed in class (10%); 2) An improvised devil s advocate response to the oral position paper presentation of one of your classmates (10%). 6) Class participation and attendance (10%) Grading scale: = A = C+ 59 and bellow = F = A = C = A = C = B = D = B = D = B = D- Tentative Course Program T. 01/13 Introduction and Overview I: COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS Th. 01/15 Christopher Columbus, Letter to Luis de Santángel Werner Herzog, Aguirre, the Wrath of God P: Petra DA: Rebecca T. 01/20 Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition/The Shiprecked Men (prologue to ch. 24; pp. 3-65) Nicolás Wey Gómez, Preface, from The Tropics of Empire: Why Columbus Sailed South to the Indies,

3 Th. 01/22 Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition (ch. 24--end; pp ) P: Sarah DA: Lee T. 01/27 Nicolás Echevarría, Dir., Cabeza de Vaca Josiah Blackmore, The Discourse of Shipwreck Th. 01/29 Jean de Léry, History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil (excerpt) Hans Staden, Hans Staden s True Story (excerpt) T. 02/03 Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries of the Incas (excerpt) Stephen Greenblatt, Marvelous Possessions P: Amanda DA: Sarah? Th. 02/05 Royal Commentaries of the Incas (excerpt) Ronald Greene, Colonial Becomes Postcolonial P: Tom DA: Lily T. 02/10 William Shakespeare, The Tempest P: Shamaila DA: Kristen Th. 02/12 Aimé Cesaire, A Tempest Roberto Fernández Retamar, Caliban: Notes Towards a Discussion of Culture in Our America P: Lee DA: Petra II: POSTCOLONIAL FICTION IN THE AMERICAS T. 02/24 Icíar Bollaín, Even the Rain Abel Posse, Midterm paper due

4 Th. 02/26 P: Dara DA: Hannah T. 03/03 P: Lily DA: Alisa Th. 03/05 P: Hannah DA: Sabrina T. 03/10 Gerald Vizenor, Feral Lasers ; begin Th. 03/12 P: Rebecca DA: Shamaila T. 03/17 P: Alisa DA: Karina Th. 03/19 Begin The Witness P: Kristen DA: Samuel T. 03/24 Juan José Saer, The Witness P: Karina DA: Amanda Th. 03/26 The Witness P: Samuel DA: Tom

5 T. 03/31 Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Como era gostoso o meu francés Begin Dawn Th. 04/02 Octavia Butler, Dawn P: Victor DA: Zai Final paper proposal due T. 04/14 Dawn Th. 04/16 Dawn P: Zai DA: Dara T. 04/21 Ridley Scott, Blade Runner Serge Gruzinski, Images at War: Mexico from Columbus to Blade Runner (excerpt) P: Sabrina DA: Victor Th. 04/23 Conclusions and Review Final paper due during finals week