HERE AND NOW: MILLENNIAL LATIN AMERICAN FICTION AND GRAPHIC NOVELS

Transcription

1 HERE AND NOW: MILLENNIAL LATIN AMERICAN FICTION AND GRAPHIC NOVELS MWTh 11-11:50 a.m. Professor Jerónimo Arellano Office hours: WTh 12-1 pm., and by appt. Office: Rabb In this course we sample Latin American fiction and graphic narrative created at the turn of the millennium (roughly the last quarter century, but with particular emphasis on the last ten years). We will gauge the various ways in which what we will call millennial fiction in Latin America breaks away from the literature of previous generations by exploring new themes and inventing new narrative genres and styles. At the thematic level, we will see millennial Latin American fiction take distance from the revolutionary mindset of the 1960s as well as from the mournful moods that the failure of projects of radical social reform left behind in subsequent decades. What are the new collective moods and atmospheres that millennial Latin American fiction articulates? How does millennial Latin American fiction approach the contemporary present, its euphorias and discontents? How does it redefine outdated notions of militancy, insurgency, critique, and political commitment, and the social function of the work of art in a new era? At the level of style, we will consider a range of new styles pursued by writers that came of age and/or published their first works in the last quarter century, including minimalist realism, new weird fiction and contemporary neo-horror, neo-fantasy and science fiction narrative, and the rise of graphic narrative and cross-genre novels. Part of this course is a conventional literature seminar where students read and discuss a literary work or graphic novel. But another part of this course will be creative, hands-on and experiential: we will use translation and transcreation to feel what you read come to life through your own work and in your own words, and extrapolate from those experiences to gain a better understanding of recent Latin American fiction and how it relates to our lives here and now. Course materials available in the bookstore: César Aira, Roberto Bolaño, Samantha Schweblin, Power Paola, Virus tropical Danial Alarcón & Sheila Alarcón,

2 Course Requirements and Grading: 1. Class Participation and Attendance (20%): Class participation + active engagement with classmates translation or transcreative pieces. 2. Group-Lead Close Reading (10%). On a rotating basis, groups formed in the first week will offer the class as a whole 1) a passage or panel from one of the readings and 2) a creative or analytical prompt that would lead us into a discussion of the passage or panel selected. 3. Latte Posts (Pass/Fail; 10%): Brief, informal responses to readings/viewings, generally due every other week. 4. Two Partial Exams (in class): (20%; 10% each) 5. Translation/Transcreation Piece (20%). A translation or transcreation of a passage or panel from one of the novels, graphic novels, or short stories assigned. 7. Final Project/Paper: (20%) 1) A longer translation or transcreative piece, prefaced by a scholarly intro; or a final paper. Grading scale: = A = C+ 59 and bellow = F = A = C = A = C = B = D = B = D = B = D- Note: Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class [readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.]. Course Calendar: I. When Literature Was Fire: A Brief Pre-History of the Present W 08/29 Introduction and Overview Th 08/30 Mario Vargas Llosa, La literatura es fuego Julio Cortázar, Axolotl, ; Gabriel García Márquez, La luz es como el agua W 09/05 Julio Cortázar, La isla a mediodía Julio Cortázar, El sentimiento de lo fantástico

3 Th 09/06 Diana Sorensen, A Turbulent Decade Remembered [excerpt] II. The Hollows: Latin American Fiction and the Search for the Contemporary W 09/12 César Aira, Elsa Drucaroff, Fantástico desencantado: los nietos de Julio Cortázar Th 09/13 M 09/17 Th 09/20 M 09/24 Roberto Bolaño, (excerpts) W 09/26 Th 09/27 W 10/03 Th 10/04 M 10/08 First partial exam W 10/10 Alicia Sherzon, Dir., El futuro (film) Th 10/11 Jorge Volpi, The Future of Latin American Fiction (Part III) Garth Risk Hallberg: The Bolaño Myth and the Backlash Cycle [Optional/background: Sarah Pollack, Latin America Translated (Again):

4 Roberto Bolaño s The Savage Detectives in the United States ] III. Formas raras: The New Weird, Neo-Horror, and Neo-Fantasy in Latin America M 10/15 Samantha Schweblin, W 10/17 Th 10/18 M 10/22 W 10/24 Daína Chaviano, El abrevadero de los dinosaurios [excerpts] Th 10/25 Daína Chaviano, El duende ; Gárgola mía M 10/29 Mariana Enríquez, Dónde estás corazón ; El carrito W 10/31 Liliana Colanzi, El ojo ; Meteorito Th 11/01 Chucho Quintero, Dir., Velociráptor (film) Rachel Haywood Ferreira, The Emergence of Latin American Science Fiction [excerpt] IV. The Contemporary Graphic Novel in Latin America M 11/05 Second partial exam W 11/07 Power Paola, Th 11/08

5 M 11/12 Hillary Chute, Comics as Literature? Reading Graphic Narrative W 11/14 Th 11/15 M 11/19 Santiago Caicedo, Dir., (film) M 11/26 Daniel Alarcón & Sheila Alarcón, W 11/28 Th 11/29 M 12/03 W 12/05 Final projects Th 12/06 Final projects M 12/10 Conclusions and Review