SPAN 3006 - Latin American Literature and Society

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2017

This course builds on the knowledge and skills students have acquired in the culture courses taught at second-year level. The main emphasis of this course will be on the reading and analysis of representative works of literature produced in Latin America in the 20th Century. Some of the authors to be included for study and analysis are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Alejo Carpentier and Gioconda Belli. Reading literary material and reporting back to the class in oral form will be the key activity for students in this course. Students will be also introduced in full to the specific and most effective ways of conducting research on Hispanic literatures. Lectures and seminars will be conducted in Spanish and students will be expected to actively contribute to discussions in the Spanish language.

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Course Details

Course Code	SPAN 3006
Course	Latin American Literature and Society
Coordinating Unit	Spanish Studies
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Prerequisites	SPAN 2102
Assumed Knowledge	Working oral & written knowledge of the Spanish language
Assessment	Participation 10%, Oral exchange 20%, Mid-term test 20%, 3000 word Essay 50%

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Sergio Holas

Lecturer:

Dr. Sergio Holas
Room 807, Napier Building,
Phone:   83134744
E-mail:   sergio.holas@adelaide.edu.au

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Lecture: Wednesday 9-11 a.m.; Barr Smith South, 2060

Seminar 1: Tuesday 9-10 a.m.; Barr Smith South 1062

Course Learning Outcomes

The course aim of this course is to introduce students to the interconnected processes that shape Latin American Literature & Society.
The learning outcomes after successfully completing this course state that you should be able to:

1. To better your intercultural competence.
2. To comprehend the cognitive nature of artistic practices in Latin America.
3. To get an overview of the great diversity of Latin American literary and artistic practices.
4. To better your listening competence in the Spanish language.
5. To better your linterpretative competence in the Spanish language.
6. To better your communicative competence in the Spanish language.
7. To discuss literary texts in a critical and analytic way.
8. To reach an understanding of the ways in which Latin American artistic communities creatively decolonize and represent themselves under different and continuous processes of colonization.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1, 3, 4, 5, 6,
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	1, 4, 6
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	1, 2, 3
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	1, 2, 8

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Required Readings:

1. García Márquez. Gabriel. Cien años de soledad. (novela)
2. Parra, Nicanor. "Ecopoesía". (Canvas)
3. Bolaño, Roberto. Estrella distante. Barcelona: Anagrama. (novela)
4. Juan Villoro, "El mariachi" (cuento) (Canvas)
5. Augusto Monterroso, "Mister Taylor". (cuento) (Canvas)
Also available at: http://www.bn.gov.ar/abanico/C14-03/pdf/Augusto%20Monterroso%20-%Mister%Taylor.pdf
6. Juan Luis Huenún (ed.). Poetry of the Earth. Queensland: Interactive Press (IT).

Recommended Resources

Recommended Journals:

There are two, very important, Special Issues of the Journal IXQUIC that are dedicated to explore the theme of Ecology and Literature:

1. IXQUIC Number 2. Revista Hispánica Internacional de Análisis y Creación. Agosto 2000; and
2. IXQUIC Number 10. Revista Hispánica Internacional de Análisis y Creación. Diciembre 2014.

Recommended books:

García Márquez, Gabriel. 1982. El olor de la guayaba. Conversaciones con Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza. Bogota: Editorial La Oveja Negra.

Kusch, Rodolfo. 2010. Indigenous and Popular Thinking in América. Durham & London. Duke University Press.

Martin, Gerald. 2008. Gabriel García Márquez: A Life. London: Bloomsbury.

Mignolo, Walter. 2005. The Idea of Latin America. Oxford: Blackwell.

Mignolo, Walter. 2000. Local Histories/ Global Designs. Decoloniality, Subaltern Knowledges, and Border Thinking. Princeton; Princeton University Press.

Parra, Nicanor. 2004. Antipoems. How to Look Better & Feel Great. New York: New Directions.

Parra, Nicanor. 2009. After-Dinner Declarations. Austin, Texas: Host Publications.

Online Learning

Other Learning Resources

a. Latin American Network Information Center, University of Texas: http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/history/
This is a vast internet resource center with information on countries, economy, education, government, media, culture, communication, science, society and many other aspects. In English, Portuguese and Spanish.

b. Library of Congress - Hispanic Reading Room: http://www.loc.gov.rr/hispanic/
This is the primary access point for research to the Caribbean, Latin America, and Iberia; the indogenous cultures of those areas; and the peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the US, and peoples of Portuguese or Spanish heritage in Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

c. CLACSO. Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales: http://www.clacso.org.ar/inicio/inicio.php?idioma=esp
Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

Semana 1:
Introducción al curso.
NO HAY SEMINARIO ESTA SEMANA.

Semana 2:
Actividades/Leer partes 1 - 5, Gabriel García Márquez, Cien años de soledad I.

Leer y preparar preguntas para el seminario:
García Márquez, Gabriel, "La soledad de América Latina".

Semana 3:
Actividades/Leer partes 6 - 10, Gabriel García Márquez, Cien años de soledad II.

Leer y preparar preguntas para el seminario:
Germán Darío Carrillo, "Mito bíblico y experiencia humana." La narrativa de Gabriel García Márquez. Madrid: Ediciones de Arte y Bibliofilia, 1975: 21-38.

Semana 4:
Actividades/Leer partes 11 -15, Gabriel García Márquez, Cien años de soledad III.

Ver y preparar preguntas para el seminario:
Gabriel García Márquez, "La escritura embrujada" (Parte I: hasta el minuto 17)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P-g9ghBlol

Semana 5:
Actividades/Leer partes 16 - 20, Gabriel García Márquez, Cien años de soledad IV.

Ver y preparar preguntas para el seminario:
Gabriel García Márquez, "La escritura embrujada". (Parte II: hasta el minuto 34).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P-g9ghBlol

Semana 6:
Test 1

Ver y preparar preguntas para el seminario:
Gabriel García Márquez, "La escritura embrujada". (Parte III: hasta minuto 52:00)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P-g9qhBlol

VACACIONES MITAD SEMESTRE: 10 abril al 21 de abril

Semana 7:
Poesia & antipoesia.

Leer y preparar preguntas para el seminario:
Sergio Holas, "Cartografía de las impurezas en las prácticas poéticas de Nicanor Parra".
http://ehtl.flinders.edu.au/deptlang.fulgor/

Semana 8:
Ecopoesia.

Leer y preparar preguntas para el seminario:
Niall Binns, "¿Por qué ecopoesía?. En Ciclo Homenaje en torno a la figura y obra de Nicanor Parra. Santiago: Ministerio de Educación, 2002: 59-74

Semana 9:
Estrella distante.

Leer y preparar preguntas para el seminario:
Leonidas Morales, "Roberto Bolaño: Las lágrimas son el lugar de la esperanza".
http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script-sci_arttext&pid=S0718-04622008000100005&Ing=es&nrm=iso

Semana 10:
Crítica del colonialismo en "Mister Taylor" de Augusto Monterroso.
Ironía y cultura pop en "El mariachi" de Juan Villoro.

Actividad para el seminario:
Hacer 3 preguntas, basadas en lo aprendido en clases y lecturas, sobre el colonialismo en "Mr. Taylor" de Augusto Monterroso o sobre la ironía y la cultura pop en "El mariachi" de Juan Villoro.

Semana 11:
Poesia de la Tierra.

Lectura para el seminario:
Sergio Holas, "El arte de la palabra/ The Art of the Word". En Jaime Luis Huenún, Poetry of the Earth. pp. xv - xxiv.

Semana 12:
Test 2.

NO HAY SEMINARIO ESTA SEMANA.

Semana 13:

Entregar ensayo. Miércoles 7 de junio en oficina Napier 807.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

La información que se provee más adelante es sólo una guía aproximada del tiempo y el tipo de actividades que el estudiante debe hacer para cumplir con los requerimientos del curso en el que se ha matriculado.

1 x 2 hour lecture per week                                 24 hours per semester

1 hour seminar per week                       12 hours per semester

7 hours reading per week             84 hours per semester

3 hours assignment preparation per week          36 hours per semester

TOTAL WORKLOAD                                                156 hours per semester

Learning Activities Summary

El curso ha sido diseñado en dos horas de clases más una hora de seminario. En el seminario el estudiante debe prepararse con anticipación para guiar la conversación de su grupo en torno al tema de la semana. Esto significa que debe leer sobre el tema de la semana y luego preparar 3 preguntas para guiar a los otros miembros del grupo hacia una respuesta coherente y bien articulada, con sentido lógico.

Small Group Discovery Experience

Las sesiones del seminario han sido diseñadas para que podamos participar de la experiencia de descubrir algo que no sabíamos con anterioridad. En general todas las actividades del curso han sido diseñadas con este objetivo puesto que la literatura latinoamericana e indígena son productos culturales que han emergido de las experiencia de vida de culturas cuyo suelo cultural propio es diferente del que conocemos en la Australia anglosajona, es decir, que al leer sobre el "realismo maravilloso" de García Márquez, recibir el impacto del quehacer antipoético de Nicanor Parra, percibir la infrarrealidad que explora Bolaño, reírnos con la risa negra y desganada de Villoro y sentir la fuerza y riqueza del universo simbólico de los poetas Mapuche seremos capaces de ampliar nuestra percepción de la multiplicidad de mundos por los que transitamos todo el tiempo sin darnos cuenta. Quisiera que así nuestra percepción se abriera a la riqueza de estos universos y nuestra visión, como los señalara siglos atrás William Blake, se ampliara.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Participación: 10%
Trabajo de seminario: 20%
2 Tests (15% cada uno): 30%
Ensayo (2.500 palabras): 40%

Assessment Detail

Seminar.

You should critically examine the weekly seminar reading and prepare 3 questions that you will discuss in depth with your seminar group. The seminar must be focus and explore in depth the chosen themes. You must be able to provide directions and be able to mantain the group focus. Your seminar must be focus as well as imaginative.

Essay.

You will write an essay on no more than 2.500 words in Spanish. In this essay you should answer the questions that we will be putting up during the lectures & seminars. The essay is due in week 13th. Must be submitted to me in my office (Napier 807) before 12:00 noon, Wednesday the 7th of June.

A well researched and well written essay is coherent, systemic, and has a precise argument which must be persuasive and backed with quotes and references from a contemporary theoretical background. Credit will be given to those works that are original and well documented and also to those arguments that have a coherent and logic ending. Credit will also be given to those arguments that are based on comprehensive and original quoting instead of quoting from secondary sources only.

Tests.

There will be two tests during the semester (weeks 6 and 12). Each test will last 60 minutes. The content of these tests will be thematic and based on the novels, short stories and poetry studied during the lectures and seminars. The questions will be provided to you the week before the actual test so you may prepare your answers, but NO WRITTEN MATERIAL WILL BE ALLOWED DURING THE TESTS.

Submission

All submission must be given to me on the due date.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
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Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator