COURSE SYLLABUS: LATIN AMERICAN CULTURAL STUDIES

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Partner Institution: University of Belgrano

Course Title (English): Latin American Cultural Studies

Course Title (Spanish): Estudios culturales latinoamericanos

Sessions Offered: Fall Semester, Spring Semester

Instructional in: Spanish

Classroom Contact Hours: 45 contact hours

College Credit (Semester Credit Hours): 3 credit hours

College Credit (Quarter Units): 4.5 quarter units

Prerequisites: Intermediate II Spanish Level if taught in Spanish

Local Department: Programa de estudios argentinos y latinoamericanos (PEAL)

Course Number: PEAL 262

Course Description

This course focuses on the aspects of Argentine and Latin American culture with an emphasis on popular culture: written and visual. Articulated over the study of diverse texts (literature, newspapers, comics, murals, photographs, movies and documentaries) the course reflects on the idea of culture and considers it from a broad perspective, including the distinction between “high” and “low” culture. The students will refine their oral and written abilities at the same time that they improve their reading comprehension and will enrich their understanding of contemporary Latin American culture.

Program Schedule

Unit 1

Week 1

-Woman and  art (before and now)

-Poems: “Hombre pequeñito” by Alfonsina Storni

-“El nacimiento de la col” by Rubén Darío

-Photos: “Sueños” by Grete Stern

Week 2

-“Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Feminist voice of Latin American”

-Yo, la peor de todas by María Luisa Bemberg

-Turn in essay on Sor Juana

Week 3

-Selection of works of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

-“De cómo el ángel de la casa se transformó en la bruja de la familia”, by Maitena in “Mujeres alteradas” -No. 3 Oral presentations on jokes assigned Superadas de Maitena

Week 4

Turn in essay on Maitena and Sor Juana

Unit 2

-Immigration in Argentina

-Bolivia of Adrián Caetano

-Selection of newspaper articles to introduce the unit

-Assign articles for the student presentations

Week 5

-Oral presentations on Argentinean immigration

-Assign chapters of Las batallas en el desierto, by José Emilio Pacheco

-Review for midterm

Week 6

Midterm

Unit 3

-Miguel Alemán and modernization in Mexico

-Introduction to Las batallas en el desierto, by José Emilio Pacheco

-Preparation of the model for the presentations

Week 7

-Las batallas en el desierto

-Presentations of chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4

Week 8

-Las batallas en el desierto

-Presentations of chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8

Week 9

-Las batallas en el desierto

-Final conclusions

Week 10

-Reading: “El alemanismo en Las batallas en el desierto”

-Debate on Las batallas en el desierto (group work)

-Turn in essay on Las batallas

Week 11

The Mexican Revolution in murals

“México y el arte muralista”

Presentations on the murals by Diego Rivera

Week 12

-Essay on murals and corridas

Unit 4

-Socio-political reality in popular songs. Listen to music.

-Los desaparecidos in music by Charly García, Víctor Heredia, León Gieco and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

-The workers reflected by Atahualpa Yupanqui and Divididos

-The 90s and Fito Páez

-Social injustices by Calle 13 and Molotov

Week 13

-Essay on murals and corridas

-The myths in Argentine culture: the case of Eva Perón

-Introductory lecture of the Argentine myths

-“El simulacro”, by Jorge Luis Borges

-“Evita vive”, by Néstor Perlongher

Week 14

-“Evita la tumba sin paz”, by Tristán Bauer

-Visit to the Evita Museum

Week 15

-Oral presentations on the Evita Museum

-Conclusions of the course: debate on popular culture

-Final exam

Course Requirements

The student is expected to read the assigned readings, participate actively in class and perform oral presentations. The student must attend 75% of class to pass the course. The system of control is electronic and the student must pass their card every class to be counted present. The final exam is written and oral. Part of the evaluation is considered: the midterm, presentations and class participation, as well as three research papers.

Course Evaluation

In agreement with the policies of the University of Belgrano the student can only have a 25% absence rate. The percentage of attendance that is required in order to take the final exam is 75%. Any trip or excursion that is not planned in the calendar is part of the 25% absence.

• Participation and attendance 10%
• Oral presentations (6) 30%
• Midterm 10%
• Final exam 10%
• Essays (6) 40%

Bibliography (Text and Materials)

• Course Reader (fotocopias)
• Las batallas en el desierto, de José Emilio Pacheco
• Textos y películas recomendadas / Suggested Course Materials
• Sueños, de Grete Stern
• Superadas, de Maitena
• Yo, la peor de todas de María Luisa Bemberg
• Bolivia de Adrián Caetano
• Evita la tumba sin paz, de Tristán Bauer
• Bertúa, Paula. Sueños de Idilio: los fotomontajes surrealistas de Grete Stern.
• Cohendoz, Mónica. Devenir Eva: la poética corporal de Néstor Perlongher.
• http://www.elortiba.org/pdf/cohendoz.pdf
• Paz, Octavio. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz o las trampas de la fe. Buenos Aires: Fondo, 1998.
• Pons Cristina y Claudia Soria. Delirios de grandeza/ Los mitos argentinos: memoria, identidad, cultura. Rosario: Beatriz Viterbo, 2005.
• Lombán, Juan Carlos. “El muralismo mexicano”.
• http://www.elportaldemexico.com/arte/artesplasticas/muralismomexicano.htm
• Imaginario, Andrea. “El muralismo mexicano: una revolución artística, un arte para la revolución”.
• http://www.analitica.com/va/hispanica/5713376.asp
• Maluenda, ELSA. “El psicoanálisis te ayudará” (2002). Enlaces 5: 36-9.
• Rochfort, Desmond. Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera and Siqueiros. San Francisco: Chronical Books, 1993.
• Rosano, Susana. Rostros y máscaras de Eva Perón: Imaginario populista y representación. Rosario: Beatriz Viterbo, 2006.
• Sanchez, María Victoria. “Sueños de mujeres. La Revista Idilio y la transformación de la familia en los años 40-50”.
• www.elseminario.com.ar/Estudiantes/Sanchez_Suenios_mujeres.htm.
• Soria, Claudia. “Grete Stern: imágenes del goce femenino”. Revista Mora (IIEGE, UBA), 2010.
• Stern, Grete (1995). Obra fotográfica en la Argentina. Luis Priamo ed. Buenos Aires: Fondo Nacional de las Artes.
• Stern, Grete (2003). “Apuntes sobre fotomontaje”. Sueños. 29-33.
• Sueños: fotomontajes de Grete Stern (serie completa) (2003). “Edición de la obra impresa en la revista Idilio (1948-1951)”. Buenos Aires: CEPPA.

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