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Argentine Literature And The Formation Of National Identity

Center: 
Buenos Aires
Program(s): 
Buenos Aires - Advanced Spanish Immersion [1]
Buenos Aires - Latin American Societies and Cultures [2]
Discipline(s): 
Literature
Course code: 
LT 360
Terms offered: 
Fall
Spring
Credits: 
3
Language of instruction: 
Spanish
Instructor: 
Laura Isola
Description: 

This course focuses on four main topics related to different types of writing experiences that took place in modern Argentina. These topics reflect specific historical contexts and different cultural practices: “Tensions in Argentine culture: from a library of English books to the worship of courage”, “Ways of excluding and including the Other through literature: tango, immigration, and politics”, “Eva Perón: the talking corpse”, and “Language, sexuality, and politics”. This organization does not only allow to get acquainted with certain group of texts belonging to different genres (short story, novel, and poetry of the most important Argentine writers from the 20th century, plus 19th century author Domingo Faustino Sarmiento), but also to discuss issues like the construction of a national identity from literature´s point of view and through the quarrel over what is “authentic” and what is not. Our journey also makes a connection between literary discourse and other social discourses, namely: the political, the historical, and the cultural ones.

Prerequisites: 

None

Learning outcomes: 

This syllabus seeks to promote students „awareness of the relation between texts and social and cultural processes in Argentina, in order to achieve a panoramic perception of Argentine culture.  Texts selection includes short tales, each one being a sampler expression of some of the features of Argentine storytelling studied. Also, the novel El beso de la mujer araña by Manuel Puig will be read and analyzed.

Method of presentation: 

Lectures, and group and class discussions of textual analysis and its context using fiction and other elements (photographies, illustrations, recordings, information about the author and its time, and the impact his work had on his time). Each class will feature terminological clarifications, the use of specific vocabulary, and same basics on syntax. Reading guides will be provided regularly by the teacher. There will be at least two fieldtrips: a walk through Buenos Aires in order to follow the very steps of Eva Perón, and an attendance to a play o tango show.

Required work and form of assessment: 

During the course, students should be able to:

  • Endure intensive reading activity,
  • Actively participate in discussions about narrative texts,
  • Develop reading hypothesis,
  • Write accurate reports and assignments in Spanish.

The teacher will provide theoretical elements and contextualization.

  • Midterm exam (20%): In class exam about units 1 & 2.
  • Final (40%): A paper 8/10 pages long (single-spaced pages) or 15/20 (double space) based on the readings of the second half of the semester.
  • Class participation, reports and oral presentations (40%).
content: 

I. Tensions in Argentine culture: from a library of English books to the worship of courage

Week 1: Introduction. Lecture: The Pampa in 19th century Argentine paintings.

Readings
Borges, Jorge Luis. “El cautivo”. In: El Hacedor, Buenos Aires: Emecé, 1960.

Week 2: The Pampa, the gauchos, and the construction of a national identity.

Readings
Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino. Facundo o civilización y barbarie. Buenos Aires, 1845 (selection).
Viñas, David. « Sarmiento: Indios, autobiografía y progreso ». In : Indios, Ejército y Frontera. Santiago Arcos Editor, Buenos Aires, 2003.

Guest Lecturer: Alejandra Laera.

ASSIGNMENT 1: Reading report on the bibliography about Facundo.

Week 3: The Pampa… (cont.)

Readings
Borges, Jorge Luis. “El sur”. In: Ficciones. Buenos Aires: Emecé, 1944.
Sarlo, Beatriz. “El pliegue”. In: Borges, un escritor en las orillas. Buenos Aires: Ariel, 1995.

II. Ways of excluding and including the Other through literature: tango, immigration, and politics

Week 4: Tango

Readings
Fontanarrosa, Roberto. “Una historia de tango”. In: Nada del otro mundo y otros cuentos. Buenos Aires: Ediciones de la Flor, 1987.

ASSIGNMENT 2: Comparative analysis of Borges´ and Fontanarrosa´s tales.

Week 5: The Other today

Readings
Sarlo, Beatriz. Instantáneas. Medios, ciudad y costumbres de fin de siglo. Buenos Aires: Ariel, 2000.

ASSIGNMENT 3:  Buenos Aires Tour. Take the bus tour offered (for free) by the city´s municipality. Your goal is observe and report on what the tour shows to tourists, and the reaction of these tourists to the show. You have to come up with an oral presentation through a photo record and an essay (either an “aguafuerte” or just the description of each photo).

Week 6: Holiday.

Week 7: Mid Term Exam.

Week 8: Mid Semester Break.

Week 9: Oral presentation about fieldtrip N°1.

Readings
Martínez Estrada, Ezequiel. “La inundación”. In: Cuentos completos, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 1975. Autobiographical letter to Victoria Ocampo: http://www.ensayistas.org/filosofos/argentina/eme/eme6.htm [3]

Week 10

Readings
Rozenmacher, Germán. “Cabecita negra”. In: Cabecita negra. Buenos Aires: CEAL, 1967.
Fogwill, Rodolfo. “Muchacha Punk”. In: Muchacha Punk. Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 1992

Debate: Racism and Peronism in Argentina.

Week 11: Holiday.

III. Eva Perón: the talking corpse.

Week 12

Readings
Eloy Martínez. Tomás. Santa Evita. Buenos Aires: Planeta, 1995. (selections)
Walsh, Rodolfo. “Esa mujer”. In: La máquina del bien y del mal. Buenos Aires: Clarín Aguilar, 1992. Borges, Jorge Luis. “El simulacro”. In: El Hacedor. Buenos Aires: Emecé, 1960.

Movie: Eva, una tumba sin paz (Tristán Bauer, 1997).

Week 13

Readings
Viñas, David. “La señora muerta”. In: Perón vuelve. Cuentos sobre peronismo. Buenos Aires: Norma, 2000.

ASSIGNMENT 4:  Field trip:  Eva  Perón  and  the  city  of  Buenos Aires. Individual presentation with photographic record and an essay.

Topics for take-home final exam will be delivered during week 13.

IV. Language, sexuality, and politics.

Week 14

Readings
Puig, Manuel. El beso de la mujer araña. Buenos Aires: Seix Barral, 1976. Guest lecturer: Daniel Molina.

Week 15

Readings
VV.AA. Antología de poemas de autores argentinos preparada especialmente para el programa. VV. AA. Tres décadas de poesía argentina. Buenos Aires: Libros del Rojas, 2006.

Interview to Argentine poets.

Submission of the final paper.

Recommended readings: 
  • Balderston, Daniel. Borges: realidades y simulacros. Buenos Aires: Biblos, 2000.
  • Barrenechea, Ana María. La expresión de la irrealidad en la obra de Borges. Buenos Aires, CEAL, 1984.
  • Cortázar, Julio. “Del cuento breve y sus alrededores”, Último round [1969], Tomo I. México: Siglo XXI, 1974.
  • Jitrik, Noé. Horacio Quiroga, una obra de experiencia y riesgo. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Culturales Argentinas, 1959.
  • Kraniauskas, John. “Rodolfo Walsh y Eva Perón: „Esa mujer‟ ”. In: Nuevo Texto Crítico, núm. 12/13, año VI, julio 1993-junio 1994.
  • Link, Daniel. “Rodolfo Walsh y la crisis de la literatura”. In: Cómo se lee y otras intervenciones críticas. Buenos Aires: Norma, 2003.
  • Idem. Leyenda. Literatura argentina: cuatro cortes. Buenos Aires: Entropía, 2006. Mancini, Adriana. Silvina Ocampo. Escalas de pasión. Buenos Aires: Norma, 2003.
  • Molloy, Sylvia. Las letras de Borges y otros ensayos. Rosario: Beatriz Viterbo, 1999.
  • Orgambide, Pedro. Horacio Quiroga. Una historia de vida. Buenos Aires: Planeta, 1994.
  • Panesi, Jorge. “Borges nacionalista”. In: Críticas. Buenos Aires: Norma, 2000.
  • Pezzoni, Enrique. “Silvina Ocampo: orden fantástico, orden social”. In: El texto y sus voces. Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 1986.
  • Piglia, Ricardo. Crítica y ficción. Buenos Aires: Seix Barral, 2000.
  • Rama, Ángel. “Los procesos de transculturación en la narrativa latinoamericana” [1974]. In: La novela en América Latina. Panoramas 1920-1980, Xalapa, México: Universidad Veracruzana, Fundación Ángel Rama, 1986.
  • Rodríguez  Monegal,  Emir.  “Prólogo”.  In:  Horacio  Quiroga.  Cuentos.  Caracas:  Biblioteca  Ayacucho, número 88.
  • Sarlo, Beatriz. Borges, un escritor en las orillas. Buenos Aires: Ariel, 1995.
  • Sarlo, Beatriz. “El Campo Intelectual: un espacio doblemente fracturado”. In: Saúl Sosnowski (comp.), Represión y reconstrucción de una cultura: el caso argentino. Buenos Aires: Eudeba, 1988, pp. 96-108.
  • Soria, Claudia. Los cuerpos de Eva. Buenos Aires: Beatriz Viterbo, 2005. Speranza, Graciela. Primera persona. Buenos Aires: Norma, 1995.
  • Todorov, Tzvetan. Introducción a la literatura fantástica. Buenos Aires: Editorial Tiempo Contemporáneo, 1972.
  • Viñas, David. Literatura argentina y realidad política. Buenos Aires: CEAL, 1983. VV. AA. Tres décadas de poesía argentina. Buenos Aires: Libros del Rojas, 2006.
Source URL: http://www.iesabroad.org/study-abroad/courses/buenos-aires/fall-2012/lt-360

Links:
[1] http://www.iesabroad.org/study-abroad/programs/buenos-aires-advanced-spanish-immersion
[2] http://www.iesabroad.org/study-abroad/programs/buenos-aires-latin-american-societies-and-cultures
[3] http://www.ensayistas.org/filosofos/argentina/eme/eme6.htm