Contemporary U.S. Latino Literature and Culture aims to introduce you to the field of Latino Studies, which emerged around the 1990s. We'll pay particular attention to the English-language cultural production - literature, autobiography, film, music, and criticism - of Latinos linked to four main territories: Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. While our transnational framework will help us understand the continuum between U.S. Latinos and Latin American/Caribbean communities. Indeed, part of our challenge will be to define what the label "Latino" even means. What is Latino literature? In what language do Latinos write? What makes a work Latino? We will thus examine the ways in which U.S. Latinos have manufactured identities within dominant as well as counter-cultural registers. Using identity as a base, we will grapple with collective concerns regarding race, gender, place, exile, immigration, and language. Our readings and discussions will be in English and Spanglish. This course satisfies the Inquiry Seminar to complete the HUA requirement in Spanish and would also count toward International and Global Studies and Latin American and Caribbean studies. In addition, this course would benefit students interested in WPI's Project Centers in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This course will be offered in academic years ending in odd numbers.