This course offers a comprehensive overview of Latin American literature from the pre-Columbian period to the contemporary era. Students will explore diverse literary genres, including poetry, short stories, novels, and essays, focusing on the historical, cultural, and political contexts that have shaped the region's literature. Key themes will include colonialism and its legacies, nation-building, identity, gender, race, social justice, magical realism, and the role of literature in political resistance and cultural affirmation. Readings will cover major authors such as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, and Mario Vargas Llosa, among others. The course will also examine the works of Indigenous, Afro-Latin American, and other underrepresented voices in Latin American literature. Through lectures, discussions, and critical essays, students will develop an understanding of the literary movements, historical events, and cultural dynamics that have influenced the development of Latin American literature. 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 is taught at an advanced level of Spanish.
This course will be offered in academic years ending in even numbers.