This course focuses on the profound cultural and symbolic continuities and changes of religious myths and rituals in Latin America from its Mesoamerican past. Tracing religious texts and practices from the Pre-Colombian era, through colonialism and postcolonialism, and through the present, this course studies how religion shapes literary and cultural production. We will study indigenous Latin American
texts from the Aztec and Maya and representations of religious practices in the writings of the Conquistadors, as well as major texts by key colonial religious figures. Throughout the course will also trace key figures, myths, and events throughout Latin American cultural histories through the present, including the legend of La Llorona, the religious iconography of the Virgen de Guadalupe, Day of the
Dead celebrations, and do-it-yourself brujería. We will approach this course across media from texts, to film, to performance, to music, comparing the past with the present to create a broader portrait of Latin American religious myths and rituals across generations.
Course taught in inclusive Spanish.

M/W 12:00-1:20pm;
CRN: 59587
Instructor: Xiomara Verenice Cervantes-Gómez