This course explores the social and political history of melodrama in Latin American and Latinx cultures. We will discuss the role that melodrama has had within Latin American media following a long-term chronological approach that begins with nineteenth-century serialized novels (folletín) and ends with recent telenovelas from Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, and the United States. As a language of emotions and familiarity, Spanish-speaking melodrama has been a key tool to reflect on the most critical social and political issues, from mid-twentieth-century populisms to...

This course explores Argentine popular culture by focusing on the interplay between race and nation. We will follow a long-term chronological approach from the nineteenth century to the present, examining the formation of a plebeian culture from gauchesca poetry to sports icons like Diego Maradona, from early-twentieth-century tango recordings to contemporary cumbia villera. We will cover a broad spectrum of cultural production —literature, music, cinema, comics, and television— as well as other dimensions of popular culture such as soccer/fútbol. The course will delve...

This course examines ideologies of Spanish womanhood in Spanish culture (literature, essay, visual art) produced between 1800-1936. Special attention will be given to pressing issues in women’s lives, such as marriage and domesticity, motherhood, divorce, wage labor, femininity, and sexuality. Thus, we will examine the prototype of womanhood conceived by both men and women during the 19th and 20th centuries, including the construction of the “angel in the house,” the femme fatale, and the modern new woman. Prerequisite: SPAN 228 MWF 10:00-10:50 am; 217...

This course examines the long nineteenth century in Latin America (1790–1910), focusing on the interplay between literature and politics. Delving into the turbulent processes that shaped modern Latin America, students will explore theoretical debates surrounding the creation of the new republics. Students will analyze print media—including pamphlets, newspapers, essays, popular poetry, foundational romances, and textbooks—to examine how these transformations redefined key concepts such as citizenship, gender roles, racial identities, and class structures. The course will cover both canonical...

This course explores different forms of travel writing from 1492 until 1820 to understand mobility as a complex gendered and racialized experience. When we talk about “adventurers,” “explorers,” or “travelers,” we tend to imagine them embodied in a masculine figure. In this course, we will focus on the limits of this idea of travel, analyzing travel as a gendered and racialized experience. Throughout the semester, we will study different types of mobility, travel, and travel literature created by different people in and about Latin America, from 1492 until 1820. These various travelogues...