ENGL 211 - Literature of The Spanish-Speaking World

Credits: 5
LEC hours per week: 5
This class examines some of the Spanish speaking world’s great literary traditions and texts in the form of poems, novels, stories, plays, essays, memoirs, music, film, and art, and includes authors of varied nations, ethnicities, social classes, and genders. The class studies Latinx artists from the United States as well. The literature includes works originally composed in Spanish as well as in English and encompasses literature variously identified as Latino, Hispanic, Chicano, etc. Students do not need to know Spanish in order to take this class. The class will study texts in English translations with some texts available in bilingual formats.
Course Outcomes:

Evaluate how social, cultural, and literary traditions inform our understanding of a people’s literature.
Determine how literature outside the European-American tradition is relevant for all.
Evaluate the contribution stylistic elements have on a work’s theme and meaning.
Explore the rise of formerly marginalized voices in literary traditions.
Distinguish the unique voices of authors from the same tradition or culture.
Articulate complex ideas and themes and develop them using evidence.

Course Topics:

Novels
Poetry
Plays
Painting
Film
South American and Chicano Literature
European (Spanish) literature and its contrast with “new world” ideas
The rise of the marginalized voice in Latinx literature
The politicization of literature in Latinx literature
The appropriation of native cultures
The assimilation of micro cultures into macro culture
Cultural Capital

Course Attribute(s): Diversity, Humanities