Twentieth Century Latin-American short story : a historical and thematic survey [ LROM1537 ]

Prerequisite : Spanish language courses I, II, and III 

This course examines the principal currents of the period in question: modernismo, vanguardia, postvanguardia, nueva novela, etc.

The course describes the uneven process of development from modernism up to and including the "explosion" of the Sixties. It underlines the heterogeneity of the various cultural fields of the continent and their specific interactions with European and North American literatures, and also with the intellectual heritage before the 20th century ("crónicas de Indias" of the 16th and 17th centuries; essays of the 19th century).

At the end of the course, the student will be able :
- to situate Spanish-American works and extracts (1900-1970) in their historical and literary context;
- to produce a personal analysis of these, from a textual and intertextual point of view;
- to highlight the philosophical, ideological, and/or political issues underlying the literary works under consideration.

A final written exam, combined with continuous assessment during the exercises.

The course will combine presentations of authors, currents and works considered with literary analysis of short stories.

The course will alternate lectures on key trends and authors, and textual analysis that will focus on key characteristics of the trend under consideration, as well as the aesthetical and ideological characteristics of the authors discussed.

The course will be divided in three main parts:

1. the two irruptions of Modernity (Modernism and Darío; Avant-garde and Girondo);

2° renovation and internationalization of the art of narrating (Quiroga, Borges, Asturias, Carpentier, Rulfo);

3° the "boom" of the short story (Cortázar and García Márquez).

Exercises enable students to assimilate the material seen in the lectures on the basis of individual or collective tasks.

N.B. See more complete bibliography in the syllabus

- Oviedo J. M., Historia de la literatura hispanoamericana. T. III. Postmodernismos, Vanguardia, Regionalismo, Madrid, Alianza, 2001.

- Oviedo J. M., Historia de la literatura hispanoamericana. T. IV De Borges al presente, Madrid Alianza, 2001.

- Collard, P. (ed.), El relato breve en las letras hispánicas actuales, en Foro Hispánico (1997).

- de Mora, Carmen, En breve. Estudios sobre el cuento hispanoamericano contemporáneo, Sevilla, Universidad de Sevilla. Secretariado de publicaciones, 2000.

- Fröhlicher, Peter y Georges Güntert (ed.), Teoría e interpretación del cuento, Peter Lang, 1995.

- Oviedo, J.M. (ed.),Antología crítica del cuento hispanoamericano del siglo XIX, Madrid, Alianza, 2001.

- Pupo Walker, Enrique (ed.), El cuento hispanoamericano, Madrid, Castalia, 1995.

- Scholz, László, Los avatares de la flecha. Cuestionamiento del principio de linealidad en el cuento moderno hispanoamericano, Salamanca, Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 2001.

Resources : A syllabus and an anthology of texts.