Cuban Literature and Film: Imagination, Revolt, and Melancholia (CLAC 1.0)
CHUM 315
Fall 2023
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
CGST 324, COL 314, LAST 315, SPAN 296 |
| Course Cluster and Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory Certificate |
This course surveys the major aesthetic and socio-historical movements in modern and contemporary Cuba. Since the late nineteenth century, the island of Cuba has been at the center of a number of key epochal disputes: between colonialism and independence, racism and racial justice, neocolonialism and revolution, liberalism and socialism, isolationism and globalization. In the arts, the turn of the century launched a period of great imaginative invention. Considering the singular place of Cuba in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the globe, this course addresses some of the most representative works of Cuban literature and film since independence until the present time. Imagination, revolt, and melancholia are the three concepts that will orient our discussion. Imagination refers both to artistic creation and to the collective capacity of projecting new worlds, utopias, or impossible realities. Revolt, as opposed to revolution, is not restrained to politics as usual but relates rather to a deep experience of discontent and a return (from the Latin revolvere) to ancient psycho-social strata. Finally, melancholia serves as a point of view to understand what happens when history does not live up to emancipatory expectations. Special attention will be given to Afrocubanismo, ethnographic literature, the avant-garde aesthetics of the group Orígenes, Marvelous Realism, testimony, revolution, socialist experimental film, diaspora, the Special Period, and post-Soviet life. Reading materials and in-class discussions will be in Spanish. Hence, knowledge of advanced Spanish is required. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA CHUM |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (CSCT)(HISP)(HRAD-MN) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 75% - 89% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
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Examinations and Assignments:
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
CHUM 315 is intended for students who have completed SPAN 221 with a B- or better. Students who have not done so should consult with the professor before preregistering. Readings, written assignments, and class discussions will be in Spanish. Only COL students may take this course CR/U. |
| Instructor(s): Plaza,Juan Esteban Times: .M..... 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: SCIE405; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 8 | JR major: 2 | | |
| Seats Available: 1 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 1 | JR non-major: 1 | SO: 2 | FR: 1 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 2 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 2 |
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