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CS92PROD
Insular Borders of Latin(x) America
CHUM 274
Spring 2022
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: LAST 274, AMST 289, SPAN 274

Before and at the same time the United States established itself throughout the 19th century as a major power in the Americas and the world, various Latin American republics inherited and acted upon a similar imperialist agenda to expand their borders not only to neighboring territories but also across oceans. In this class, we will study and compare these imperialist gestures, among them the Spanish Empire's control of its remaining insular colonies in the 19th century (e.g., Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam) and the United States' successive claim to these very same islands. We will analyze literary works and films that interrogate these imperialist claims as well as the trajectories of islanders: for instance, the forced migration of the Rapanui (Easter Island people) in the second half of the 19th century (first as slaves to Peru and then to the town of Hanga Roa in Easter Island) and the island-to-island "intra-colonial" (Joanna Poblete) recruitment of Filipino and Puerto Rican laborers in sugar plantations in Hawai'i at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the questions we will explore are: Why are islands so coveted by old and new empires? How have Rapanui, Filipino, and Puerto Rican migrants and their descendants resisted authorities on the insular borders of empire? How do writers and artists tell these silenced histories? Can we speak of Latinidad and Edouard Glissant's concept of Poetics of Relation in a Pacific Ocean context? Readings will be in Spanish and English. All discussions and assignments will be in Spanish.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA CHUM
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (AMST)(CBST-MN)(HISP)(HRAD-MN)(LAST)
Past Enrollment Probability: 75% - 89%

Last Updated on MAR-28-2024
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