University of Mauritius

UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

FACULTY OF SOCIAL STUDIES AND HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH STUDIES

ACADEMIC YEAR 2015-2016

Tutor: Mrs S Kotiah E-mail: [email protected] Module Code: ENG 2023 Y (3) Module Title: Crossing Borders: Texts in Translation Level: 2 Programme(s): BA (Hons) English Credit rating: 6 for whole module Core or Elective: Elective Duration: Semester 1

AIMS / DESCRIPTION:

Texts in Translation means texts that were originally written in languages other than English, and that have been translated into English. In this context, the first part of the module proposes a focused study of Latin American women’s literature. Providing an interdisciplinary understanding of the main developments in Latin American literature from c.1960’s to the present, the course emphasizes the specific literary features of individual countries and offers a comparative coverage of major topics such as magical realism, authoritarianism and democracy, orality, postmodernism, the effect of international factors, revolutionary movements and the impact of neo-liberal economic models. The module also investigates the processes that are transforming Latin American narratives, in particular the public and common spaces. Beginning with a broader study of the nature of Latin American writing as a means to transform social realities, students will go on to consider connections between religious beliefs, spiritual and sexual practices, gendered social relations, and the ways race, class, and gender intersect with ideas about moral and social order in the works under study. We will also think critically about how scholars have portrayed these subjects.

SET TEXTS:

Short Fiction (to be provided for photocopy) Ana Castillo, ‘My Mother’s Mexico’ Christina Garcia, ‘Lourdes Puentes’

Novels (to be downloaded or purchased online) Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate Rigoberta Menchu: I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

-Familiarize the student with a wide variety of mainstream Latin American novelists.

-Demonstrate critical thinking in the analysis of traditions, cultures, and civilizations other than Western.

COURSE SYLLABUS:

Week 1 Seminar Topic:

The Dilemma of Latin American Writing/Latin American Identities

Assigned Reading:

-Victoria Carpenter, “Spanish-American Literature: 1900 to the present day”

-Christina Schatzman, “Political Challenge in Latin America: Rebellion and Collective Protest in an Era of Democratization” Week 2 Seminar / Short Fiction:

Ana Castillo: ‘My Mother’s Mexico’ Week 3 Seminar Topic:

Magical Realism

Assigned Reading:

-Tamas Benyei, “Rereading “Magic Realism” Week 4 Seminar / Short Fiction:

Christina Garcia: ‘Lourdes Puentes’ Week 5 Lecture: Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits

Assigned Reading: - “The Responsibility to Tell You: An Interview with Isabel Allende” Week 6 Lecture: Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits Assigned Reading:

-Sarah E. Cooper, “Family Systems and National Subversion in Isabel

Allende’s The House of the Spirits” Week 7 Lecture: Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate

Assigned Reading:

-N. Finnegan, “At Boiling Point: "Like Water for Chocolate" and the Boundaries of Mexican Identity”

ASSIGNMENT DUE Week 8 Mid Semester Activities (please refer to Calendar of Activities)

Week 9 Lecture: Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate

Assigned Reading:

- Maite Zubiaurre, “Culinary Eros in Contemporary Hispanic Female Fiction: From Kitchen Tales to Table Narratives” Week 10 Lecture: Rigoberta Menchu: I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala

Assigned Reading:

David William Foster, “Latin American Documentary Narrative”

Week 11 Lecture: Rigoberta Menchu: I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala

Assigned Reading:

- Om Gupta, “Rigoberta Menchu: The Blurring of an Icon” Week 12 Class Presentation

Week 13 Class Presentation

Week 14 Class Test

ASSESSMENT:

For this yearly module, the ratio of coursework to exams is 30%:70%. Each semester the students will be assessed on the following: 1) 1 take-home assignment (10%) 2) 1 class test (15%) 3) 1 class presentation (5%)

There will be a final yearly exam (70%)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Attendance:

Attendance is mandatory.

Reading:

Students are required to complete their weekly readings, to be thoroughly familiar with the poems and to participate actively in class.

INDICATIVE READING LIST:

1. Joan L. Brown, Spanish and Latin American Studies in the 21st Century.

2. Jean Franco, Critical Passions: Selected Essays.

3. Roberto Gonzalez Echevarría and Enrique Pupo-Walker, eds, The Cambridge History of Latin American Literature.

4. Michael Reid, 'The Forgotten Continent' in Michael Reid, Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America's Soul, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2000.

5. Steve Stern, “Paradigms of Conquest: History, Historiography, and Politics‟, Journal of Latin American Studies 24 (1992), pp. 1-34.4

6. John Charles Chasteen, “Independence‟, in John Charles Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America, London: Norton, 2001, pp.93-113.

7. Hale, Charles A.,“Political Ideas and Ideologies in Latin America, 1870-1930,” in Leslie

Bethell, ed., Ideas and Ideologies in Twentieth Century Latin America, Cambridge: CUP,1996.

8. Teresa Meade, Chapter 7: Revolution from Countryside to City: Mexico‟, in Meade, A History of Modern Latin America, 1800 to the Present, Oxford: Blackwell, 2010, pp. 158-174.

9. Teresa Meade, Chapter 11: Cuba: Guerrillas Take Power‟, in Teresa Meade, A History of Modern Latin America, 1800 to the Present, Oxford: Blackwell, 2010, pp. 235-250.

10. Simon Collier and William Sater, Chapter 12: The Chilean Road to Socialism, 1970- 1973‟, in Simon Collier and William Sater, A History of Chile, 1808-1994, Cambridge, CUP, 1996, pp. 330-358.

11. Pamela Constable and Arturo Valenzuela, A Nation of Enemies: Chile under Pinochet. New York and London: Norton, 1991.

12. Ronaldo Munck, “The "Modern" Military Dictatorship in Latin America: The Case of Argentina (1976-1982)‟ Latin American Perspectives” 12: 4(Autumn, 1985), pp. 41-74.

13. Susan Spronk, “Pink tide? Neoliberalism and its alternatives in Latin America‟, Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (2008).