Haunting Childhood and Social Justice in Latin America

Catalog description

We will explore literature and cinema featuring child figures to study the central social, political and cultural debates shaping Latin American societies throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. By focusing on genres such as the supernatural, fantastic and horror, we will analyze stories of hauntings to problematize childhood as a state of innocence and violence, ignorance and insight, happiness and dread. We will approach childhood as an entryway into investigating debates surrounding transitional justice, armed conflict, migration, race, gender identity and illness to explore how child figures offer perspectives that challenge hegemonic discourses in Latin America. By examining the child’s relationship with the mysterious, frightening and inexplicable, we will explore childhood as an alternative mode of communication and a metaphorical state through which we can discuss recent political, social and literary histories. Taught in English, Spanish, and Spanglish.