The Poetry of Resistance in the Time of the Generals in Latin America

Catalog description

This course offers a broad overview of important historical literature about dictatorships in Latin America. The weekly readings and writing assignments have been selected in order to: 1) introduce major concepts, arguments, and figures in the field of Latin American literature and culture; 2) appreciate the evolution of the role of artists and intellectuals during the years of the “dirty war” in Latin America; 3) sharpen analytical writing; and, 4) demonstrate the connection (and the limits of the connection) between literature, culture, and society. This course is predominantly a study of Latin American governments in the twentieth century and of the role of artists, primarily writers of fiction and poetry, as a corps of truth-tellers and resisters in the face of government propaganda, censorship, and cultural/political repression.