Spanish
460
Walking
Around
XX
Century
Spanish
American
Literature
MWF
10:30
Instructor:
Email:
Office:
Office Phone:
Office Hours:
Dr. Friis
RONALD.FRIIS@FURMAN.EDU
Furman Hall 235V
x2227
M,W 11:30 -12:30, T, Th by appointment
Texts:
Neruda, Pablo. Confieso que he vivido.
Neruda, Pablo Antología poética. 1, 1915-1956 (Alianza) 2003.
Neruda, Pablo Antología poética. 2, 1957-1973 (Alianza) 2003.
Pilar Aguilera y Ricardo Fredes Eds. Chile: el otro 11 de septiembre
Grading Scale:
B+ (88-89)
C+ (78-79)
D+ (68-69)
Evaluation:
A
B
C
D
F
(95-100)
(83-87)
(73-77)
(67)
(0-64)
A- (90-94)
B- (80-82)
C- (70-72)
D- (65-66)
Discussion leading (1 day) 10%
Midterm Exam
15%
Participation, resumenes (~8) 15%
Short paper (análisis)
20%
Paper (process + product)
40%
This course uses Confieso que he vivido, the memoirs of Chilean Nobel Prize
winner Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), as a literary map the twentieth century. Even though
Neruda is known primarily as a poet, this is not just a course about poetry. The
multidisciplinary approach of this class will intertwine analysis of Neruda’s major poems
with texts produced by those around him. We’ll study the paintings of Pablo Picasso and
Diego Rivera, the poems Federico García Lorca, the film Il postino, the protest songs of
Violeta Parra and stories, essays and poems by Latin America’s four other Nobel Prize
winners, Gabriela Mistral, Miguel Angel Asturias, Gabriel García Márquez and Octavio
Paz. We will also examine some of the people, places and ideas most significant to all of
XX century Latin American literature: Walt Whitman, modernismo, the avant-garde,
Vicente Huidobro, César Vallejo, Freud, the Spanish Civil War, Paris in the 1920s, Marx,
Communism, Trotsky, Buenos Aires in the 30s, Mexican muralism, the Cuban
Revolution, Che Guevara, American interventionism, Chile’s coup of 1973 and the Latin
American “New Song.” This course will be of special interest to those who have already
completed or are considering our study abroad program in Santiago, Chile.
Course Objectives:
To help students develop an understanding of and appreciation for some of the main
intellectual currents of XX century Spanish American literature.
To introduce students to some fundamental concepts of literary criticism and to allow
them to refine their skills in the analysis of texts.
To acquaint students with basic research techniques when appropriate and possible.
To develop further the five basic language skills in Spanish with an emphasis on reading
and speaking.
Graded assignments in this course will include a midterm test, reading quizzes (for
content), 8-10 resumenes, a formal analysis of a Neruda poem (not discussed in class)
and a final paper. Your participation grade will reflect your linguistic and analytical
progress.
Resumenes These one page (~300 word) summaries and reflections on readings are to be
turned in, by email, as an MS Word attachment entitled yourname_resumen_week#.doc
(smith_resumen_5.doc). You will turn in 8-10 of these, one per week, as assigned.
During a given week you can choose which day to write on (Monday, Wednesday or
Friday's HW) but you must turn in this essay before class to get credit.
Other Required Readings Although we will not always have a chance to discuss all of
these in detail in class, required readings will be assigned and information from them will
appear on the tests. These essays have been selected because they will help you
understand ideas and movements that run through the texts we will analyze in class.
Discussion leading You will lead one or two discussions this semester. Different
assignments will require different modes of presentation. Some will be 15-20 minutes,
others will last longer. Typically, your time will be devoted to inciting large and small
group conversation, asking and answering different types of questions and summarizing
content in a concise fashion. You are not expected to have all the answers to open-ended
questions! These presentations are not to be read though you may consult notes as you
go. They are not lectures. Think about making connections across readings and
disciplines as you prepare. You will want to come to class armed with great questions.
Final Paper Your final paper in this class will be an analysis of a theme or themes in one
or a few literary texts. The paper does not need to be on poetry or solely on Neruda
(though both are fine) but should use our class discussions as a touchstone or point of
entry. The most important part of this paper will be your ability to analyze and interpret
literary texts that support your argument. There is also a small research element to this
paper that involves searching for and identifying information related to your thesis and
lining up published opinions and evidence that support and/or refute your position. We
will spend a lot of time both in class and out on all aspects of this project.
Writing is a process and you will be graded on how well you participate in the process of
writing. Our process will include an outline, a brief bibliography, an abstract, a peer
review, and more.
Notes:
1) Daily preparation must be thorough. You must come to class PREPARED
AND WILLING TO SHOW IT through ACTIVE participation. Preparing for class
means spending an appropriate amount of time reading the day’s assignment and doing
any written work. After this preparation, you will be ready to discuss the readings in class
with the professor and your peers. Expect a participation grade of B- to C if you are
prepared but passive. You are learning to formulate, express and debate your opinions
and interpretations of art, literature, music and ideas in this class.
2) Have access to a good English/Spanish dictionary. I like Harper Collins and
Oxford. You can also try wordreference.com. Don't embarrass yourself with other
internet translators.
3) “Late is rude...”
-President George W. Bush
“On time means two minutes early...”
-Coach Joe Paterno
4) It is your responsibility to notify your instructor as soon as possible, preferably
beforehand, if you have an excused absence. Work missed due to excused absences will
be accepted within two days of the absence. Work missed due to unexcused absences
cannot be made up.
5) The Instructor reserves the right to change this syllabus.
6) Students with disabilities who need academic accommodation should contact
Disability Services (x2322). After this meeting, the student should meet with me. This
process needs to happen early in the term. The Office of Academic Assistance, a helpful
resource for many freshmen, is located on the ground floor of the library (x2110).
Attendance:
All students are expected to attend every class session. A student who has more
than three unexcused absences during the term will be dropped from the class roster and
assigned a grade of “F.”
Below is a tentative schedule of topics and readings. Required and suggested readings
will be assigned daily in class.
fecha
24-Aug
26-Aug
tema
Introducción
Contexto histórico / los últimos modernistas
tareas
29-Aug
31-Aug
2-Sep
Gabriela Mistral
Gabriela Mistral
Juventud, Crepusculario (1923)
resumen de lectura 1
Fiesta del Día del Trabajo - no hay clase
XX poemas de amor (1924)
París, los años 20, César Vallejo
resumen de lectura 2
12-Sep
14-Sep
16-Sep
Vicente Huidobro, la vanguardia, Pablo Picasso
La generación de '27 española - Federico García Lorca
La guerra civil española - España en el corazón (1938)
resumen de lectura 3
19-Sep
resumen de lectura 4
21-Sep
23-Sep
Miguel Hernández
Residencia en la tierra I y II (1933, 1935), Tercera residencia
(1947)
Stalingrado
26-Sep
28-Sep
30-Sep
Diego Rivera, los muralistas mexicanos y Frida Kahlo
Miguel Angel Asturias
Macchu Picchu (1947)
les doy el tema del análisis
Macchu Picchu (1947)
Canto general (1950)
Canto general (1950)
entregar análisis
5-Sep
7-Sep
9-Sep
3-Oct
5-Oct
7-Oct
10-Oct
12-Oct
14-Oct
Repaso
Examen midterm
Descanso de otoño - no hay clase
resumen de lectura 5
17-Oct
19-Oct
21-Oct
Las uvas y el viento (1954)
Los versos del capitán (1954)
Jorge Luis Borges
24-Oct
26-Oct
28-Oct
Nicanor Parra
Il postino (película) I
Il postino (película) II
31-Oct
2-Nov
4-Nov
Odas elementales (1954), Nuevas odas elementales (1956)
Estravagario (1958)
Cien sonetos de amor (1960)
7-Nov
9-Nov
11-Nov
Julio Cortázar - "El perseguidor" (1959)
Violeta Parra, Víctor Jarra y la Nueva Canción
Chile - el otro 11 de septiembre
resumen de lectura 7
14-Nov
16-Nov
18-Nov
Chile - el otro 11 de septiembre
Chile - el otro 11 de septiembre
Ensayo
entregar resumen del ensayo
21-Nov
23-Nov
25-Nov
Ensayo
Acción de gracias
Acción de gracias
28-Nov
30-Nov
2-Dec
La soledad americana
Gonzalo Rojas
Ariel Dorfman "Saying Goodbye to Pablo"
5-Dec
Último día de clase
entregar tema del trabajo final
resumen de lectura 6
entregar bibliografía
entregar bosquejo del ensayo final
evaluación por sus pares
entregar ensayo final
These are some of the most important books on Neruda - most are from the library,
some are mine... Since many of you will be writing papers with overlapping topics I
will keep all of these materials, and more, in my office and can lend them to you.
Please ask me for anything you may need and share books you have with your
classmates.
Agosin, Marjorie. Pablo Neruda.
Alazraki, Jaime. Poética y poesía de Pablo Neruda.
Alonso, Amado. Poesía y estilo de Pablo Neruda.
Costa, René de. The Poetry of Pablo Neruda.
Durán, Manuel. Earth Tones : The Poetry of Pablo Neruda.
Firmat, Gustavo Pérez. Ed. Do the Americas have a Common Literature?
González Echevarría, Roberto and Enrique Pupo-Walker, Eds. The Cambridge History of
Latin American Literature.
Méndez-Ramírez, Hugo. Neruda's Ekphrastic Experience : Mural Art and Canto general.
Neruda, Pablo. Obras completas I y II.
Santí, Enrico Mario. The Poetics of Prophecy.