Spring 2015
Stony Brook University
Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature
College of Arts and Sciences
SPN 532: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Hispanic Studies:
This course satisfies the SBC category HFA+
Course instructor: Joseph M. Pierce
Section: 01
Office Hours: Mon, 1:30-2:30PM, Wed 3:00-4:00PM & by appointment
Instructor contact information: Melville Library N3013, joseph.pierce@stonybrook.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Semester supplements contain specific description when the course is offered.Topics course
designed to provide in depth exploration of a specific set of issues Spanish and Latin American
cinemas. May be repeated as the topic changes.
Course Topic: Latin American Queer
This course surveys the development of queer practices and representations in Latin America
from the early 20th century to today. We will analyze normative models of kinship relations,
gender roles and sexualities, and the multiple forms of resistance and deviation from those
norms that have shaped a specifically Latin American Queer. Readings will be drawn from
juridical and hygienic texts, literature, film, and more recent theoretical interventions.
Course Prerequisites:
SPN 391 or 397 or 398 (for a Spanish topic), or SPN 392 or 395 or 396 (for a Latin American
topic), or one course from each group (for a cross-cultural topic)
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
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Acquire familiarity with the main aesthetic, cultural, and political discourses of the Latin
American queer canon.
Analyze the different ways in which critical and theoretical texts have engaged with this
canon.
Examine current modes of literary, cinematographic, and cultural expression regarding
nonnormative sexualities in Latin America.
Explore the points of contact and tensions between North American and Latin American
criticism.
Learn and apply the basic concepts and critical vocabulary of literary and cultural
analysis.
Read and discuss a range of key examples of critical and theoretical analysis of literary
texts and films and use them as models in undertaking your own written and oral
analyses of selected primary and secondary texts.
Gain proficiency in the techniques of scholarly research and the practice of academic
writing with specific emphasis in queer studies and literary and cultural research.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
A. Attendance and Participation: Students are required to actively participate in class
discussions and provide constructive feedback to classmates. More than one absence
without a documented excuse will result in a reduction of ½ letter grade.
B. Readings: Selections will be made available on Blackboard and required texts will be
made available through the book store.
C. Presentations: Each student will lead the class discussion of one critical text and one
primary text. This should include a 1-page critical handout with analysis, discussion
questions, and indications for further reading which should be submitted to the Course
Discussion Board on Blackboard by 12 noon on Tuesday (the day before class).
D. Course Syllabus: Each student will develop an original syllabus that incorporates
existing course material (at least 3 primary sources) and which is completed with new
sources, includes a course description, learning objectives, course requirements, and
calendar. Also, a 2 page narrative explaining the syllabus, the politics of its selection,
and possible implementation should be included. Students will present and explain their
work on 3/25/2015
E. Annotated Bibliography: should include at least a) 1 literary history; b) 1 book about the
author, generation, or historical period; c) 4 critical articles; d) 1 review; e) 1 theory text;
f) 1 dissertation; g) 1 website, due 4/8/2015
F. Paper Draft: 8-page minimum draft research paper to be reviewed by a classmate. Due
4/29/2015
G. Final Paper: 10-12-page research paper on an original topic to be approved in
consultation with the instructor. Will be submitted electronically.
H. Peer Review: Students will provide a critical reading of the Paper Draft of one
classmate. Due 5/6/2015
I. Availability of Films: Films will be made available via Blackboard and should be viewed
before class.
GRADING:
Pedagogy (40%)
20% Presentations (2)
20% Course Syllabus
Research (50%)
5% Annotated Bibliography
10% Paper Draft
5% Peer Review
30% Final Paper
10% Attendance and Participation
Grading System:
A = 94-100 B+ = 87-89
A- = 90-93
B = 84-86
B- = 80-83
C+ = 77-79
C = 74-76
C- = 70-73
D+ = 60-69
D = 60-65
F = 0-59
DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES (DSS) If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or
learning disability that may impact your course work, please contact Disability Support Services
(631) 632-6748 or http://studentaffairs.stonybrook.edu/dss/. They will determine with you what
accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is
confidential. Students who require assistance during emergency evacuation are encouraged to
discuss their needs with their professors and Disability Support Services. For procedures and
information go to the following website: http://www.stonybrook.edu/ehs/fire/disabilities/asp.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable for
all submitted work. Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong. Faculty
are required to report any suspected instance of academic dishonesty to the Academic Judiciary.
For more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including categories of academic
dishonesty, please refer to the academic judiciary website at
http://www.stonybrook.edu/uaa/academicjudiciary/
CRITICAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT. Stony Brook University expects students to respect
the rights, privileges, and property of other people. Faculty are required to report to the Office
of Judicial Affairs any disruptive behavior that interrupts their ability to teach, compromises the
safety of the learning environment, and/or inhibits students' ability to learn.
MEETING SCHEDULE
Part I: Latin American Queer: Origins
Week 1. 1/28 Course Introduction
Pedro Lemebel, “Crónicas de Nueva York (El Bar Stonewall)” (in class)
Week 2. 2/4
Queer Scandals
Michel Foucault. The History of Sexuality. Vol. 1. pp. 1-49.
Jorge Salessi. médicos maleantes y maricas. pp. 259-304.
Ben. Sifuentes-Jáuregui. Transvestism, Masculinity, and Latin American
Literature. pp. 1-52.
Week 3. 2/11 Queer Closets
Carlos O. Bunge, “El Capitán Pérez”
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Epistemology of the Closet. pp. 1-63.
Part II: Narratives of Sexual Difference
Week 4. 2/18 Queer Bodies
El lugar sin límites (film)
Judith Butler. Bodies that Matter. pp. 1-55.
Amy Kaminsky. “Hacia un verbo queer.” Revista Iberoamericana (LXXIV: 225)
Octubre-Diciembre 2008, 923-941.
Week 5. 2/25 Queer Economies
Luis Zapata, El vampiro de la Colonia Roma
Bladimir Ruiz. “Prostitución y homosexualidad: Interpelaciones desde el margen
en El vampiro de la Colonia Roma de Luis Zapata.” Revista Iberoamericana.
(LXV:187) Abril-Junio 1999, 327-339.
Week 6. 3/4
Queer Politics
Manuel Puig, El beso de la mujer araña
Carol Clark D’Lugo. “El beso de la mujer araña. Norm and Deviance in the
Fiction/As the Fiction.” Symposium. (44:4) Winter 1990, 235-251.
Week 7. 3/11 Queer Brazil
Madame Satã (film)
Néstor Perlongher, El negocio del deseo: La prostitución masculina en San
Pablo. Buenos Aires: Paidós, 1999. pp. 138-183.
Week 8. 3/25 Queer Narrative
Sylvia Molloy, En breve cárcel
Course Syllabi Due
Week 9. 4/1
Queer Crónica
Pedro Lemebel, Loco afán
Bernardita Llanos, “Masculinidad, Estado y violencia en la ciudad liberal” in
Reinas de otro cielo: Modernidad y autoritarismo en la obra de Pedro Lemebel,
Ed. Fernando A. Blanco, pp. 75-113.
Week 10. 4/8 Queer Love
Sabina Berman, Lunas
Annotated Bibliography Due
Part III: New Directions
Week 11. 4/15 Queer Women
Voces para Lilith (selection)
Cherríe Moraga and Amber Hollibaugh. “What We’re Rollin’ around in Bed
With” in My Dangerous Desires: A Queer Girl Dreaming Her Way Home.
Durham: Duke UP, 2000.
Week 12. 4/22 Queer Gender
XXY (film)
Beatriz Preciado, Manifiesto contra-sexual (selection)
Week 13. 4/29 Queer Modern
Santiago Castellanos. “Sexualidades no-normativas, diferencia racial y la erótica
del poder: Escenarios de deseos queer en el ecuador del siglo XXI” in Resentir lo
queer en América Latina: diálogos desde/con el Sur, Eds. Falconí Trávez,
Castellanos and Viteri. Barcelona: Egales, 2013. pp. 195-212.
Leticia Sabsay. “Políticas queer, ciudadanías sexuales y decolonización” in
Resentir lo queer en América Latina: diálogos desde/con el Sur, Eds. Falconí
Trávez, Castellanos and Viteri. Barcelona: Egales, 2013. pp. 45-58.
Paper Draft Due in class
Week 14. 5/6 Conclusions
Peer Reviews Due in class
Final Essay Due TBA