This course will offer students a tangible knowledge of Latin America and its cultural practices by exposing them to a wide array of poetic models and interpretive approaches. The students will obtain a basic understanding of key historical events or processes that impacted and shaped the course of Latin America and its poets in the 20th century, and then encounter the broad-spectrum of the literary history of the region, starting with the Modernismo and the Avant-garde movements of the 1920’s to the 1940s. We will then explore the innumerable forms in which poetry written in Spanish manifests itself. Through this process, the students will gain both confidence and sophistication in their ability to speak and write about poetry, and will be encouraged to expand their notions about what it means to read, write, or otherwise dialogue with poetry in their own historical (traditional and innovative) moment. Students will develop their oral and written skills, progressing from an initial defense of ideas, by means of practicing close textual analysis and engaging creatively with the works we read to performing recitations, producing brief original poems, attempting first drafts of translations, and/or creating a work of visual art.
Learning Outcomes:
1) Gain a well-informed understanding of the artistic particularities of Latin American poetry.
2) Gain confidence in the ability to speak, read and write in Spanish about poetic pieces.
3) Develop critical thinking and analytical skills through discussions of multidisciplinary texts as well as close textual analysis.
4) Design an academic and/or creative project associated with poetry in Latin America.
Delivery Method: Fully in-person
Prerequisites: 4 terms of Spanish at Bennington or taking a brief oral and/or written test to evaluate proficiency. Email Lena Retamoso Urbano (lenaretamosourbano@bennington.edu) to express interest.
Corequisites: Attendance at 2 cultural studies and language events.
Course Level: 4000-level
Credits: 4
T/F 2:10PM - 4:00PM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 18
Course Frequency: One time only
Categories: All courses , Fully In-Person , Spanish
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