SPAN 597 02 Reading the Latin American Nineteenth Century Today

The nineteenth century was a period of momentous change in Latin America as nations established their independence and debated how to best govern and organize their societies. Literature played a critical role in political, economic, and social discussions, as Julio Ramos, Doris Sommer, and Antonio Candido, among others, have argued. With these seminal interpretations of canonical texts as our departure point, this seminar examines what it means to (re)read nineteenth-century Latin American literature in the twenty-first century. How can theoretical and methodological approaches from global Black studies, Indigenous studies, ecocriticism, or gender studies offer insights into “canonical” literary works? How has a renewed engagement with the archive helped to expand the field of nineteenth-century literature and deepen our understandings of it? Our literary texts will include celebrated works and lesser-known ones by writers such as Esteban Echeverría, Juana Manuela Gorriti, Félix Tanco y Bosmeniel, Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, Maria Firmina dos Reis, Clorinda Matto de Turner, Eugenio Cambaceres, Machado de Assis, and Adolfo Caminha. Readings from history, anthropology, environmental studies, and other interdisciplinary fields will allow us to better contextualize these literary works and, in doing so, inform our analyses of nineteenth century literature and its relevance to understanding Latin America today.