Spanish American Vanguard Literature: Between Art & Politics

An introduction to the Vanguardist period in Spanish American cultural history, exploring how political and social changes in early 20th-century Spanish America moved Vanguardist writers and artists away from experimentalist and elitist attitudes towards increased social and political commitment. This course examines how the varied manifestos, poems, theatre works, novels, and short stories of the Vanguardists reflected the tension between playfulness and engagement, cosmopolitanism and regionalism, creativity and conscience. Major authors to be read include: Vicente Huidobro, César Vallejo, Pablo Neruda, Jorge Luis Borges, Nicolás Guillén, Martín Adán, Jaime Torres Bodet, Nelly Campobello, Roberto Arlt, Clemente Palma, and Juan Bosch. (1 unit)