Travelers in Spanish American Fiction

This course will examine how contemporary Latin American narrative has portrayed and reflected upon Latin Americans’ experiences when displaced from their home soil, whether for economic, political, or personal reasons. We will consider narrative representations of Latin American travelers and migrants and their reactions to different societies, customs, and languages. What do these narratives tell us about how travel and residence abroad affect the Latin Americans’ sense of self, of national or cultural identity? Topics to be discussed include: distinctions among travelers, exiles, and migrants; theories of tourism; theories of migration; Latin Americans in the United States and Europe; Latin Americans in Asia and Africa. (1 unit)

Required text: Mario Vargas Llosa, Travesuras de la niña mala (Madrid: Alfaguara, 2006 ISBN-13: 978-9707704664 paperback or available edition); Antonio Skármeta, No pasó nada (Madrid: Debolsillo, 2005) (ISBN-13: 978-9875660717) (or any available edition).