Latin American Comic Books and Visual Culture
In this course we will explore the development of Latin American serialized comic books and graphic novels, and their rise from pulp entertainment to iconic national narratives. We will examine the cultural aspects that mark these Hispanic comic books as different from those produced within the framework of the U.S. visual industry. However, we will also establish a parallel with the texts' multiple esthetic and cultural influences from the United States, Europe, and Japan. Discussion topics will include controversial race issues such as the import of blackface esthetics into Mexican narratives (e.g. Memín Pinguín), political and relationship humor in serials (e.g. Elpidio Valdés and Condorito), and the variations among the narratives according to their respective countries of origin and ideology. We will pay special attention to the new global culture in which international influences merge into new narratives that defy traditional ideas of Hispanic identity (e.g. Gilbert Hernández' Poison River and Tom Beland's True Story Swear to God). (Senior majors with at least two Spanish courses numbered 0350 or above, or by waiver.) 3hrs. sem.