Political Violence, Memory and Cultural Representation

The aim of this course is to study cultural and human responses to the violence of political repression in Spanish America. Central to the theoretical and critical corpus of the course is the multidisciplinary work of scholars writing in response to historical violence, which posed questions regarding social trauma, the links between mourning and memory, and the social and cultural role of artistic creation. The theoretical dimension of the topic will be discussed in class through the reflection on key critical works and will provide the necessary framework for the analysis of primary sources, such as literature, film, art, oral history, journalism and popular music. In order to introduce students to the complex issues of memory and violence in its subjective and social dimension, the course will focus on the study of three different moments of Spanish American history. The main topics discussed will be a) the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and its long lasting effects on the present, b) the use of historical memory in México during the zapatista uprising and c) dictatorships and democratic transitions in Chile, Uruguay and Argentina (special attention will be given to the latter). (1 unit)

This course is cross-listed with culture

Required texts: 1) Jorge Semprún, La escritura o la vida, 3rd ed. (Barcelona: Tusquets, 2002, ISBN: 84-8310-518-7); 2)Carlos Franz, El desierto (Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 2005, ISBN 950-07-2620-3); 3) Elizabeth Jelín, Los trabajos de la memoria (Madrid and Buenos Aires: Siglo XXI, 2002, ISBN-84-323-1093-X); 4) Elizabeth Jelín, and Susana Kaufman, eds., Subjetividad y figuras de la memoria: Memorias de la represión (Buenos Aires: Siglo XXI, 2006, ISBN 987-1013-46-9); 5) material in course pack form to be purchased at Middlebury, material in electronic format.