Narrative and Religion in Contemporary Spanish American Literature

This course examines the many ways in which religious discourse has been appropriated in 20th-century Spanish American narrative, often with the aim of turning novels into "sacred texts." We will also consider the meaning of the "literary theology" that Spanish American literature has generated by creatively adapting into its makeup a variety of religious concepts, such as "the holy," the notion of an afterlife, reincarnation, salvation, canonization, and the various theories about the nature of God. Primary readings include works ranging from Federico Gamboa's Santa (1903), María Luisa Bombal's La amortajada (1938), and selected essays and stories by Jorge Luis Borges to Gabriel García Márquez's "La santa" and Tomás Eloy Martinez's Santa Evita (1995), among others. (.5 unit)

(A Three Week Course).

Required texts: Federico Gamboa, Santa (México: Grijalbo, 2001. ISBN: 970-05-0263-5); Maria Luisa Bombal, La amortajada (Barcelona: Barral Biblioteca de Bolsillo, 2000. ISBN: 84-322-3055-3); Gabriel García Márquez, Cronica de una muerte anunciada (Vintage, 2003. ISBN: 978-1400034956); Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo (Cátedra, 2006. ISBN: 978-8437604183); Tomás Eloy Martínez, Santa Evita (Punto de Lectura, 2006. ISBN: 978-8466368438).