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Latinx Literatures Unbound
This course examines Latinx literary imaginaries beyond conventional geographies and timelines established by the U.S.-Mexico border in 1848. We will approach the study of Latinx literature and culture as a hemispheric project that includes but is not limited to the US-Mexico border and borderlands. Instead of engaging Latinidad according to a chronology or survey of traditional national or ethnic categories, our readings will abide by different structures of location and mobility. By interrogating the conventional boundaries of Latinx literature, we will encounter Latinidad as a hemispheric literature of resistance from plantation slavery to dictatorships; as a literature that takes place across rural, urban, and littoral landscapes; and as a literature of transnational migrations in the Americas, among other points of focus. Our readings will carefully consider a variety of novels, memoirs, essays, songs, and film to interrogate theories of latinidad, belonging, and freedom. Students will come away with diverse frameworks for thinking about the multiple experiences, geographies, and historical contexts of Latinx literary imaginaries. Through our “unbound” and transnational approach to Latinx literature, students will also discuss and learn about foundational relationships between literary aesthetics, coloniality, and power.