Syllabus subject to change, if we are going more quickly or slowly than planned.
Please note that you will not be required to read all these books. Compulsory weeks are in bold. Everything else is optional (but you will get a higher grade, the more you read).
Blog posts are due Monday nights (by 11:59pm); blog comments are due Wednesday nights (by 11:59pm).
week 1 (Jan 10 and 12): Introductions
week 2 (Jan 17 and 19): Teresa de la Parra, Mama Blanca’s Memoirs (Venezuela, 1929)
January 19: Contract due (find it here [PDF])
week 3 (Jan 24 and 26):
Jan 24: Mariano Azuela, The Underdogs (Mexico, 1915)
Jan 26: Nellie Campobello, Cartucho (Mexico, 1931/1940)
week 4 (Jan 31 and Feb 2):
Jan 31: Pablo Neruda, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (Chile, 1924)
Feb 2: Gabriela Mistral, Madwomen (Chile, 1950s)
week 5 (Feb 7 and 9): Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths (Argentina, 1940s)
week 6 (Feb 14 and 16):
Feb 14: Alejo Carpentier, The Kingdom of this World (Cuba, 1949)
Feb 16: Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo (Mexico, 1955)
February 16: Last date to make changes to your contract
February 16: Midterm exam (take-home)
weeks 7 and 8 (Feb 28 and Mar 2, 7 and 9): Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (Colombia, 1967)
week 9 (Mar 14 and 16):
Mar 14: Clarice Lispector, The Hour of the Star (Brazil, 1977)
Mar 16: Mario Vargas Llosa, Captain Pantoja and the Special Service (Peru, 1978)
week 10 (Mar 21 and 23): Rigoberta Menchú, I, Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala, 1983)
week 11 (Mar 28 and 30):
Mar 28: Roberto Bolaño, Distant Star (Chile, 1996)
Mar 30: Giannina Braschi, Yo-Yo Boing! (Puerto Rico, 1998)
week 12 (Apr 4 and 6):
Apr 4: Pedro Lemebel, My Tender Matador (Chile, 2001) [Facilitator: Daniel]
Apr 6: Rita Indiana, Papi (Dominican Republic, 2005)
week 13 (Apr 11): Cristina Rivera Garza, The Taiga Syndrome (Mexico, 2012) [Facilitator: Daniel] / Samanta Schweblin, Fever Dream (Argentina, 2014). NB we will be doing two books in one day this week!
week 13 (Apr 13): Conclusions
Friday April 21, 3:30pm: Final exam
