(Re)Imagining the Greater Caribbean Through the Lens of Gender and Ethnicity
SPANISH 572
Conceived as a multicultural space, "The Caribbean" immediately calls to mind many complex images: the slave trade and plantation economy; the diaspora and Pan-Africanism; magical realism and the "dark" (post)colonial side of modernity. As Caribbeanists, we will look comparatively at the commonalities and the differences among the literary and cultural productions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Columbia and Haiti, along with their respective diasporas. Exploring the notions of gender and ethnicity will enable us to further focus on such overarching themes as creolization and national building (belonging, inclusion, marginalization), gendered and racial politics of the diaspora, the performance of gender, sexual politics of tourism, the configuration of Afro-Latinidad, and the "hybrid" aesthetics emerging from the spiritual practices of "African-derived" (syncretic) religions. A combination of canonical and newest works will be presented in a variety of genres (testimonio, short stories, poetry, novels, theatre, film, essays, visual culture). In addition, we will tackle the complex methodological issues involved in cross-cultural and cross-racial research, including the works of Trouillot, Glissant, Césaire, Fanon, Mintz, La Fountain Stokes, Araújo, Benítez Rojo, Fernández Retamar, Torres Saillant, Paravisini-Gebert, among others. This seminar is also designed to guide you through the intense process of researching, drafting and writing a seminar paper of publishable quality.
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