Researching Cultures: Politics of Melodrama in Latin America: From Serialized Novels to Telenovelas

SPANISH 3620

This course explores the social and political history of melodrama in Latin America. We will discuss the role that melodrama has had within Latin American media following a long-term chronological approach that begins with nineteenth-century serialized novels (folletín) and ends with recent streaming television. As a language of emotions and familiarity, Latin American melodrama has been a key tool to reflect on the most important social and political issues, from mid-twentieth century populisms to globalization, from modernization to the human rights abuses of the 1970s' dictatorships. Thus, in this course we will delve into the political power of tears and smiles. The course will address the uses of melodrama in print media, radio, cinema, and television, in order to explore how the melodramatic imagination shaped the experience of modernity in the region and allowed Latin American audiences to deal with issues of class inequality, gender roles, sexuality, national identities, and racism. Course materials may include tango albums, 1940's Argentine and Mexican films, Cuban radionovela El derecho de nacer, Manuel Puig's novel El beso de la mujer araña [Kiss of the Spider Woman], as well as telenovelas from Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina. As part of the course, students will engage in active research on the interplay of politics and melodrama in contemporary Latin American media. This course fulfills the Writing Intensive (WI) requirement for Arts and Sciences students. Prereq. Spanish 303 or 308E, and one (or preferably two) of the following: 341, 342, 343, 370, 380 or Debating Cultures. Students who have taken more than four Spanish culture or literature classes are not allowed in this course and must proceed to a Major Seminar. In Spanish.
Course Attributes: BU BA; BU IS; AS HUM; AS LCD; AS WI I; AS SC; EN H

Section 01

Researching Cultures: Politics of Melodrama in Latin America: From Serialized Novels to Telenovelas
INSTRUCTOR: Viqueira
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