Hi everyone! My name is Katherine and I’m a first-year student in International Economics. I chose this course to read more Latin American literature but also to enforce my reading habits- last semester, I barely read any non-academic literature at all! Taking this course is a great way to achieve both of these aims. As someone who enjoys reading recreationally, I find it difficult to figure out what to read. While I love going to the library, the rows upon rows of shelves can occasionally be overwhelming. Having a list of texts available for the course provides necessary direction while also allowing the flexibility of choosing between works: this is what drew me to SPAN312.
A little about me: I am originally from Edmonton, Alberta but I lived in Spain for a bit so I do speak Spanish. I’m passionate about politics, history, and reality tv. I have already read some of the works featured in this course and am excited to discuss them in class! I would love to hear some takeaways on the fascinating themes addressed by these texts from different perspectives.
At first, I was a bit confused as to how “hopscotch” would fit into this course. I now see from our discussions in class and the lecture video that hopscotch is a fitting metaphor for the “skips” or jumps between various authors, countries, contexts, and languages. I also think there is a worthwhile connection between the naiveté of childhood and the role of a reader of fiction. As a reader, you are positioning yourself in a world with which you are fundamentally unfamiliar- you don’t know who the characters are, the subtle social dynamics of your surroundings, nor the dynamic world in which you have limited agency. It’s difficult to fully understand the context of a novel set in a country you’ve never been, for example. You must thereby need to learn in order to situate yourself, just like how a child must recover from missing a step in a game of hopscotch.
The lecture video asks for perceptions of Latin American literature and the readings ahead. Unfortunately, I have only read from a limited number of Latin American authors- even if I did read plenty it would be, as pointed out in the lecture, reductive to cast broad assumptions on other Latin American texts. As such, I am trying to dispel any predisposed notions I might have about a text before I begin to read it. I can gather some general idea based on a novel’s blurb or other extraneous information I find, but sometimes these impressions bear no mark on the actual content of a text.
My question for this week is simple: how do you think these texts would differ if they were not translated? Would our class discussions differ if SPAN312 were not held in English? How does translation impact interpretations of literature?
Hi Katherine,
it was a pleasure to read your post. I can relate to the excitement you expressed about taking a course that includes reading literature that is not academic, per se. I, personally, have been wanting to read more Latin American literature due to my heritage so I’m really grateful that a course like this one has appeared.
I like what you said about dispelling predisposed notions because I think that is going to be a virtue throughout this course since we are reading a myriad of authors from different regions so it seems unfair to put them all under the same roof, though, I have also fell victim to that train of thought.
Lastly, I think the hopscotch metaphor is wonderful too, didn’t quite understand its relation other than the reference to Julio Cortazar but after watching the lecture video, it makes a lot more sense. For me, I think the relation between the name of the class and its function is about finding additional stories within a story while trying to choose which direction to take in our own perspective in relation to ourselves and the world we pertain too. A little confusing, but isn’t hopscotch too when you go fast?
Gracias por tus palabras.
-Clandestino
Hello Katherine, I loved your post and the fact that you have lived in Spain, I am originally from there! Personally, I have been wanting to learn more about Latin American literature since I know more about Spanish Literature and I am aware that very renowned books, novels, and poetry have been written by Latin American authors. Answering your question, I think that a story itself can’t change if you translate it, but contrasts in expressions and words can make the reading experience different. Therefore, this may slightly modify opinions and mindsets on the reading during a discussion, although overall the story and argument of a text isn’t affected by the language it is written in.
Hi Katherine!
Similar to you, I have found that I am not reading nearly as much non-academic work as I would like to. I think this course is a great way to bridge the two together and reintroduce reading literature into my life, as well as the guided list being wonderful for helping us get our footing.
I really enjoyed your question and it gave me a lot to think about. As Julia said, I think overall the main themes and ideas remain fairly similar through translation, however, many languages do not translate perfectly to each other and a lot of nuance can be lost, as well as some phrases having no direct translation at all. In addition to this, when we think of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which states that native language influences perception and categorization, it could even be said that if we read the texts if their original language, our understanding would differ based on if that language was our native one, or one we had learned secondarily.