Taking this course was really refreshing for me, because of the liberty and autonomy that it gave me for reading and writing about the novels and authors that were presented. Compared to some of my other other courses, SPAN 312 made me engage with the ideas and themes in each story in a meaningful way, rather than reading them to memorize certain characters of information about them. The course definitely inspired me to read other works and authors from Latin America, I already have a few other books from Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende that I am very eager to read. I took this course because it gave me credit towards my degree in Latin American Studies and it seemed an interesting and fun alternative to taking another history, anthropology or Political Science course on Latin America, as Spanish 312 gave me the opportunity to explore prominent authors from Latin America in their own words, in a way.

I would definitely recommend this course to students who want an academically non-demanding course, which still invites them to thoughtfully engage and participate in the ongoing discussion and exploration of literature from the past 150 years in Latin America, While this is not the first Spanish literature course I have taken at UBC, it is the first Spanish literature course which I have taken in English, and while there are certain elements which do get ‘lost in translations’, I appreciate the way that Professor Jon Beasley-Murray, still relays the ideas that the authors themselves had about their works, while at the same time contributing and encouraging further examinations into them. Hopefully, I can use the techniques, ideas and information that I have learned about Latin American literature in this course and apply it to other works in that genre and social environment in my pursuit of Latin American Studies.

I guess as a final discussion question, even though there is no specific text to look at here, what ultimate thoughts or ideas do you have coming out of this course, how did it impact your own understanding of what Latin American literature is?