Description: What is Latin American women’s writing? How, if at all, is it different from the writing produced by men? In this course we will be reading a variety of texts by twentieth-century women writers from Venezuela, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, and elsewhere. We will question the very notion of a “women’s writing,” by analyzing the differences, as well as the similarities, between these authors whose backgrounds and contexts are often very diverse. Student activities will includes the use of blogs and contributions to Wikipedia, as well as more conventional assignments.
Set texts:
- Teresa de la Parra, Ifigenia, diario de una señorita que escribía porque se fastidiaba (1924)
- Rosario Castellanos, Balún Canán (1957)
- Silvina Ocampo, La furia (1959)
- Clarice Lispector, La hora de la estrella (1977)
- Cristina Peri Rossi, La nave de los locos (1984)
- Carmen Naranjo, Nunca hubo alguna vez (1984)
- Laura Restrepo, Delirio (2004)
You must do the reading in advance, and bring a copy of the text to class.
Blog: You will write twelve weekly responses to the reading on a blog (either one you already maintain, or one you set up specifically for the class). You will also comment on at least two other students’ blogs each week.
Assessment: One mid-term examination (20%), a final examination (30%), a short research assignment (10%), and a Wikipedia project (25%). Your blog entries and comments, plus attendance and participation, will constitute the final 15% of your grade.
Course convenor: Jon Beasley-Murray (jon.beasley-murray@ubc.ca). His office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, BuTo 808, 12-1pm, or by appointment. You should feel free to get in touch with him if you have any queries or problems. It is always better to deal with problems when they arise than to keep quiet and hope they go away!