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| Unit name |
Women's Writing and Filmmaking in Latin America |
| Unit code |
HISP20108 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
I/5
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Randall |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None
|
| Co-requisites |
None
|
| School/department |
Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts |
Description including Unit Aims
This unit will enable students to explore a range of women’s writing and filmmaking produced in Latin America over the course of the twentieth century. It will encompass novels, testimonial literature, documentary and fiction film from countries including (but not limited to) Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and Guatemala. The texts studied are united by the way that they blur traditional distinctions between the private and the public realms, and personal and political issues. Students will critically consider the texts’ treatment of race and class and the way that these intersect with women’s issues and everyday experiences. They will also develop an appreciation of the socio-political and historical events in which the primary texts are rooted. Finally, they will become familiar with key concepts from feminist theory, which they will deploy in their own written analysis.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
- demonstrate an understanding of a range of Latin American women’s writing and filmmaking produced throughout the twentieth century;
- examine the key socio-political and historical context to which the primary material relates;
- identify and evaluate relevant secondary material;
- respond critically and analytically to the issues and debates raised;
- illustrate skills of literary and cinematic analysis;
- formulate a research question independently.
Teaching Information
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous sessions and asynchronous activities, including seminars, lectures, and collaborative as well as self-directed learning opportunities supported by tutor consultation
Assessment Information
1 x 1500-word literature review (30%). Testing ILOs 3-4.
1 x 2500-word essay (70%). Testing ILOs 1-6.
Reading and References
Selected Primary Texts
- Balún-Canán (Rosario Castellanos, Mexico 1957)
- La 'eterna noche' de las 'doce lunas (Priscila Padilla, Colombia 2013)
- La 'novia oscura (Laura Restrepo, Colombia 1999)
- Que horas 'ela volta'? Ana Muylaert (Ana Muylaert, Brazil 2015)
- Yo' me 'llamo Rigoberta Menchú', y 'así' me 'nació' la 'conciencia (Elizabeth Burgos and Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemala 1983)
Selected Critical Reading
- Beverley, John. 1999. ‘Our Rigoberta? Rigoberta Menchú, Cultural Authority, and the Problem of Subaltern Agency’, in Subalternity and Representation. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 65-84.
- Castillo, Debra A. 1992. 'Writing in the Margins: Rosario Castellanos and María Luisa Puga', in Talking' Back: 'Toward' a 'Latin' American 'Feminist Literary Criticism. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 216-259.
- Martin, Deborah and Deborah Shaw. 2017. Latin American Women Filmmakers. London and New York: I.B. Tauris.
- Martin, Deborah. 2008. ‘Mothers and Nomadic Subjects: Configurations of Identity and Desire in Laura Restrepo’s La novia oscura’. The Modern Language Review. 103 (1): 113-128.
- O’Bryen, Rory. 2008. Literature, Testimony and Cinema in Contemporary Colombian Culture. Woodbridge: Tamesis.
- Randall, Rachel. 2017. ‘Indigenous Girlhoods in Brazil and Colombia’, in Children on the Threshold in Contemporary Latin American Cinema. Maryland: Lexington Books, 163-190.
- Sá, Lúcia. 2018. ‘Intimacy at work: servant and employer relations in Que horas ela volta?’ Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14701847.2018.1531225
