Unit name | Culture in Revolution: From Latin America to the USSR |
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Unit code | HISP20110 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. James Hawkey |
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 |
This unit focuses on the relationship between revolution, culture, nation building, as well as different approaches to socialism in Mexico, the Soviet Union, and Cuba. It also examines potential links between socialist revolutions and their legacy in the international arena. Throughout the unit emphasis will be placed on the interaction of politics and artistic production and the extent of their engagement with the revolutionary process. Students will study a combination of history (how did each country evolve? What were the antecedents to Revolution? What ideas about an alternative future for the country were circulating?), cultural history (what did pre-revolutionary culture look like and why?), and cultural production during early revolutionary periods (what were the major concerns about participation? What did the revolution stand for?). Students will interrogate concepts such as ideology and participation against the backdrop of shifting ideas about the role of culture in society in Mexico, the Soviet Union, and Cuba.
Throughout this unit students will gain experience in analysing various forms of visual culture (art, architecture, sculptures, theatre) and learn how these texts can illuminate changing ideas of nations in political flux.
Successful students will be:
This unit will be taught by 2 weekly hours of in-class teaching (one hour lecture, one hour seminar)
This unit will be assessed by