Literature and Exile

in Spain and Latin America

 

Exile,” the late Edward Said wrote, “is one of the saddest fates.” It has also been an all too common one among Spanish-speaking writers and intellectuals. The history of twentieth-century Spain and Latin America is studded with dictatorships and civil wars; and for many writers, leaving their country was the only way to gain some measure of intellectual freedom. In fact, it is safe to say that many of the best and most interesting Spanish and Latin American works of literature were written in exile. But were they also products of exile? How does exile affect literary production?

This course will analyze the effects of political exile on novels, poetry, plays, and essays written in Spanish on both sides of the Atlantic, with a particular focus on issues of national identity, loyalty, and representation. The course will address questions like the following:

·         How does one write about one’s homeland from abroad?

·         What does exile do to one’s sense of national identity? Does an exiled writer have to remain loyal to the country and the people that she left behind? And if so, what does that loyalty imply?

·         Some writers describe exile as a rebirth, others as a form of death. What are exile’s freedoms and constraints? How does one represent one’s own life if it has been split by forced displacement?

·         What exactly does the exile experience teach an author about the relation between language and reality? Or about the relation between language and truth, or language and power, language and identity? Is it true, as one scholar has written, that “the life of exile is a life of fiction”?

Authors to be studied include Juan Goytisolo, Cristina Peri Rossi, Luis Cernuda, Max Aub, Ariel Dorfman, Julio Cortázar, and Luisa Valenzuela, Rafael Alberti, and José Donoso.

 

Prof. Sebastiaan Faber, Spring 2004


Span 446

Literatura y exilio en España y Latinoamérica

v

MWF, 2:30-3:30pm, 302 Peters

 

Instructor

Sebastiaan Faber

404 Peters, x58189

Messages: mailbox in 301 Peters

Office hours: M & Th, 11am-12pm, or by appointment

Email: sebastiaan.faber@oberlin.edu

 

Class meeting times

Class meets MWF 2:30-3:20pm in 302 Peters

 

Class website: Blackboard <bb.oberlin.edu>

 

Texts:

·        Dorfman, Ariel. Rumbo al sur, deseando el norte. Seven Stories Press, 2001. ISBN 1583220798. Required

·        Dorfman, Ariel. La muerte y la doncella. Seven Stories Press, 2001. ISBN 158322078X. Required

·        Cernuda, Luis. La realidad y el deseo, 1924-1962. Mexico: FCE, 1996. ISBN 9681646843 . Required

·        Donoso, José. El jardín de al lado. Madrid: Alfaguara, 1998. 9562390160. Required.

·        Texts on ERES.

 

Purpose of the course

            This course will analyze the effects of political exile on novels, poetry, plays, and essays written in Spanish on both sides of the Atlantic, with a particular focus on issues of national identity, loyalty, and representation.

 

Course requirements:

·        This course is set up like a seminar, with a minimum amount of lectures and a maximum amount of class discussion. Class attendance and participation are crucial. (Only documented illness or family emergencies constitute excused absenses. Any unexcused absence over 3 will lower the participation grade with 5 % (i.e., half a letter grade).

·        Students are expected to have read the assigned texts by the day indicated on the syllabus, and be prepared to discuss the assignments. To stimulate and focus the discussions, students will write short response papers for almost all readings assigned, sometimes based on specific questions formulated beforehand. These typewritten response papers are handed in and graded.

·        For each class, two students will be assigned to be in charge of initiating and leading the discussion.

·        In addition to the response papers, students are expected to write three more formally structured research papers over the course of the semester,. These papers will be around 3, 5, and 8-10 pages each.

·        Email and Blackboard will be the preferred medium for announcements, questions, and assignments; students are expected to check their mail every day.

·        Students are expected to attend several out-of-class film and documentary showings (place and time to be arranged). For those unable to attend the scheduled showings, all videos and DVDs will be placed on reserve in the language lab or the library.

 

Evaluation

The final class grade will be broken down as follows:

·        Participation and attendance                        20 %

·        Response papers                                        20 %

·        Midterm papers (10 & 20 %)                     30 %

·        Final paper                                     30 %

 

Regulations

·        This course is covered by the Oberlin College honor code. For all forms of (suspected) plagiarism this code will be strictly enforced.

·        No late homework will be accepted.

·        Students are expected to be on time and to remain for the entire class. Unexcused tardiness or early departure will be regarded as an absence. The student who misses any part of the class is responsible for acquiring the information missed.