“Us” and “Them”: Cross-Cultural Representations in Spanish American Literature and Film

This class will study the construction of self and other in Latin American cultural production. By examining examples from colonial times to today in a variety of literary genres and in three particular countries - Mexico, Argentina and Peru - we will examine ethnic, racial, and national identities (primarily). Our study will include some of the theoretical ideas associated with the confrontation between "them" and "us" and changes in these positions: the concept of the contact zone, of acculturation, and cultural hybridity, among others.