US Latino Lit

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course is a survey of Latino literature in English, Spanish, Spanglish, and other hybrid forms written primarily throughout the last century. Because Latino is a general term that refers to Latin Americans or descendents of Latin Americans living within the United States, we consider a heterogeneous range of works by artists who distinguish themselves as Chicanos, Dominican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Nuyoricans, or Cuban-Americans. We will pay close attention to aesthetic techniques that engage diverse identities grounded in the challenges of colonization, migration and “crossings,” labor practices, precarious juridical statuses, racialization, and the imposition of US hegemonic cultural, economic, and political models. While primary texts include novels, short stories, essays, plays, and poetry by writers such as Luis Rafael Sánchez, Julia Álvarez, and Gloria Anzaldúa, we will also consider auditory, visual, and performance works by activists and artists, Yolanda López, Coco Fusco, and Guillermo Gómez Peña, among others. This course includes conversations with contemporary Latino writers as well as visits to performance venues in DC