Afro-Latin American Literature

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In practically every country in Latin America that had significant populations of enslaved Blacks, post-emancipation politics attempted to write Blacks out of the national narrative, thus limiting Blacks’ claims to equality and political participation. “Afro-Latin American Literature and Culture” begins with several fundamental questions: How do Black artists wield art to make claims to inclusion in their local and national communities? What is art’s relation to history and the racial national narrative? Can the arts ameliorate material conditions and racial politics? To pursue these questions, this course will explore the multiple forms of cultural expression created by Black creatives and their communities in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and Latin America. Focusing on Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, this course will read literature by Black writers from each country as well as examine the religious practices, dance, music, food, graphic arts, and film that shape and reflect these Black communities. Artists will include Luz Argentina Chiriboga, Manuel Zapata Olivella, Rómulo Bustos Aguirre, Gloria Rolando, Esteban Montejo, Nancy Morejón, Alfredo Lam, and ChocQuibTown.