Cuba and Puerto Rico: Two Wings of a Bird

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

While she was living in exile in Cuba in the 1890s, Puerto Rican Poet Lola Rodríguez de Tió wrote the following lines, which are among the most iconic in Hispanic Caribbean verse: "Cuba y Puerto Rico son de de un pájaro las dos alas, / reciben flores y balas en un mismo corazón...". At the time these lines were seen as a testament to the the similar histories that these two Caribbean islands had developed after some four centuries of Spanish rule, but, as one critic has put it, "they can also be seen as a chilling presage of what was to come after the U.S. won the Spanish American War in 1898 and became a consistent presence in the future of both countries." In this class we will explore, through the study of Cuban and Puerto Rican History and Literature, the islands' many shared legacies such as colonialism, slavery, political unrest, and US intervention. Moreover, through readings of works by a variety of authors and literary genres, we will examine the many political, economic, social and cultural factors that have served to shape each island's identity over the past five centuries. Students will be required to write journal entries for each class, several short papers, and a final essay. There will also be a mid-term exam.