Narrating Space and Place

In this seminar we will study how space and place are represented in literature, film, and art. We will get acquainted with theories about the differences between space and place, place and non-place, as well as the exchanges between urban, suburban, and rural environments. We will read texts by Jorge Luis Borges, Georges Perec, and César Aira; discuss the theories of Gaston Bachelard and Marc Augé; analyze artwork by Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Johann Moritz Rugendas; and comment on modern urban planning in Latin America. Writing assignments will focus on strategies for narrating and describing places, both the real places we live in, and the imaginary spaces we project in our mental world, from college campuses and rural towns, to metropolises and cemeteries. 3 hrs. sem.