Place and the Environment in Spanish American Fiction

This course reconsiders the role of place and the environment in a series of Spanish American novels in which the physical setting plays a significant role. We will explore the different ways in which the natural world has shaped a sense of place-bound identity and how Spanish American identities have been tied to the natural landscape; how the prairies, the jungle, the mountains, the desert, and the water contributed in shaping individuals and a sense of place. Topics include the influence of Romanticism and idealized landscapes, the autochthonous novel and regionalism, reactions to modernization, how human history is implicated in natural history, ecocriticism of the 1990s, and our own experiences of wilderness and wildness. Authors may include Isaacs, Rivera, Quiroga, Carpentier, Vargas Llosa, García Márquez, Sepúlveda, and Ferré. Satisfies the IS advanced language requirement in Spanish. (At least two Spanish courses at the 0300 level or above, or by waiver) 3 hrs. lect./disc.