Voices Across the Atlantic: Literature of the Spanish (American) Avant-garde

The avant-garde was a cosmopolitan phenomenon that challenged fixed boundaries. The Spanish and Latin American vanguards have common roots, beginning with the European journey of Vicente Huidobro in 1918. This Transatlantic dialogue continued through Jorge Luis Borges, who became an ultraísta in Spain and established the Argentine branch of the movement. In this course we will read prose, poetry, and essays produced on both sides of the Atlantic in the Interwar years (1919-1938). We will emphasize how these works channel—and criticize—a desire for the modern, how they pursue radical experimentation, and how they contest reason to embrace irrationality and fragmentation. (At least two courses at the 0300-level or above or by waiver).