Spirituality and Revolution in the Short Stories of Julio Cortazar

*Three-week course, second session*



A survey of Julio Cortázar’s extensive body of short stories, focusing on two contrasting aspects of his work: his artistic appropriation of religious and theological elements and his left-wing political engagement from 1960 until his death in 1984. In our readings of many of Cortázar’s most famous stories, from “Casa tomada” and “Axolotl” to “El perseguidor” and “Apocalipsis de Solentiname,” we will explore Cortázar’s use of theological concepts such as sacredness, eternity, and prophecy, and the convergence between his fictions and the ideas of liberation theology. (.5 unit)



Required text: Julio Cortázar, La autopista del sur y otros cuentos ed. Aurora Bernárdez. (New York: Penguin Books, 1996. ISBN: 978-0140255805).