12483

LIT 203      The Rhetoric of Conquest and Contact: (De)Colonizing Narratives of Latin America

Nicole Caso

T  Th 11:50 am-1:10 pm

OLINLC 210

FL

Cross-listed: Human Rights; Latin American & Iberian Studies; Spanish Studies

From the first moment of contact between Spain and the Americas, distinct forms of cultural representation have emerged to make sense of new encounters between different ways of knowing and being in the world. This course traces the history of rhetorical strategies and recurrent tropes that continue to repeat in the literature of Latin America as the trauma of the initial contact remains in the consciousness of the region. Notions such as “the tabula rasa,” “the noble savage,” “the marvelous,” and “the ineffable” are central to narratives that contend with unresolvable ontological tensions. Among the topics and texts addressed are the 1550 debate of Valladolid convened to determine whether indigenous people were human and had souls; the connection between legal constructions of religious purity (pureza de sangre) in the Spanish Reconquest against the Moors and later classifications of race in the Spanish colonies; Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala’s chronicle to the king of Spain using European rhetorical strategies to denounce the violent excesses perpetrated in Perú in his name; indigenous representations cunningly adapted by Spaniards and Ladinos to bring indigenous societies into the Christian fold, and other iconic Western figures that are deployed to resist and subvert cultural assimilation. Walter Mignolo, Aníbal Quijano, Gloria Anzaldúa, Antonio Cornejo Polar, and María Lugones, among others, will provide the theoretical framework for our readings. This course aims to expose students to some of the fundamental concepts needed to understand Latin American colonial and post-colonial studies in various fields. Conducted in English.  This course is part of the World Literature and Pre-1800 course offering.

Class size: 22

 

12484

LIT 212      Succession: Kings and Queens in European History and Literature

Karen Sullivan

T  Th 10:10 am-11:30 am

OLIN 101

LA

Cross-listed: French Studies; Historical Studies; Medieval Studies

Even today, in an age when democracy is widely accepted as the only acceptable form of government, monarchy remains a critical point of orientation in our discussions of political leadership. Why was it that, for most of human history, the rule of kings and queens was seen as natural and even divinely-ordained? What was it that the subjects in monarchies dreamed of in their ruler, and what was it that they feared? What was the connection between the personal and political lives of rulers, and how was that connection seen as affecting their kingdoms? What happens in a family when parents, children, and siblings are all jostling for power? By reading a series of texts, both historical and fictional, from the European Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Age of Revolutions, we will examine the ideals and the reality of monarchy. Kings and queens to be considered include Charlemagne, King Arthur, King Alfred, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard the Lionheart, Saint Louis, Henry V, Elizabeth I, and Marie Antoinette. This is a pre-1800 Literature course offering.

Class size: 22

 

12494

LIT 246      Poetry and Rebellion: Milton's Paradise Lost

Marisa Libbon

M  W    1:30 pm-2:50 pm

OLIN 303

LA

 When is disobedience justified? And what price are we willing to pay for disobeying? In this course, we will explore questions of civil and personal responsibility, of freedom of speech, of thought, of allegiance, and of good and evil through a close reading of John Milton’s 17th-century epic, Paradise Lost. It is a strange and breathtaking work. Beginning when the rebel-angel Lucifer, now Satan, finds himself lying disoriented in hell after having been “hurled headlong, flaming” out of heaven, Paradise Lost narrates the story of the creation and fall of humanity as, in part, a consequence of the angels’ rebellion against God. A polemicist, minister of government (Secretary for Foreign Tongues), and poet, Milton was also a radical: an antimonarchist who advocated the overthrow of England’s king and supported the subsequent kingless Commonwealth. When the monarchy was restored, Milton was cast out of government and his home, and was for a time imprisoned. He had long wanted to write a national epic for England, like Virgil’s Aeneid. He wrote instead an epic “of man’s first disobedience,” an attempt to “justify the ways of God to men.” And perhaps to himself. Paradise Lost grapples with questions that remain pressing: how can we use language to express the unknowable? How can we recognize evil? We will read Paradise Lost alongside a selection of Milton’s polemics and poems, and in doing so will join the epic’s community of readers and critics, from T.S. Eliot to Malcolm X.  This is a pre-1800 Literature course offering.

Class size: 18

 

12029

LIT 3205      Love & Death in Dante

Joseph Luzzi

W       1:30 pm-3:50 pm

OLIN 101

FL

FLLC

 Cross-listed: Italian Studies

 What makes Dante’s Divine Comedy so essential to our lives today, even though it was written seven centuries ago? This course will explore the fascinating world of Dante’s epic poem in all its cultural and historical richness, as we consider Dante’s relation to his beloved hometown of Florence, his lacerating experience of exile, and his lifelong devotion to his muse Beatrice, among many other issues. We will pay special attention to the originality and brilliance of Dante’s poetic vision, as we see how he transformed his great poem into one of the most influential works in literary history, both in Italy and throughout the world. Course/reading in English. This course counts as pre-1800 offering. 

Class size: 15