SPA 410 - Writing and Righting the Cuban Revolution

“Writing/Righting the Cuban Revolution” examines literary texts, films, art and other cultural artifacts related to the “writing” and “righting” of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. We will find that the search for ideals, the hope for utopian place, was a part of the Cuban imagination long before 1959. For, Cuba has been part of the dialogue around notions of “Paradise lost” (and found?) since Columbus first sailed for the New World; many of those same ideals would be later rewritten in the lofty dreams the Cuban Revolution.
 
This class explores critical and literary works that expose the frustrations and social divisions that led up to Castro’s Revolution, both the elation and the regret of the early days of the Revolution, along with that uncover much about the resilience of the contemporary pueblo cubano. The majority of the works studied are from the 1940s through contemporary Cuba, with some earlier texts that reveal struggles of the former colony, first made wealthy by exploration and slavery.

Satisfies the Area V requirement for the Hispanic Studies major.
Satisfies the Literary Theory, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the Latin American Studies major and interdisciplinary minor.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Unless given special permission, this class is limited to Juniors and Seniors, and student must have already taken any two 300-level culture or literature classes in Spanish.
Enrollment priority is given first to seniors and majors.

Conducted in Spanish

May include a week-long trip to Cuba in May