Spanish Major Courses – Fall 2022

All courses are taught in Spanish.

Spanish 250: Family and Gender Roles in Spain: 1900 to Present
GE: FOL-S & WRI (OLE CORE: WLC / WAC)
Section A – Prof. León Narváez, T 9:35-11:00 / Th 9:30-10:50
Section B – Prof. León Narváez, T 1:20-2:45 / Th 2:15-3:35

Since the late 20th century, Spain has undergone a “revolución familiar” – dramatic changes in family structures and gender roles, the rights of women and members of the LGBTQ community, and relationships between generations. While some of these changes may seem to parallel those that have occurred in other countries (including the U.S.), the way they came about in Spain is unique. In this class, we’ll explore the history of families and gender roles from the early 1900s to the present day through analysis of a series of “cultural texts” – from statistical data to periodical press articles to films to an historical novel that will help us imagine the lives of two teachers at a time when new ways of seeing the world put traditional values to the test. You will continue to develop your oral expression in Spanish through class discussions, presentations, and other activities, and most importantly, through various modes of academic writing. The course includes participation in three out-of-class conversation groups.

Texts:

• Novel: Historia de una maestra (Josefina R. Aldecoa)
• Film: La lengua de las mariposas
• Other non-literary readings (course packet)

Prerequisite: Spanish 232 or Placement into Spanish 250 or Spanish 251
Spanish 250 or Spanish 251 required for the Spanish major (only one of these two courses can count for the major)

Spanish 250 or Spanish 251 required for the Latin American Studies major

Counts Toward Majors: Latin American Studies, Performance, Political Science, Spanish, Women’s and Gender Studies.

Counts Toward Concentrations: Family Studies, International Relations, Management Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies.

Spanish 251: Gender and Race in Latin America
GE: FOL-S & WRI (OLE CORE: WLC / WAC)
Prof. Jonathan O’Conner, MWF 12:55-1:50

Students explore diverse experiences of modern Latin America through the lenses of gender and race, which provide a productive framework for examining economic, class, and other key aspects of Latin American society. Students will work with a variety of sources, both literary and non-literary, including articles, images, documents, and a Latin American novel. This cultural analysis provides for the development of critical reading and writing skills (e.g., description, narration, exposition, and argumentation) used in advanced-level Spanish courses. Taught in Spanish. Offered each semester. Students may take either Spanish 250 or 251, which are equivalent, but should not repeat the 250 level.

Prerequisite: Spanish 232 or placement into Spanish 250 or 251.

Counts toward Gender & Sexuality Studies, RACE, and Latin American studies majors. Also counts toward Latin American Studies, RACE, and Gender & Sexuality Studies concentrations.

Spanish 275: Exploring Hispanic Literature: Masculinidades en el Caribe contemporáneo
GE: ALS-L (OLE CORE: CRE). May count for Gender and Sexuality Studies
Prerequisite: Spanish 250 or Spanish 251
Prof. Kristina Medina-Vilariño  T 1:20-2:45 / Th 2:15-3:35

El cantante puertorriqueño de trap, Bad Bunny, se presentó en febrero del 2020 en el Tonight Show vestido con falda. La imagen impresa en su camisa llevaba un reclamo de que “mataron a Alexa [,] no a un hombre con falda.” Alexa fue una mujer transgénero asesinada en un violento crimen de odio en Puerto Rico que aún queda sin resolver. Las masas de fans aplaudían el acto de Bad Bunny, en persona y online, incluyendo algunos escritores y artistas activistas LGBTQ. Sin embargo, en mayo del 2021, un sector del senado en el Capitolio de Puerto Rico, defendía la legalidad de las terapias de conversión. Este contraste refleja el choque de distintas ideologías que operan entre las comunidades caribeñas más allá de Puerto Rico y alcanzan a sus diásporas. Mientras que el contrato social de gran parte de los jóvenes caribeños en el 2023 pareciera ser la aceptación de una mayor libertad sexual y el rechazo de cualquier binario de género, la realidad diaria nos recuerda que las expectativas culturales no han cambiado del todo. 

Este curso explora el concepto de la masculinidad en el Caribe a través de la literatura. Algunas secciones de los textos incluidos en esta clase contienen un lenguaje sexual gráfico que podría resultar ofensivo para algunas personas. Aquell@s estudiantes que tengan alguna reserva personal con este tipo de contenido pueden discutir alternativas con la profesora durante la primera semana de clases. Analizaremos textos literarios, incluyendo poesía, novela, crónica y ensayo. Los estudiantes explorarán la relación entre cultura, raza, política y masculinidad dentro de movimientos sociales y políticos, con un énfasis en el discurso literario anticolonialista. Al final del semestre los estudiantes crearán un proyecto digital comparativo, enfocado en el tema del curso y sus respectivas profesiones.

Los textos no estarán disponibles en la librería de St Olaf College. Favor de seleccionar su proveedor de libros preferido. No es necesario hacer compras internacionales para adquirirlos. La recomendación de la profesora es comunicarse directamente con vendedores puertorriqueños, y de ser posible, con las mismas publicadoras, antes de utilizar Amazon. 

1. Cuento: “Letra para salsa, y tres soneos por encargo” de Ana Lydia Vega. PDF en Moodle.
2. Cuento: “El josco” de Abelardo Díaz Alfaro. PDF en Moodle.
3. Epístola: “El hombre nuevo” de Ernesto “Che” Guevara. PDF en Moodle.
4. Novela policiaca: El hombre triángulo de Rey Emmanuel Andújar (comprar)
5. Crónica: Selecciones de Una noche con Iris Chacón de Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá. PDF en Moodle
6. Crónica: Aterrizar no es regreso de Xavier Valcárcel (comprar)
7. Novela y poesía: Celestino antes del alba de Reinaldo Arenas (comprar)
8. Poesía: LO TERCIARIO/THE TERCIARY – Raquel Salas Rivera (comprar)
9. Testimonio, novela y cuento: Selecciones de Trilogía sucia de la Habana de Mirta Yáñez. PDF en Moodle
10. Ensayo: “El puertorriqueño dócil” de René Marqués.

This course is required for the Spanish major.

Spanish 276:  Spanish as a First and Second Language
Prerequisite: Spanish 250 or Spanish 251
Prof. Maggie Broner, MWF 10:45-11:40

¿Qué significa hablar bien una lengua? ¿Qué lenguas tienen poder en Estados Unidos y el mundo hispanohablante? ¿Por qué es el español una lengua minoritaria en los Estados Unidos? ¿Por qué se enseña el español como una lengua extranjera y no como una segunda lengua en los Estados Unidos? ¿Por qué los libros de texto de español introducen el uso de “vosotros” pero no “vos”? ¿Qué es Spanglish y quién lo habla? This course will critically explores these, and other, questions related to the acquisition and use of Spanish as first, Heritage, and second language in a social context. The course introduces the cognitive and social processes involved in learning, acquiring, and using Spanish as a second language.  In addition, Span 276 explores Spanish as a first and Heritage language through the study of the different varieties of Spanish spoken in the Spanish-speaking world, with particular emphasis on Spanish and English bilingualism in the U.S. The questions also invite us to look at the intersections between language, power, and identity. In order to do all this, this course will introduce some foundational notions from the fields of Second Language Acquisition, Hispanic Linguistics and sociolinguistics.

Tentative reading list:

• Packet of journal articles and book chapters (available through the Bookstore)
• El español a través de la lingüística by Jennifer Ewald and Anne Edstrom (available through the Bookstore)
• Mi mundo adoraro by Supreme Justice Sonia Sotomayor (available through the Bookstore)
• Materiales para Span 276 course handouts available through the Bookstore)

This course is required for the Spanish major

Counts for Linguistic Studies concentration
Counts for RACE

Spanish 311: Language and Society: Language. Power, and Ideology
Prerequisite: Spanish 250 or Spanish 251; and Spanish 276
Prof. Maggie Narvaez, MWF 12:55-1:50

This course introduces students to the study of language as it intersects with systems of power informed by different language ideologies. The course will include a critical view of language from the perspectives of “language regard” (Preston), “glotopolitics” (del Valle), and “restorative justice” (Glen Martinez). These three theoretical lenses will be used to study several “language issues” such as: the standarization of Spanish, the use of inclusive language, indigenous language minority rights, language planning in the USA, Spain, and Latin America. In addition in this course we will analyze different multimodal discourses present in a number of “linguistic objects” such as the preamble to the first Spanish language grammar (Nebrija), official documents from the Real Academia de la Lengua Española, La Enciclopedia del Español en los Estados Unidos, textbooks, social media, oral discourses, etc.

Course materials

• Las lenguas en la sociedad de Carla Amorós Negre (comprar versión en Kindle
• La mayoría de las lecturas estarán en Moodle (deberán traer una computadora a clase o imprimir las lecturas (se prefiere la segunda opción)

May count for focus on Spain or Latin America. Please consult with your instructor.

Spanish 314: Literature and Society in Latin America. Topic: Love and Magical Realism: Overcoming the Challenges of Life
GE: ALS-L (OLE CORE: CRE)
Prerequisite: Spanish 250 or Spanish 251 and Spanish 275
Prof. León Narváez, MWF 8:00-8:55

Among English-speakers one sometimes hears references to “the power of love” and much is written about love, particularly the love between man and woman as well as family love (between parents and children, between siblings, between grandparents and grandchildren). At the same time some people deny human capacity to overcome difficulties and profound changes in life through love. Is it possible to sustain love between two people under extremely adverse conditions? Are there biological and social forces that ‘drive us to love’? What matters at the end of a human life: the political, social, and economic history of a society or the history of the family? What has ultimate meaning: the history of a nation or the love of a committed couple based on shared perceptions, experiences, and esteem? Even among those who believe in the power of love, there are differing opinions with respect to the importance of the love of God. For many novelists toward the end of the past century and today, God does not appear to exist, or at least the force of God in human life is never communicated.  In Spanish 314 we will explore these and other themes in a series of literary works written in Latin America. We will analyze not only the authors’ perspectives but also the techniques employed to communicate them. Our particular focus will be the use of magical realism. In addition, we wish to develop our linguistic capacity, that is to say, our capacity as readers, speakers, and writers of Spanish. We hope to stimulate our appreciation of the verbal art of Hispanic writers as we comment on aspects of that art.

The texts:

• Cien años de soledad (Gabriel García Márquez)
• La casa de los espíritus (Isabel Allende)
• Como agua para chocolate (Laura Esquivel)

NOTE: Students may register for Spanish 314 more than once provided a different topic is offered.