Professor Ramón García-Castro
Semester & Year: Fall 1998
Course Description: 1998 is an important year for the Caribbean because in 1898 the United States won the Spanish American War against Spain. The result was that Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, plus the Philippines in the Pacific became territories controlled by the U.S. Puerto Rico is still a Commonwealth of the USA, although the possibility of becoming the 51th state of the Union is being discussed, as is both the remaining in the Commonwealth or Independence for the island. Cuba, on the other hand, is in the other end of the political spectrum. Cuba's relations with the USA are quite negative, although just recently President Clinton softened in a slight way the USA stand versus Cuba. The Dominican Republic has an entirely different history from the other two Spanish Speaking islands. Regretfully, it has not been included for the moment in this class.
Spanish 313a will deal mainly with Puerto Rican and Cuban contemporary literature works. There are short stories, plays and novels from the fifties to the nineties in Puerto Rico, with a fairly good female representation. Many of these books are quite short. On the other hand, a long and not so simple novel as Tres tristes tigres from Cuba, limits the Cuban presentation to only three books, including Senel Paz's famous Fresa y Chocolate, whose film has been widely shown in American movie theaters.
Readings:
From Puerto Rico
1.- Magaly García Ramis. !Felices días, tío Sergio!
2.- Emilio Díaz Valcárcel. Mi mamá me ama
3.- Pedro Juan Soto. Spiks
4.- Carmen Lugo Filippi y Ana Lydia Vega. Vírgenes y mártires
5.- Luis Rafael Sánchez. La guaracha del Macho Camacho
6.- Rosario Ferré. La casa en la laguna
7.- René Marqués. Purificación en la calle del Cristo
8.- José Antonio Ramos. Hilando mortajas
From Cuba:
9.- Guillermo Cabrera Infante. Tres tristes tigres
10.- Senel Paz. Fresa y chocolate
11.-Alejo Carpentier. El arpa y la sombra
Course Requirements:
Prerequisite: A 200 Spanish Level course or consent of the instructor
Four five page papers in Spanish
Attendance.
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This page maintained by Roberto Castillo, Last updated April, 1998