One of the defining characteristics of contemporary Latin American literature is the autobiographical presence of the author in texts that straddle the line between reference and fiction. These texts, which are difficult to classify, fall within an "autobiographical space" in which the boundaries between the categories of autobiography, novel, essay, memoir, and history are blurred. We are interested in works that question stable notions of identity from different points of view, such as narratives by children of parents that were assassinated by the Argentinean dictatorship, such as those by Felix Bruzzone, Mariana Eva Perez, Marta Dillon, or Raquel Robles; stories that delve into family genealogy, based on grandparents who immigrated from Europe during World War II, such as those by Eduardo Halfon or Natalia Timmerman; or texts by authors who travel in search of their origins, as those by Lina Meruane or Cynthia Edul, among others. We seek to understand the complexities of life writing in contemporary literature as "transpersonal" forms, between individual and collective memory, that are very important to understand contemporary Latin America. Taught in Spanish.
3-5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
One of the defining characteristics of contemporary Latin American literature is the autobiographical presence of the author in texts that straddle the line between reference and fiction. These texts, which are difficult to classify, fall within an "autobiographical space" in which the boundaries between the categories of autobiography, novel, essay, memoir, and history are blurred. We are interested in works that question stable notions of identity from different points of view, such as narratives by children of parents that were assassinated by the Argentinean dictatorship, such as those by Felix Bruzzone, Mariana Eva Perez, Marta Dillon, or Raquel Robles; stories that delve into family genealogy, based on grandparents who immigrated from Europe during World War II, such as those by Eduardo Halfon or Natalia Timmerman; or texts by authors who travel in search of their origins, as those by Lina Meruane or Cynthia Edul, among others. We seek to understand the complexities of life writing in contemporary literature as "transpersonal" forms, between individual and collective memory, that are very important to understand contemporary Latin America. Taught in Spanish.
Offered in Winter 2027 at Stanford University.