4000

The practice of reading and writing is closely linked to a series of assumptions regarding the subject. Starting in the 18th and 19th Centuries, the subject became a central individual, the origin or motivations, acts and discourse. This notion of the subject has come to a crisis, in the theory as well as the literature of the 20th Century. The identity of the subject with itself has been questioned, in theoretic as well as psychoanalytical texts (Freud, Lacan), literary texts and certain autobiographical writing (Borges, Barthes). In addition, the subject has been brought off center as regards the laws of its desire, those of language that enable it to exist, those of power that make it possible. This forces use to rethink our reading practice. After the author’s death, the reading-writing duo cannot be understood as a dichotomy: Active-passive, codify-decode. The subject crisis also affects the way characters are constructed and read: their central role as agents, subjects that cause actions and discourse becomes blurred. Their subjectivity is not reflected in the writing: It takes place within and it is at the mercy of its games. This course analyzes how a series of theoretic and literary texts from the 20th century question the notion of the subject as an individual and how this crisis challenges three core notions for literary studies: the character, the author, the reader.

The place of individual and otherness, as well as their relationship with everything (social or cultural) constitutes a concern for numerous theorists from different disciplines such as literary theory, philosophy, historiography and, in general, humanities and social sciences. The possibility or impossibility to reconcile individual with everything, and the challenges posed for the notion of justice, are also fundamental topics in different literary texts. The objective of this course is to study theoretic texts from different disciplines related to said problem, as well as their ethical and aesthetic implications. In addition, a few literary texts will be included in the discussion to enrich the dialog. The authors to be studied include Jacques Derrida, Walter Benjamin, Emmanuel Levinas, Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, Paul de Man, Gershom Scholem, Theodor Adorno, Franz Kafka and Primo Levi.

The course looks at the ethnic representations in Latin America from the Conquest to Independence. There will be a critical approach to a large heterogeneous mass of races, ethnicities and languages that fall under the various social discourses to explore and reflect on the multiple meanings of cultural differences and similarities constructed within colonial societies, on plantations, in mines, colonial cities and educated cities as well. It will examine the permanent construction, and challenge of reformulation of identity and otherness stories at different times of the Latin American cultural history. Also, the image formation of the savage, the evangelist, the stories about the failure of the Conquest, and the formation of hybrid identities. It will also explore the emergence of the criolla consciousness in America, between the American elites during the Baroque and the enlightenment in the XVII and XVIII centuries, and the tensions and ambivalences of the educated city and the others. As cultural resources we will use cartography, engraving, indigenous codices, paintings and films. Central themes: 1) The European imagination in front of the Discovery of the new land and people

This research seminar is for students in their first semester of the Master’s Program to guide them in delimiting the topic of the specialized article they will hand in as a graduation requirement, according to their research interests. The Coordinator assists students in their study of the status of the research topics chosen, their pertinence, the methodological elements and the core concepts involved in the type of article in mind.

This research seminar is for students of the Master’s Program to facilitate their progress in carrying out their thesis. Students will work independently with their advisor, and the course coordinator will make sure the deadlines established to hand in partial work and course grades are met. The seminar is based on the idea that all research involves an attitude of inquiry and curiosity, inconformity as regards the responses available on a topic or problem of literary studies, the critical review of a primary and secondary bibliography, the discipline for disciplinary and interdisciplinary documentary research. Therefore, all research must be based on the full awareness of previous discussions on the matter and constitute a novel contribution, a reconsideration of previous research.

The student swill work with their tutor in preparing their research work.