Spanish

This course analyzes the history and dialectology of Latin American Spanish, with special focus on Chilean history and linguistic documentation of the colonial and post-colonial eras. Topics include: the concept of Latin American Spanish-- unity and diversity, Latin American Spanish and Atlantic Spanish; the influence of Andalusia and genetic matrices; diastratic-diatopic variation and zoning; historical aspects-- periodization of Latin American Spanish; koineization and standardization processes; linguistic contact-- indigenous substrata and immigrant languages.

This course examines the problems, methods, and results of semantics and pragmatics, with an emphasis on how they complement one another. It explores the development of semantics and pragmatics and contextualizes them in the development of general linguistics theory. Finally, this courses uses an organic assembly of theoretical concepts and methodologies for semantic and pragmatic analysis of the Spanish language.

Students study works by post Spanish Civil War writers. The novels chosen are written in radically different styles, ranging from social realism and naturalism to post-modernity or extreme experimentalism, and treat an array of themes, the conflict between the individual and society, the struggle against social norms and sexual morality, the deployment of fiction as a means of shaping both personal and national identity, and the alienating effects of modern society. Via these novels a variety of issues are considered, such as the changing role of the novel over the 20th century, the way novelists create an individual "voice" in dialogue with their predecessors, the function of the reader in the interpretative process, and the socio-political environment and sexual politics of reading and writing fiction.

This course provides a study of pre-Hispanic Mayan literature and culture as it interacts and changes with the beginning of colonization. Topics include: from izapa to post-classic; cosmogeny, structure of the univers, pantheon, and calendars; social structure-- nobility, commoners, and slaves; political organization-- lordships and states; economic organization-- tribute and trade. Authors and texts covered include: Fray Diego de Landa; Mercedes de la Garza; Chilam balam de Chumayel; Rabinal Achi; Popol Vuh. 

This course provides a study of pre-Hispanic Nahuatl literature and culture as it interacts and changes with the beginning of colonization. Topics include: characterization of Nahuatl literary genres, alphabetization of oral traditions, Spanish conquistador influence and basic comprehension of the Nahuatl language of Central Mexico. Texts covered include: Miguel León-Portilla, EL DESTINO DE LA PALABRA; Patrick K. Johansson, LA PALABRA, LA IMAGEN Y EL MANUSCRITO; Rafael Tena, MITOS E HISTORIAL DE LOS ANTIGUOS NAHUAS; Elizabeth Hill Boone, CICLOS DE TIEMPO Y SIGNIFICADO EN LOS LIBROS MEXICANOS DEL DESTINO.

This class covers Mexican literature of the colonial period from the beginning of the 17th Century to the end of the 18th Century, providing a historical and critical overview of the literature that developed in New Spain during this period. Through the reading of representative texts (poetry, narratives, drama and essays), the course examines the principal characteristics of the literature of New Spain from Mannerism and the Baroque to neoclassicism. The course further identifies the most important characteristics of the diverse literary currents and genres of this period and the importance of the studied texts and authors in the history of Mexican literature. Topics and readings may vary by semester and course instructor.

The Iberian Peninsula was home to the first ventures of global empire. Drawing on key medieval and early modern texts in Portuguese and Spanish from the peninsula and its colonies this course examines the literary representation of frontiers and colonization. Students learn about the emergence of the modern states we now call Spain and Portugal and how they were not only the initiators of worldwide transformations, but also the products of a complex process of colonization. Through the literary representation of the relations between Christians, Iberian Muslims, and the indigenous peoples of Africa and the New World, key concepts of frontier, conquest, reconquest, conversion and coexistence are examined as part of global movements and dynamic cultural (ex)change.

This course analyzes language from diverse perspectives (biological, cognitive, social, and cultural) and discusses its fundamental questions, such as its evolution, variation, acquisition, and relationship with other semiotic systems. 

This is the first part in the introduction to Spanish series. The course helps students acquire a basic level of Spanish language ability while broadening their overall understanding of the Spanish language, culture, and society. The course begins with the Spanish alphabet, basic vocabulary, and grammar review. It also develops a basic level of reading and writing skills in Spanish.