2:30P-3:45P TR (30) 3 cr

TOPIC:  THE POWER OF PLACE--LATINO/A CULTURE AND THE SPATIAL
IMAGINARY

The end of the Vietnam War coincided with the end of what came to
be known as the Chicano Cultural Nationalist Movement -- a
movement that promoted civil rights and educational opportunities
for Mexican Americans.  In the period that followed the United
States economy underwent an extraordinary structural
transformation attended by a change in the political imaginary.
Not coincidentally, this period of US history has also seen a
"flowering" of Latina culture and arts.  We will look at this
vast new cultural production, and examine the themes that have
emerged and the issues that arise around cultural production=20
including debates about building new cultural traditions,
understanding various histories, and establishing a dialogue with
the broader US and Latin American cultures.  This course will
focus on how Latino/a and particularly Chicana/o writers and
artists have conceptualized  particular regions and the attending
experiences of migration and deterritorialization.=20
We will begin with discussions of the conquest, colonization, and
US expansion and the role of "Azatlan" in Cultural Nationalism.=20
We will then consider how writers analyze the production of
particular regions including Texas [Americo Paredes, George
Washington Gomez; Sandra Cisneros, WOMAN HOLLERING CREEK AND
OTHER STORIES, and selections from the work of Rolando Hinojosa
and Gloria Anzaldua] Arizona [Patricia Preciado Martin, EL
MILAGRO;  Alberto Rios, PIG COOKIES] New Mexico [Ana Castillo, SO
FAR FROM GOD;  Denise Chavez, FACE OF AN ANGEL; Rudolfo Anaya,
ALBAQUERQUE] and California [Michael Nava, THE HIDDEN LAW; Lorna
Dee Cervantes, EMPLUMADA; Alejandro Morales, THE BRICK PEOPLE].=20
In conjunction with novels, poetry, and short stories we will
study the music of Freddy Fender, Lydia Mendoza, Tish Hinojosa,
Los Lobos, Santana, Jerry Garcia, Kid Frost, and Selena and art
and film by Diane Gamboa, Judy Baca, Gronk, Carmen Lomas Garza,
Santa Barraza, Frances Salome Espana, Lourdes Portillo, Henry
Gamboa, and performance art by Louis Alfaro and Monica Palacios,
and the comic book series LOVE AND ROCKETS.=20
Course requirements will include one short essay, one exam, and a
paper comparing the production of one of these regions with
another region, e.g. Chicago, New York, or Miami.