230625 Expanding U.S. Latinidad: "Who are the other US Latinos?" (S) (WiSe 2009/2010)

• “Expanding U.S. Latinidad: ‘Who are the Other US Latinos?’"

Latin@s/Hispanics constitute the fastest growing diasporic community in the USA. The recent growing visibility of this group might wrongly convey the impression that Latin@s are newcomers or interlopers to the US American historical and cultural landscape even though the presence of some of them can be traced back to periods before the arrival of Spanish explorers to the American continent or the founding of the USA. As a matter of fact, the invaluable corpus of research on Chican@, Cuban American, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican communities witness their struggles for recognition; indelible contributions to USA culture; and the cultural, linguistic, religious, and ethnic diversity of these eclectic groups that defy easy generalizations. By engaging with the narratives by “other” Latin@s such as Brazilian, Chilean, Colombian, Salvadorian American writers, this VERY READING INTENSIVE course will enlarge our understanding of the Latin@ history and experience. Some of the questions engaging this course will be among others: How does the US American experience of these “new” Latin@s differ from the experience of Chican@, Cuban American, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican communities? To what extent does their US experience remain similar and/or unique? How have they contributed to the redefine Latin@s identities?

A reader will be made available at the beginning of the course.

Bibliography

Students are encouraged to start reading the literary texts to their earliest convenience.

Required Reading:

Azebedo, Kathleen de. Samba Dreamers (Camino del Sol)

Cruz, Angie. Let It Rain Coffee

Díaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Dorfman, Ariel. Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey

Leguizamo, John. Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life

Edwidge, Danticat. The Farming of Bones

Paternostro, Silvana. My Colombian War: A Journey Through the Country I Left Behind

Manrique, Jaime. Latin Moon in Manhattan

Martínez, Demetria. Mother Tongue

Tobar, Hector. The Tattooed Soldier.