Hispanic Studies 427: Crossing Borders: Latin American Narratives of Migration

Stories that vilify Latin American immigrants as invaders and criminals or, alternatively, that vindicate the immigrant as an example of bootstrapped determination and hard work abound in U.S. popular discourses. Yet these narratives flatten the complexity of the migrant experience to the United States, and erase the rich traditions of migrant and border writing by Latin Americans and U.S. Latinxs. This course offers a comprehensive study of Latin American and U.S. Latinx migrant and border narrative fiction, nonfiction, film, and poetry in Spanish and English. Students interrogate the categories“immigration” and “immigrant” by analyzing a diverse cast of migrant subjects: economic immigrants, exiles, colonial diasporic subjects, refugees, “atravesados” in the borderlands, and tourists and sojourners. Evaluation is based on class participation, written and oral assignments, and a final research paper. May be applied to the Narrative/Essay requirement for the Hispanic Studies Major. Satisfies 400 level requirement for Hispanic Studies minor. Courses taught in Spanish.