SPAN 510: Methods of Literary and Cultural Studies

SPAN 510-001: Method of Lit and Cult Studies
(Fall 2018)

04:30 PM to 07:10 PM T

Aquia Building 347

Section Information for Fall 2018

SPAN 510

 

Methods of Literary and Cultural Studies[1]

Fall 2018

Aquia Building 347

Tuesdays 4:30-7:20 p.m.

 

Professor Lisa M. Rabin

Office: Aquia 327

Office Hours: Tuesdays directly after class,d and by appointment

lrabin@gmu.edu

 

 

Course Description

This course is an introduction to literary, film and cultural studies in Spanish. It is conducted entirely in Spanish and is open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates with the permission of the instructor. Students will study the historical development of key trends in literary and cultural studies, from classical poetics to 20th-century formalism and structuralism to late 20th- and 21st-century post-structuralism and identity studies. Students will also learn how to use these various methods in the close analysis of Spanish-language literary texts, films, television programs and other cultural practices, with an eye to revealing how these practices have made meaning for readers and audiences across the Spanish-speaking world.

 

Objectives

  1. To introduce students to the historical development of approaches to studying literary texts and cultural practices;

 

  1. To help students situate major debates in the academic fields of literary and cultural studies within this history;
  2. To show students how to use key concepts and terminology effectively and coherently at the graduate level;

 

  1. To encourage students’ development of analytical writing skills;

 

  1. To foster students’ skills at critical thinking, discussion, and interdisciplinary research.

 

Required Texts

Leitch, Vincent, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 3rd edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2018. ISBN 978-0-393-93292-8. 

 

Juan Gabriel Vásquez, El ruido de las cosas al caer. Barcelona: DeBolsillo, 2015.

 

You are asked to rent one movie to watch the week of October 30: Una mujer fantástica (Sebastián Lelio, Chile, 2017), https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/A-Fantastic-Woman/B079RSLS23.

 

Additional readings and web links are listed on the Class Calendar. They will also be made available on our Blackboard course site.

 

Grading:

Attendance and Participation                                  15%

Short written homework assignments (4 x 5%)       20%

Two mid-term take-home exams (2 x 20%)              40%

Final, take-home exam                                            25%

 

Notes on attendance and participation – 15%

This class is a graduate seminar. It depends upon students’ active engagement with the material at home in preparation for class as well as during class discussion. I will be posting two question prompts for each homework assignment to guide you in your understanding of the week’s material. You are required to produce and turn in five of these assignments in written form; see “Notes on written homework assignments” below. The other assignments do not need to be turned in but should be completed, brought to class and used in your contributions to discussion.

 

Your participation grade will also include your work as a “discussion leader” during one class session over the course of the semester. On most of our class meetings, two students will assume leadership in each discussing one of the two question prompts for your weekly assignment. You should expect to devote 10 minutes to performing this activity in class. I will ask students to choose their date for this activity at the beginning of our first class on August 28. I will post specific details on my expectations for this leadership exercise the first week of class. Please note that if circumstances involve your having to miss the class and reschedule your assignment as discussion leader, you should let me know as soon as possible.

 

Notes on written homework assignments (4 – 5% each) = 20%

As noted above, you will be required to respond in writing on Blackboard to four designated homework prompts over the course of the semester. The assignments should consist of one page maximum of analytical writing. You should expect these written assignments when you see “Escribir” in the homework section after the list of reading and/or viewing assignments (TAREA). These assignments will also be posted under “Course Content” on Blackboard. I will post a grading rubric for these assignments on “Course Content” the first week of class. You should consider these assignments as warm-ups for the more substantial work you will be asked to do on exams.

 

Mid-term take-home exams – 40% (2 x 20%)

Two mid-term, take-home exams are scheduled to be turned in on October 2 and November 13. Mid-terms will consist of questions directly related to class topics, materials and discussions. They will be posted on Blackboard immediately after our review class a week before each exam, or September 25 and November 6.

 

Final take-home exam – 25%

A take-home final exam will be posted on Blackboard immediately after the last day of class on December 1. It must be completed and turned in to Blackboard by Tuesday, December 11 at 4:30 p.m. The final exam will consist of questions directly related to the materials, topics and discussions covered over the scope of the semester.

 

General rules for written assignments:

All written assignments must be typed in 12-point black New Times Roman font, double-spaced with margins of 1 inch. All assignments must be in Spanish and submitted on Blackboard by their deadlines, which are indicated below on the syllabus and will also be posted on Blackboard. Any assignment that does not follow these guidelines will be returned and counted as a late assignment. Late assignments must be reduced by 5% of the total grade of the assignment per day. After three days, I cannot accept the assignment. 

 

General class policies

Cheating and plagiarism:

Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class. Sources and materials need to be properly cited and acknowledged. All written work, including exams and outside of class assignments, must be done independently. In addition, you are not allowed to ask a Spanish native speaker or a more advanced student to correct your papers, or to use any translation programs. There is no exception to these policies. Assignments may be sent to a plagiarism identification service. Please review the full description of the University’s Honor Code and the honor committee process here: https://oai.gmu.edu/mason-honor-code/Academic Integrity here:). If I suspect cheating and/or plagiarism, I am obliged by the Honor Code to refer the case to the Office of Academic Integrity.

 

Another aspect of academic integrity is the free play of ideas. Vigorous discussion and debate are encouraged in this course, with the firm expectation that all aspects of the class will be conducted with civility and respect for differing ideas, perspectives, and traditions. When in doubt (of any kind) please ask for guidance and clarification.

 

Commitment to the inclusive classroom at George Mason University:

“This class will be conducted as an intentionally inclusive community that celebrates diversity and welcomes the participation in the life of the university of faculty, staff and students who reflect the diversity of our plural society. All may feel free to speak and to be heard without fear that the content of the opinions they express will bias the evaluation of their academic performance or hinder their opportunities for participation in class activities. In turn, all are expected to be respectful of each other without regard to race, class, linguistic background, religion, political beliefs, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, veteran’s status, or physical ability”.

 

Challenges to learning:

If you are challenged in a way that affects outcomes to your learning, please contact Disability Support Services in SUB I Suite 2500 or at 993-2474 as well as your instructors. All accommodations must be arranged through this office.

 

Religious observance:

Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class should notify their instructor in writing at the beginning of the semester, and should discuss with their instructor, in advance, acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence.

 

Useful resources:

 

Important Dates on University Calendar:

First day of classes; last day to submit Domicile Reclassification Application; Payment Due Date

August 28

Labor Day, university closed

September 4

Last day to add classes—all individualized section forms due
Last day to drop with no tuition penalty

September 5

Last day to drop with a 33% tuition penalty

September 19

Final Drop Deadline (67% tuition penalty)

September 29

Midterm progress reporting period (100-200 level classes)—grades available via Patriot Web

September 25 –
October 20

Selective Withdrawal Period (undergraduate students only)

October 2 –
October 27

Fall Break
(Monday classes/labs meet Tuesday. Tuesday classes do not meet this week)

October 9

Incomplete work from spring/summer 2017 due to instructor

October 27

Incomplete grade changes from spring/summer 2017 due to Registrar

November 3

Thanksgiving recess

November 22 – 26

Last day of classes

December 9

Reading Days
Reading days provide students with additional study time for final examinations. Faculty may schedule optional study sessions, but regular classes or exams may not be held.

December 11 – 12

Exam Period

Wed December 13 –
Wed December 20

 

 

Calendario de clase (tentativo):

Habrá circunstancias en las cuales la clase podrá determinar de modo democrático en hacer cambios a este programa de clase.

 

TAREA de preparación para la primera clase:

Norton: “Introduction”

 

martes, 28 de agosto

        Introducción al ámbito de la clase.

 

¿Por qué necesitamos un curso sobre los métodos de los estudios literarios y culturales?

 

Comenzar con los clásicos: teorías de Aristóteles sobre el drama. Indagar sobre su relevancia en nuestro propio tiempo.

 

TAREA:

Leer: Plato, “From The Republic” [Norton],

Aristotle, Poetics (Norton),

y Federico García Lorca, Yerma, http://www.vicentellop.com/TEXTOS/lorca/yerma.pdf [Bb].

 

Escribir: responde a mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura.

 

 

martes, 04 de septiembre

Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

 

Las teorías de literatura en la época medieval y renacentista.

 

Las épocas decisivas de la Ilustración y el Romanticismo en el desarrollo de ideas duraderas sobre la razón humana, la estética y la autonomía de la obra de arte. La contribución de José Ortega y Gasset a los argumentos de estética.

 

TAREA:

Leer: Immanuel Kant, “Critique of Judgment” [Norton],

Ortega y Gassett, “La deshumanización del arte” [Bb],

y poemas de Jorge Luis Borges y Gabriel Mistral [Bb].

 

Reflexionar: seguir mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura.

 

 

 martes, 11 de septiembre

Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

 

Introducción al formalismo ruso y la influencia de Ferdinand Saussure. Roman Jakobsen sobre la poesía. Desde el formalismo al estructuralismo.

 

TAREA:

Leer:  Roman Jakobsen, “Linguistics and Poetics” [Norton],

Tzevetan Todorov, “Structural Analysis of Narrative” [Norton],

y cuentos cortos TBA [Bb].

 

Escribir: responde a mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura.

 

 

martes, 18 de septiembre

Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

Introducción a la gran influencia de Sigmund Freud y el psicoanálisis.

Combinar el estructuralismo y el psicoanálisis: Peter Brooks.

 

Indagar las teorías de Brooks en la novela de Juan Gabriel Vásquez.

 

TAREA:

Leer: Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny” [Norton],

Peter Brooks, Chapter 4, “Freud’s Masterplot: A Model for Narrative” [Bb],

y todo lo que puedas de Juan Gabriel Vásquez, El ruido de las cosas al caer.

 

Reflexionar: seguir mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura.

 

 

martes, 25 de septiembre

 Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

 

Repasar los temas para el primer examen, para completarse en casa.

 

TAREA:

Escribir el examen y entregarlo en Bb antes de las 4:30 p.m.

el 02 de octubre.

 

 

 

martes, 02 de octubre

Entregar el examen en Bb antes de las 4:30 p.m.

 

No hay líderes de discusión este día.

 

Acercamientos marxistas: la novela realista como documento tanto de la vida social como psíquico.

 

Introducción a las teorías de Karl Marx. Leer en clase: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, “From The German Ideology” [Norton]

 

Desafíos marxistas al formalismo y el arte “deshumanizado”

del siglo 20 temprano: Mikhail Bakhtin y György Lukács sobre la novela realista.

 

TAREA:

Leer: Mikhail Bakhtin, “Discourse in the Novel” [Norton],

György Lukács, “The Historical Novel” [Norton],

y terminar la novela de Vásquez si no lo has hecho.

 

Reflexionar: responde a mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura

 

martes, 09 de octubre

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

 

No hay clase esta semana.

 

 

martes, 16 de octubre

Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

 

Desde Lukács a la Escuela Frankfurt. El realismo como producto y objeto de consumo de la burguesía: Walter Benjamín.

 

 

TAREA:

 Leer: Walter Benjamín, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” [Norton].

 

Ver: TBA on [Bb].

 

Escribir: responde a mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura.

 

 

martes, 23 de octubre

Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

 

Desde el estructuralismo al posestructuralismo en Europa.

Teorías psicoanalíticas y feministas de los 1970.

 

TAREA:

Jacques Lacan, “The Mirror Stage as Formative” [Norton],

y Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” [Norton].

 

Ver: Este loco amor loco (Eva Landeck, Argentina, 1979), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3oicEBnfOA

 

Reflexionar: responde a mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura.

 

 

martes, 30 de octubre

Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

 

La importancia de Michel Foucault en el posestructuralismo. Indagar su influencia en los estudios de género y sexualidad.

 

TAREA:

Leer: Foucault, “The History of Sexuality,” pp. 1421-1439 [Norton],

Judith Butler, “Gender Trouble” [Norton].

 

Ver: Una mujer fantástica (Sebastián Lélio, Chile, 2017), https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/A-Fantastic-Woman/B079RSLS23 [para rentar: $5.99]

 

Reflexionar: seguir mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura.

martes, 06 de noviembre

Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

 

Repasar para el examen #2.

 

TAREA:

Escribir el examen y entregarlo en Bb antes de las 4:30 p.m. el 13 de noviembre.

 

 

martes, 13 de noviembre

Entregar el examen en Bb antes de las 4:30 p.m.

 

No hay líderes de discusión este día.

 

Introducción a los estudios culturales en Gran Bretaña.

 

Los estudios culturales latinoamericanos; el tema de los medios de comunicación de masa.

 

TAREA:

Leer: Stuart Hall, “Culture, Resistance and Struggle” [Bb],

Jesús Martín-Barbero, “Desde los medios a las mediaciones” [Bb]

 

Ver: Un episodio de una telenovela o una sitcom que te interesa.

 

Reflexionar: seguir mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura.

 

 

martes, 20 noviembre

Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

 

Introducción al poscolonialismo.

 

TAREA:

Leer: Gloria Anzaldúa, “Borderlands: La Frontera” [Norton],

Edward Said “Orientalism” [Norton].

 

Escribir: responde a mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura.

 

martes, 27 de noviembre

Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

 

Los estudios de globalización y posmodernismo.

 

TAREA:

 

Leer: Michael Hardt y Antonio Negri, “Empire” [Norton],

y Rey Chow, “From Sentimental Fabulations” [Norton].

 

Ver: TBA [Bb]

 

Reflexionar: responde a mis preguntas en Bb sobre esta asignatura.

 

 

 martes, 04 de diciembre

Líderes de discusión sobre la asignatura:

  1. _________
  2. _________

 

Review for final exam and moving forward in our studies of aesthetics, theory and criticism.

 

martes, 11 de diciembre a las 4:30 p.m.

Fecha límite para entregar el examen final en Bb.

 

[1] With thanks to my colleagues Ricardo Vivancos-Pérez and Antonio Carreño-Rodríguez for generously sharing their syllabi with me.

Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Introduces students to the fundamental techniques of literary and cultural analysis and to the major principles of various schools of crtiticism. Additionally, students will be exposed to basic methods and materials of research. May not be repeated for credit.
Recommended Prerequisite: Graduate standing in the master's program in foreign language or permission of instructor.
Registration Restrictions:

Enrollment limited to students with a class of Advanced to Candidacy, Graduate, Junior Plus, Non-Degree or Senior Plus.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate, Non-Degree or Undergraduate level students.

Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.

Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Graduate Regular scale.

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.