Mar 29, 2024  
2015 - 2016 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2015 - 2016 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

HISP 394 - Fashioning the Nation


Fall or Spring (3) Staff Prerequisite(s): One HISP course numbered between 290 and 360, or consent of instructor

Following the retreat of Spanish colonialism, material culture served to identify competing ideologies at a decisive moment of political change. In canonical and newly appreciated texts, popular culture helped configure ideals for citizenship during the nation building process throughout Latin America. Foundational images and texts continue to transmit powerful messages even though some have also undergone radical transformations. Exploring social constructs in fiction, fashion magazines, conduct manuals and other texts, this course analyzes the postcolonial “crisis of origins,” the design of alternate political identities, the “civilization and barbarism” dichotomy, the reconstruction of history, and the representation of popular culture.