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Literary Non-Fiction in Argentina: When Writing Meets the Real

Module description

This module will introduce you to Argentina’s literary non-fiction tradition, with a focus on the relationships writers and intellectuals have established with political and social reality in the period spanning from the 1960s to the beginning of the 21st century. After starting with Argentina’s ‘long sixties’ (1960-1976) and the development of Rodolfo Walsh’s non- fiction as revolutionary writing, we will move to the dictatorship and early post-dictatorship years with short works such as Alicia Portnoy’s La escuelita (1986). The module ends with a view at new developments in non-fiction published in Argentina, particularly with Cristián Alarcón’s Cuando muera quiero que me toquen cumbia (2003) and Selva Almada’s Chicas muertas (2014).

Please be advised that many of these texts include descriptions of extreme forms of real-life violence. Please contact the module convenor Fernando Concha (f.c.concha@exeter.ac.uk) with any questions you might have.

Module aims - intentions of the module

• Study the development of the non-fiction tradition in Argentina through a series of selected examples.
• Introduce key developments in Argentina’s social history from the 1960s to recent times.
• Reflect on the different ways writers in Argentina have approached social reality and taken stances on political issues through their writing.
• Discuss the cultural, literary, and political debates that shape the texts under study.
• Discuss whether non-fiction in Argentina fits within the Latin American tradition of the Testimonio.
• Discuss the artistic possibilities of non-fiction.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate understanding of the tradition of literary non-fiction in Argentina.
• 2. Assess texts covered in the module both in relation to their political, cultural, and intellectual context and in terms of their form and structure.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. With some guidance from the course tutor, evaluate and apply a range of critical approaches to the material covered independently.
• 4. Mount a detailed argument in an appropriate register of English, mustering a range of textual or other evidence in its support.
• 5. Analyse selected texts in Spanish, of different genres and styles, showing an awareness of their relation to the cultural contexts in which they were produced, and present critical results in writing where appropriate.
• 6. Following guidance from the tutor, locate and identify library and electronic resources on a given topic.
• 7. With some guidance from the course tutor, evaluate and apply a range of historiographical approaches and interpretations to the material covered

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 8. Conduct independent study, including the presentation of material for group discussion, developed through seminars.
• 9. Digest, select and organise material to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, developed through the mode of assessment.
• 10. Interact effectively with the tutor and the wider group

Syllabus plan

Topics may include some of the following, but are liable to change:

• Investigative journalism and creative writing in the writing and re-writing of Walsh’s Operación masacre.
• Walsh and revolutionary culture.
• Walsh’s legacy and his figure in today’s Argentinean imagery.
• Alicia Portnoy’s reconstruction of the experience at the detention centre ‘La escuelita’.
• Cristián Alarcón, the villas miseria, the middle-class, and the writer as ethnographer.
• Selva Almada’s experiment with non-fiction, violence, and the question of feminism. 

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Alarcón, Cristián. Cuando me muera quiero que me toquen cumbia. Penguin Random House Argentina, 2012.
• ---. Dance with Me When I Die. Translated by Nick Caistor and Marcela López Levy. Duke University Press, 2019.
• Almada, Selva. Chicas muertas. Random House, 2014.
• ---. Dead Girls. Translated by Annie McDermott, Charco Press, 2020.
• Enríquez, Mariana. Alguien camina sobre tu tumba. Montacerdos, 2018.
• Moreno, María. A tontas y a locas. Montacerdos, 2020.
• Walsh, Rodolfo. Operación masacre. Libros del Asteroide, 2018.
• ---. Operation Massacre. Translated by Daniella Gitlin. Seven Stories, 2016.
  
  

A full reading list will be available on ELE

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – Faculty to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages
• ---. ‘Carta abierta de un escritor a la Junta Militar’/ ‘Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta’. Bilingual Edition. Translated by Dirección de Traducciones, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto. Archivo Nacional de la Memoria. http://www.jus.gob.ar/media/2940455/carta_rw_ingles-espa_ol_web.pdf
• The Digital Collections at Argentina’s national library Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno: https://catalogo.bn.gov.ar/F/?func=find-m
• Archivo Histórico de Revistas Argentinas, a digital archive of Argentinean cultural magazines: https://ahira.com.ar/
• Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española’s Diccionario de Americanismos: https://www.asale.org/damer/
• Walsh, Rodolfo. ‘Entrevista de Ricardo Piglia a Rodolfo Walsh’: “No concibo el arte desvinculado de la política”’. Lobo Absuelto!. 30 March 2022: https://lobosuelto.com/entrevista-de-ricardo-piglia-a-rodolfo-walsh-no-concibo-el-arte-si-no-esta-relacionado-con-la-politica/

Key words search

Latin America, Argentina, Non-Fiction, Literature, Journalism, Politics