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Cross Currents: Memory, Myth and Modernity in Latin America

Module description

This module explores the diverse ways in which modernity has been negotiated at personal and collective levels in texts drawing on oral/written memory and narrative modes from Argentina, Peru, Cuba and Mexico. It examines critical responses to colonial and contemporary socio-economic and cultural structures and mindsets through narratives of self and myths of community shaped by official/popular and personal memory, and genres spanning popular song, (auto-)biography, film and oral/written testimony. Close critical readings of technically-innovative texts by those seeking to develop culturally- and psychologically-convincing representations of contextual conflicts, will illuminate the problems of modernity and memory in twentieth-century Latin America.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to:

• Provide a critical overview of the complex condition of modernity in twentieth-century Latin America through narratives of self and myths of community across this continent
• Develop a nuanced understanding of the problematics of this condition and of national, historical, and personal memory through genres comprising popular song, (auto-)biography, film and oral/written testimony
• Encourage critical reflection on modernity and memory in Latin America
• Offer a valuable opportunity for independent and specialised study of selected topics/texts, preparing students for the formative and summative assessments, and for study of Latin America on other Departmental modules

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

• 1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the major historical and cultural developments of the periods and countries in Latin America explored on the module
• 2. Show an in-depth understanding of the selected texts and the problems of modernity and memory in the Latin American contexts in which they are investigated

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

• 3. After initial input from the module tutor, apply and evaluate critical approaches to the material under analysis independently
• 4. Argue at length and in detail about an aspect of a topic, supporting the argument with evidence from the text(s) and with opinions from secondary literature
• 5. Analyse texts in a variety of genres and styles, showing an awareness of their relation to the historical and socio-cultural contexts in which they were produced, and present the critical results orally and/or in writing where appropriate

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

• 6. Manage own learning time and learning activities with minimal guidance from the module tutor
• 7. Adopt a critical approach to the selection, valid scholarly reliability and organisation of a large body of material in order to produce, to a deadline, an oral or a written argument, where appropriate, of some complexity
• 8. Combine a variety of IT skills in researching and reporting on a topic

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Memory, Myth and Modernity in Latin America
• ‘Peripheral Modernity’ and Popular Memory in Argentina: Evaristo Carriego (1930)
• Myth and Millenarianism in Peru: Los ríos profundos (1958)
• Cuban Lessons From the Past: Memorias del subdesarrollo (film; 1968)
• Rewriting the Revolution in Mexico: selected passages from La noche de Tlatelolco (1971)
• Module Review/Preparation for Summative Assessment

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

A full bibliography of recommended reading will be provided at the start of the module 

Primary Texts

• Jorge Luis Borges, Evaristo Carriego (Alianza Editorial)
• José María Arguedas, Los ríos profundos, ed. by William Rowe (Bristol Classical Press)
• Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Memorias del subdesarrollo (Film)
• Elena Poniatowska, La noche de Tlatelolco (Ediciones Era)

Secondary Texts

• Marshall Berman, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air. The Experience of Modernity (Verso, 1997)
• Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity (Stanford University Press, 1990)
• Beatriz Sarlo, Una modernidad periférica: Buenos Aires 1920-1930 (Nueva Visión, 1988)
• Vivian Schelling, ed., Through the Kaleidoscope. The Experience of Modernity in Latin America (Verso, 2000)
• William Rowe & Vivian Schelling, Memory and Modernity. Popular Culture in Latin America (Verso, 1991)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3264 

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

• See the module ELE page

Key words search

Latin America; modernity in Latin America; Latin American memory; myth in Latin America; Spanish-American/Hispanic culture