I never thought I would say this about a university literature class, but I'm sad it's over. I had such a great time discussing these experimental and different novels with everyone and I really value and appreciate all the dynamic, thought-out, and engaging discussions I was lucky enough to have with all of you...you were all such awesome classmates! In the first class when the topic of "hopscotch" was introduced I must admit I was a little skeptical as I didn't get the connection and thought it was far-fetched having never read Latin American literature before. Now I really understand how relevant of a metaphor this is and it also helped guide me through the thinking required for these books. With so much emphasis and popularity placed on straight-froward and accessible reading these days ("booktok" I'm looking at you), my first reaction to the constant time-warping and conceptualizing was that it was a bit elitist and unnecessarily complicated. To be honest, without the class lectures and discussions, I probably would have remained thinking this way. I really appreciated how this class made me change my perspective on how this literature wasn't elitist (although I'm still not convinced that Borges isn't), instead, it made me approach these books as challenging puzzles, which is a much more exciting way of looking at things.
Another thing I appreciate about this course is that it provided me with an introductory way of looking at Latin American popular culture in general. Now as I watch Latin American movies on Netflix, I appreciate the bending of time and the complications of relationships. I also appreciate the intertwining of politics, religion, gender dynamics, race, and historical statements weaved through intricate characters and colourful dialogue. This was also my first introduction to magical realism, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have always been a bit of a reader and I love reading, so I'm very excited to introduce this new genre to my "tbr" list in the future. I picked up a NYT Best Selling American fiction novel the other day and couldn't believe how under-stimulated and bored I was so I'll probably go back and read some of the other books in this class that I didn't get to read.
I'm really going to miss this class and the book club on steroids environment. Thank you to everyone for making it so challenging and enjoyable!
Question for the class: How has this course changed your perspective of Latin American literature? Did you have any notions before the class that got proven or disproven?
"Thank you to everyone for making it so challenging and enjoyable!"
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to you for all your contributions, both in class and on your blog. I'm glad you enjoyed the course, including some of the challenges it may have posed.
And perhaps one day I'll convinced you about Borges... :)
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the magical realism - being a super analytical person who is also secretly a crystal girl, I loved the magical elements of some of these books and the wider themes they spoke to! I had some experience, having taken RMST202, but I still learned so many new things, and encountered kinds of novels that we hadn't really read in the other course - even if they revolved around the same historical contexts! (There's just so many ways to explore differing perspectives and elements of wars, conflicts, injustices, etc).
- Nandita
I'm also sad this class is over! This is the only university-level literature course I've taken, and it's definitely the best.
ReplyDeleteI think my immediate impression of Latin American literature going in was entirely informed by García Márquez. Like Nandita, I sort of expected there to be quite a bit of magical realism. Of course, not all of the books I read incorporated magical realism. I would struggle to find any defining characteristic between all the books other than the loose curated theme of play. I think it's impossible to fit the literature of an entire continent into a box, anyway.