30081 - Spanish-American Literature 1 (LM)

Learning outcomes

Students possess in-depth knowledge of the history and development of Latin American literatures in Spanish, with particular attention to the relationship between literary texts and the historical, artistic and linguistic context. Students are also able to apply practical methodologies to the analysis and interpretation of a literary text.

Course contents

“Nadie se salva solo”: Post-Apocalyptic Narrative, Liberal Ethos, and Resistant Imaginaries

Starting from a re-reading of El Eternauta, a classic of 1950s Argentine science fiction comic, the course offers an insight into several recent post-apocalyptic works, adopting a perspective that combines a “formalist” approach to literary interpretation with an analysis of the imaginaries these works (re)construct.

Readings/Bibliography

The bibliography should be considered provisional. Further information will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Primary Sources:

Oesterheld, Héctor G., e Solano López. 1994 [I ed. 1957]. El eternauta. Ediciones Record.

Pinedo, Rafael. 2004 [I ed. 2002]. Plop. Salto de Página.

López Trujillo, Simón. El vasto territorio. Edizione Kindle, Alfaguara, 2021.

Nieva, Michel. La infancia del mundo. Barcelona: Editorial Anagrama, 2023.

Monge, Emiliano. 2020. Tejer la oscuridad. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial México.

Frangi, Katherina. 2022. Memoria de las especies. La Plata: Club Hem.

Secondary sources:

Balletta, Edoardo. 2025. Tra distopia e catastrofe. Spazi, tempi e forme della narrativa speculativa in quattro romanzi ispano-americani contemporanei. editPress, Firenze.

Macón, Cecilia. 2024. “Todo verdor desaparecerá. Agencia, crisis y dengue en La infancia del mundo de Michel Nieva.”, Latin American Literary Review 51 (23): 27-35. DOI: 10.26824/lalr.415.

Mercier, Claire. 2025. «Eco-Weird En “El Vasto Territorio” De Simón López Trujillo: Una Vida Muy Muerta, Una Muerte Muy Viva». Pasavento. Revista De Estudios Hispánicos 13 (1):15-32. https://doi.org/10.37536/preh.2025.13.1.2763 .

Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt. 2015. The Mushroom at the End of the World. On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press.

Nieva, Michel. 2024. Ciencia ficción capitalista. Cómo los multimillonarios nos salvarán del fin del mundo.Barcelona: Editorial Anagrama.

Nieva, Michel. 2024. Tecnología y barbarie. Anagrama.

Teaching methods

The course includes, in addition to the lectures, the seminar in-depth study of some topics relating to the sources studied, as well as the theoretical and methodological tools relevant to their study.

Assessment methods

The exam will be divided into two parts: (a) preparation of a critical essay (essay) of ca. 15 records and (b) oral interview.
(a) Regarding the term paper (which must be delivered to the teacher at least one week before the date on which they intend to take the exam) it will be an analysis of a topic or a text addressed during the course. (Non-attending students are strongly encouraged to contact the teacher for useful information on this aspect).

An essay coherently developed, well written, not without a certain interpretive perspicacity will lead to an evaluation of excellence; the lack of one or more qualities mentioned, will lead to evaluations that will result in discrete or sufficient evaluations; an incoherent essay, insufficiently developed, scarcely or at all relevant to the subjects touched in the course, or manifestly the result of copying and pasting, will not allow to be admitted to the oral exam.

(b) The oral examination will consist of an interview which will cover the topics of the course. As for the first year, the interview will have the purpose of evaluating the critical and methodological skills acquired by the student who will have to demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the contents of the texts examined and of the proposed bibliography. The student's achievement of an organic vision of the topics dealt with in a joint lesson with their critical use, the demonstration of an expressive mastery and specific language will be evaluated with marks of excellence.
The mostly mnemonic knowledge of the subject, in-depth synthesis and analysis skills and a correct but not always appropriate language will lead to discrete evaluations.
Approximate knowledge, superficial understanding, poor analytical skills and not always appropriate expression will lead to evaluations between sufficiency and little more.
Training gaps, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the contents and bibliographic materials proposed in the program can only be evaluated negatively.

Teaching tools

Mainly, the video projection of images, texts and slides will be used. For a better organization of the materials and contents, the online platform of the course will be used, the materials made available are an INTEGRAL and NECESSARY (but not sufficient) part of the exam program.

Students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) or Temporary/Permanent Disabilities:
Students are encouraged to promptly contact the University Office in charge (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ) as well as the course instructor, in order to identify together the most effective strategies for attending classes and/or preparing for the exam.
Any requests for accommodations must be submitted no later than 15 days before the exam date by sending an email to the instructor and copying one of the following addresses:

• disabilita@unibo.it (for students with disabilities)

• odsa@unibo.it (for students with SLD).

Office hours

See the website of Edoardo Balletta