Welcome!

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Welcome to ENGL 3952: Special Topics in Latinx Literature and Culture. This semester our topic is “Monsters, Hauntings, and the Nation.” This course introduces students to the varied and rich history of representations of horror, trauma, violence, and monstrosity in Latinx culture. The horror genre has conquered the contemporary literary and popular market. From Jason Voorhees and Freddie Kruger to Hannibal Lecter and Pennywise the Clown, the monstrous figures of horror stories terrify and titillate us. Yet, there is an important tradition of Latinx literary and cultural production that mobilizes the tropes of the genre in unexpected ways, compelling us to reimagine what horror can be as it intersects with race and ethnicity. 

This course examines Latinx horror to understand how the genre addresses the unique experience of Latinx people in the Americas. We will gain a deeper understanding of the capacities of horror to depict the foundational yet spectral presence of Latinx people in the “American” imaginary, treating monsters and haunting expansively. 

Attending to how writers use images of ghosts, zombies, monsters, and the otherworldly, we will explore shifting definitions of citizenship, nationhood, belonging, and identity. As we survey a variety of monstrous bodies, postapocalyptic landscapes, and dystopian fantasies, we will consider questions such as: What is a monster? What is “Latinx”? How does the unique experience of Latinx people in the “New World” haunt conceptions of nation, citizenship, “illegality,” and personhood? Why do Latinx authors and filmmakers turn to horror in order to depict the Latinx experience? 

I am particularly excited for this semester’s major assignment: the “Monster Blog.” In this space, students will be able to create and curate a digital archive and presence that focuses on their opinions and arguments about the course’s materials throughout the semester. As they write, students will form an argument about the questions that opened this course. And since students will be required to make their analysis of this semester’s texts public (via blogs), I will also be posting about our class activities, reflections on that day’s texts, and further reading recommendations. I will also provide links for my student’s blogs, readings, and assignments throughout the semester. For more detailed information about the course, please see the syllabus. I hope you’ll read along with us!