FICTIONS OF POWER
Stony Brook Spring 2004
Gabriela Polit
Thursdays 4:00 - 7:00
Office hours: TBA
This course will discuss the conception(s) of power and masculine domination that derive from the reading of some of the mostly known fictions on caudillos and/or dictators in Latin America. We will analyze the position of the narrator in relation to the strong man, the ideal of literary authorship and its relationship to power as it is developed in each work. We will also explore the different historical approaches to the creation of caudillos in fiction. The theoretical framework of the course will combine theories on power and theories on gender. Requirements: Weekly written reports on reading, oral presentation A final paper double-spaced and fifteen-page length.
Weekly schedule
January 29 Introduction: On Power and Gender. *Michael Kaufman. "The Construction of Masculinity in the Triad of Men's Violence." Pierre Bourdieu. Masculine Domination *Joan Scott. "Gender as a Category of Analysis." *Angel Rama Los dictadores en América Latina.
February 5 On Terror Miguel Angel Asturias. El señor presidente. *Hannah Arendt On Violence (selections)
February 12 El señor presidente. * M. Foucault History of Sexuality (selections). February 19 Becoming a Caudillo Beatriz Guido. Fin de fiesta *Kaya Silverman In the Threshold of the Visible World (selections).0-
February 26 A Caudillo in Love Juan Rulfo Pedro Páramo Bastos, María Luisa and Molloy Sylvia. "El personaje de Susana San Juan: Clave de enunciación y de enunciados En Pedro Páramo"." Hispamérica 7.20 (1978): 3-24.
March 4 The Private and the Public in a Caudillo's domain Elena Garro Los recuerdos del porvenir. *Rubin Gayle "Traffic in Women: Notes on the Political Economy of Sex". *Seyla Benhabib "Models of Public Space" March 11 The Power of Writing The Caudillo and the Historical Archive Augusto Roa Bastos Yo el supremo. Angel Rama "El dictador letrado de la revolución Latinoamericana" March 18 Augusto Roa Bastos Yo el supremo. *Roberto González Echevarría Myth and Archive (selections)
March 25 The Caudillo and The Writer: A Case of Bonding Sergio Ramírez Margarita, está linda la mar. *Jean-Joseph Goux. "The Phallus: Masculine identity and the "Exchange of women""
April 1 Sergio Ramírez Margarita, está linda la mar. *Eve Sedgwick Kosofsky. Between Men (selections)
April 8 SPRING BREAK
April 15 Writing a Caudillo. A Case of Hysteria Mario Vargas Llosa La fiesta del Chivo. Dora. A Case of Hysteria.
April 22 Mario Vargas Llosa La fiesta del Chivo Elaine Showalter. Sexual Anarchy (selections)
April 29 Conclusions
May 4 Conclusions