SPAN 421 Seminar in the Literature and Culture of the New World

An in-depth study of the influence of colonial literature in both the formation of a Latin American identity and the development of contemporary writing. Texts by the explorers, missionaries, and conquistadores in the New World (including Columbus, Friar Bartolomé de las Casas, Hernán Cortés), and the subsequent generations of "American-born" writers (such as "The Inca" Garcilaso de la Vega). May be repeated for credit when topics vary. Class/laboratory. [H, W]