SPAN408M

This course will discuss literary, musical, and theoretical texts which represent the complex relationship between bodily and sensorial excess and aesthetic representation in the contemporary Hispanic Caribbean. Certain Caribbean texts and performances have been censored for supposedly being foul, dirty, obscene, for inducing corruption in the minds of its readers or showing a distorted image of their communities. The frontiers between order and disorder, purity and dirtiness are always historical and a matter of agitated and nuanced discussions. Subjectivity and sensibility are locations marked by issues of race, class, power, and gender. The course will explore some of the most important contemporary interventions around sex, language, and corporeality in the Hispanic Caribbean, from literary texts, vedette's performances, salsa lyrics, and cultural stereotypes to reggaeton or trap, amongt others. Taught in Spanish. Note: This course contains images and words that some people may find disturbing. Student/adult discretion is advised.