La clóclea de su madre

Empecé el día haciéndome un estudio de la clóclea. Ando con problemas en un oído por el stress. Salí del estudio y me encontré en Congreso con los taxistas, cortando la calle, quemando ruedas, aguante vieja, vamo a cortá Rivadavia vamo, 120 kilos, anteojos negros, tatuajes, miradas amenazadoras, humo negro, bombos, petardos para mi oído, músculos, y grasa de achuras. La peor argentinidad al palo. Luego dí una clase sobre "El Libro del Desasosiego", de Pessoa para, finalmente, invitar a comer sushi a una nueva amiga noruega con quien después nos fuimos a ver una muy buena obra de César Brie sobre la vida de Simone Weil ("La Voluntad"), obra que recomiendo con énfasis (tanto la puesta de Brie -que me dejó al borde de las lágrimas- como la vida y obra de Weil). Luego de gastarme con ella el dinero ganado en la clase, dejé a mi amiga en un taxi (no sin antes chequear su patente), le dije donde debía llevarla, esperé el 166 que no paró o, mejor dicho, paró unos diez metros adelante para dejar bajar tres personas pero no dejar que subiéramos (éramos tres), sin importarle y sabiendo que el próximo 166 pasaría más de media hora después (en el mejor de los casos, ya eran casi la 1 de la mañana), y no parando en la parada del metrobus sino peligrosamente en pleno cruce de calles. Simone Weil, una enorme mujer y filósofa, trabajó como obrera en una fábrica urbana y luego en el campo, pero no conoció a los taxistas y colectiveros porteños, sino su obra hubiera sido distinta. No se le hubiera ocurrido enseñarles la Ilíada como lo hiciera con los obreros franceses porque la habrían mandado a la clóclea de su madre. Y el misticismo le habría llegado mucho más temprano...

Ever widening circles

Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen, die sich über die Dinge ziehn. Ich werde den letzten vielleicht nicht vollbringen, aber versuchen will ich ihn. Ich kreise um Gott, um den uralten Turm, und ich kreise jahrtausendelang; und ich weiß noch nicht: bin ich ein Falke, ein Sturm oder ein großer Gesang. 
                                                                                                        - Rainer Maria Rilke 

An intentended translation into English: 

I live my life in ever-widening circles I live my life in ever-widening circles That draw themselves over all things I may not perhaps complete the last of these things but I want to make an attempt I circle around God, around the most ancient tower, And I circle for a thousand years And yet I still don't know: Am I a falcon? a storm? Or a much larger song.

Hagan cosas desconocidas

No hagan lío, hagan cosas desconocidas, es tiempo de fantasía y arrojo.

El teatro del mundo

La ley del teatro del mundo en el "Informe para una academia" de Kafka: "Los imitaba porque buscaba una salida, por ninguna otra razón.

Los peronistas son snobs

"Mire, yo detesto a los comunistas, pero, por lo menos, tienen una teoría. Los peronistas, en cambio, son snobs." 

                                                                                          Jorge Luis Borges

El habla del artista

“El artista habla al frágil pero indestructible vínculo de solidaridad que reúne la soledad de innumerables corazones”. 

                                                                                        Joseph Conrad

Literature and Music in Spanish America

Literature and Music in Spanish America.

Cultural expressions and artistic movements in the 20th century

3 credits, 6 ECTS

English

Instructor: Daniel Scarfo, Ph.D. (Yale University)

Course Description

This course analyzes literary and musical pieces in Spanish America during the 20^th century. We will present the theoretical and historical background, the relevant moments, the significant figures, the constants and the elements of originality that characterize contemporary Spanish-American literature and music.

Course Aims/Objectives

• Knowing and understanding XXth Century Spanish-American literature and music.

• Reading, listening, and being able to recognize important XXth Century Spanish-American writers, singers and composers.

Requirements and Prerequisites

Introductory Course

Learning outcomes

This course aims to allow the student to:

• know and understand the Spanish American Culture, especially its music and literature.

• be able to compare different artists and artistic genres, and speak critically about them

• analyze literature and music pieces in relation to its historical and cultural context

Developmental Outcomes

Students should demonstrate: responsibility and accountability, independence, open and critical mind as well as appreciation of differences.

Contents

Class 1: August, 6th: Introduction to Spanish- American literature and cultures.

Fundamental texts.

Class 2: August 13th: The novel and the short story. The Plate Region and the Caribbean. Juan Rulfo

Readings: Rulfo, Juan. Pedro Páramo

http://public.callutheran.edu/~brint/Mexico/Rulfo.pdf

Class 3, August 20th: The indianist novel. José María Arguedas.

Readings: José María Arguedas. Deep Rivers (chapters 1 and 2).

Class 4, August 27th: The avant-garde in poetry. Major figures: Pablo Neruda, César Vallejo y Octavio Paz

Readings: Franco, Jean. An introduction to Spanish-American Literature. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994 (Chapter 9)

Class 5, September 3d: Modern fiction. Jorge Luis Borges

Borges, Jorge Luis. “The Aleph” in

Borges, Jorge Luis. “An autobiographical essay”

http://www.phinnweb.org/links/literature/borges/aleph.html

Class 6, September 10th: Magic realism

Readings: García Márquez, Gabriel. Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Class 7, September 24th: 20’ presentations on eight selected Latin American writers to be selected among: Gallegos, Asturias, Onetti, Fuentes, Roa Bastos, Vargas Llosa, Cortázar, Lezama Lima, Monterroso, Carpentier, Castellanos Moya, Fernando Vallejo, etc.

Class 8, October 1st: Multiple Choice 1

Roots of American Sounds. Rythms and dances. Themes in Spanish-American Musical Culture.

Readings: Béhague, G. Music in Latin America: An introduction. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1979.

Class 9, October 8th: Milonga and Tango

Listening assignments:

Piazzolla, Astor in http://www.piazzolla.org/ and selected videos

Goyeneche, Roberto in http://www.robertogoyeneche.tango-tour.com.ar/ and selected videos

Gardel, Carlos, selected videos.

Colección Buenos Aires Tango

Class 10, October 22th: Folklore and candombe

Listening assignments:

Yupanqui, Atahualpa in http://www.squidoo.com/theodorakis and selected videos

Rada, Rubén in http://negrorada.com/index.php and selected videos

Roos, Jaime, selected videos

Sosa, Mercedes, selected videos

Class 11, October 29th: Cha cha chá, merengue, bachata, salsa.

Listening assignments:

Cruz, Célia in www.celiacruz.com and other selected videos

Blades, Rubén in www.rubenblades.com and other selected videos

Guerra, Juan Luis, in juanluisguerra.com and other selected videos

Class 12, November 5th:

Bolero and Caribbean Troubadors

Listening assignments:

Lara, Agustín, selected videos

Pablo Milanés y Silvio Rodríguez, selected videos

Class 13, November 12th:

Multiple Choice II and individual discussions on the final essay in preparation

Class format

All members of the class are encouraged to participate actively in discussions and debates. Such participation is an important part of your performance. Please come to class with written notes, your questions and thoughts about the possible meanings of the texts and songs you have read or listened to. What strikes you? What paragraphs, elements, or points seem to you to be the most significant or enigmatic? Why?

Assessment

Multiple choice I 15%

Multiple choice II 15%

Oral Presentation on selected writer 20%

Final paper (8 pages) 50%

Reference Books (They will complement the professor’s classes in case you miss one).

Bethell, Leslie (ed.). A cultural history of Latin America. Literature, music and the Visual

Arts in the XIXand XXth centuries. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1998.

Béhague, G. Music in Latin America: An introduction. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1979.

Franco, Jean. An introduction to Spanish-American Literature. Cambridge University

Press, Cambridge, 1994.

Class Format

The instructor of the class will introduce students to the day’s subject. The students will also present and discuss, under the instructor coordination, the readings assigned for that day.

Guidelines for the final essay (due November 19th).

a) It should contain between 8 and 10 pages, besides the bibliography.

b) I recommend to start writing many more pages (early!!!) and then proceed to clean up the document discarding what is unnecessary to the point you are trying to make.

c) I expect an essay on one of the topics we discuss in class or that are available in the syllabus, or a topic in a dialogue with them, and you should keep that dialogue.

d) It must also show a dialogue or discussion with at least one text from the bibliography

e) Then you can also add all the bibliography you want to add (available or not in the syllabus)