The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed the rise of one of the earliest global powers in the Western Modern world: the Spanish
Empire. This course examines the notion of Spanish Empire as it is expressed in the literary production of the times, and how this affects
its consideration in the following centuries and up until today. Challenging the metageographies that inform the study of the field, we
will adopt a transatlantic framework to promote comparisons, and explore interactions, between texts that are conventionally labeled as
separate creations of Latin American vs. Peninsular literature. Using our framework, we seek to fashion a more complex panorama and
achieve a deeper understanding of the discourses behind this early global phenomenon. Readings include Mesoamerican Poetry and the
descriptions of the earliest Conquistadors; histories of the Incas and Moriscos in the Peninsula; contemporary short stories and their
filmic representations among others. Through the study of these works we will inquire into concepts like nation, race, identity, empire
and their role on the elaboration of the Hispanic imaginary.
Prerequisite: Spanish 301 or 302 or 305 or 309