SPAN 317: 21st Century Latin American Speculative Fiction
COURSE TAUGHT IN ENGLISH.
PHYSICAL BOOKS REQUIRED.
DETAILS BELOW:
SPAN 317: 21st Century Latin American Speculative Fiction
Autumn 2025
Prof. Samuel Jaffee
Email: sjaffee@uw.edu
Drop-in office hours: Mon/Wed, 11:30 am, B-230 Padelford Hall (my office, in the B wing, 2nd floor)
Course description:
We will read, discuss, and write about the ideas raised in short stories and prizewinning novels (and one short story that later became a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel) from across contemporary Latin America—all by acclaimed writers, and all with a speculative purpose regarding individual characters’ identities and aspirations that reflect common social concerns. The course is organized geographically from north to south: we begin with college students coping with complex desires in Dominican immigrant communities in urban New Jersey, and travel to a post-apocalyptic Afrofuturist Caribbean still interweaved with the colonial past; then to Mexico, where we explore femicide, criminal status, family life, and spirituality; on to coastal Colombia, where the thick jungle environment mirrors overwhelming decisions relating to motherhood; and to Chile and Argentina amid economic and climate ruin where markers of social class dehumanize, yet love blooms.
Two stories were originally written in English; the rest of the readings were translated by award-winning translators and are works of literary art in their own right. No knowledge of Spanish is necessary for this course (except for a few words here and there, which you may look up in an online dictionary such as the Collins Spanish-English dictionary, linked in Canvas Modules). All discussions and assignments are in English. The course counts for 5 credits toward the Spanish major and minor, and awards Writing (W) credit.
Course readings consist of one course pack with all short stories, and three required novels:
SPAN 317 Course pack is available for purchase (approx. $13) at Professional Copy & Print, 4200 University Way NE.
Tentacle by Rita Indiana. Translated by Achy Obejas. New York: And Other Stories, 2018. ISBN: 978-1-911508-34-2
The Bitch by Pilar Quintana. Translated by Lisa Dillman. New York: World Editions, 2020. ISBN: 978-1-64286-059-7
Bonsai by Alejandro Zambra. Translated by Megan McDowell. Penguin Books, 2022. ISBN: 978-0-14-313650-7
The three novels have been ordered for our course at the UW Bookstore; purchase them there or from Third Place Books or online retailers. If you don’t have your copies by the time you need to begin reading, check them out from the course reserves desk at Odegaard Library; with this free service, you can scan the reading, print the scans, and bring to class.
Technology note:
This is a no-tech course intended to focus our attention on the reading and your classmates, and foster better discussion. You need the physical copy of the books (or printed scans of the copy on course reserves) and the course pack. You will also need a pen and pad of paper or notebook for in-class writing activities.