SPAN 317 A: Spanish and Latin American Literature in English Translation

SPAN 317: 21^st 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 two prizewinning novels from 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 the Caribbean; then to Mexico, where we explore femicide, criminal status, migration, and spirituality; on to coastal Colombia, where the thick jungle environment mirrors overwhelming decisions relating to motherhood; to the high Andean plateau of Bolivia amid hypercapitalism; and to Chile and Argentina amid economic and climate ruin where markers of social class dehumanize, yet love blooms.  We will also discuss one “literary” film from Brazil that is a love story, a tale of inadvisable things to do at work, and a commentary on contemporary race and class relations.

One story was 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.  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 two required novels:

SPAN 317 Course pack is available for purchase (approx. $15) at Professional Copy & Print, 4200 University Way NE.

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 two 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.

Assignments, important dates, and course grade breakdown:

Two in-class exams (Oct. 20 and Dec. 3): 40%

Questions on scenes from film The Man Who Copied (Oct. 20 and Dec. 3): 10%

Canvas Discussion posts on Bonsai (Nov. 26): 5%

Lead class discussion (about 30 minutes): 15%

In-class writing: 15%

Daily homework: 15%

All assignments are submitted to Canvas before 1:30 pm on the day indicated on the course calendar.

The Spanish & Portuguese Studies department grading scale is used in this course:

https://spanport.washington.edu/grading-scale

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:

Students with either permanent or temporary disabilities should contact the DRS office: 011 Mary Gates, Box 352808, (206) 543-8924, uwdrs@uw.edu.  Information about disability resources for students may be found at http://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/.  DRS will provide required accommodations for off-schedule work and any technology accommodations that may be required for your successful completion of the course.

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATIONS:
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW's policy including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodation Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.

ACADEMIC HONESTY and A.I. STATEMENT:

Assignments in this course have been designed to give you opportunities to meet the course learning goals and develop creative and critical thinking using course material.  Students in this course are not authorized to use any generative AI tool or chatbot on homework or any course assignment.  Written work must be in your own words.  Use of generative AI will be considered academic misconduct and subject to investigation by the UW Office of Community Standards & Student Conduct.  A grade of 0 will be recorded.

Instructions for:

Daily homework:

Carefully read the day’s assigned reading.  Focus on what you do understand of the plot, characters’ goals and ideas, and descriptive details.  Submit to Canvas Assignments before 1:30: Two quotations from the reading that reflect the main character’s preoccupations or interests.  Clarify briefly, in your own words, what these preoccupations or interests seem to be.  Pose two questions that you are curious about and that you want to share in class discussion.

In-class writing:

We will often take a pause to sum up class discussion, write brief interpretations, or creatively explore key ideas.  Grading is based on a check-plus, check, check-minus system considering your knowledge of the characters’ circumstances, development of ideas, clarity of expression, and descriptive language.  A majority of check-plusses leads to 100%, a majority of checks leads to 85%, and a majority of check-minuses leads to 65%.

Exams:

Two exams will give you practice in written expression, argumentation, and interpretation of readings.  On the exam, you will receive two quotations/passages to use, with a corresponding question to answer with a hand-written literary interpretation essay. The exam lasts 50 minutes, so you can spend about 25 minutes to write each essay.  In case of emergency illness that prevents your attending Exam 1, a makeup is permitted during office hours.

Grading is on a five-point scale, based on your construction of an argument with evidence and description, to support a hypothesis and elaborate an interpretation.  You may use this rubric as a guide to gauge your preparation for the exams:

A: Strong evidence of original thinking; good organization; capacity to analyze and synthesize; superior grasp of the material; answered the question clearly, with a close interpretation of the quotation and in abundant detail.

B: Good evidence of grasp of the material, some evidence of critical capacity and analytic ability; reasonable understanding of the material; missing some details necessary to a complete answer of the question.

C: Generalities about the material, without enough details; partial interpretations of the material; limited evidence of familiarity with the material that doesn’t allow an interpretation or a complete answer.

D: Incomplete or inconsistent with the material; repetitive or nonspecific; lacking evidence that critical and analytic skills have been developed; is unable to answer the question.

F: Inadequate evidence of understanding of the material; incoherent critical and analytic skills; limited or irrelevant use of the details of the material; is unable to answer the question.

Leading some of class discussion:

Kick off class discussion, using your own ideas from the homework (and more): with your interpretive or creative thinking, explain what you learned from the specific details of these passages and ask us any questions you have.  You prepare areas of inquiry (overarching themes or important concepts), call on classmates, manage dissent and uncertainty (provocations that arise either in the reading or from our conflicting ideas and interpretations), and keep the conversation focused on the reading and flowing for at least the first half-hour of class.  An eloquent way to go about “provoking” us is to review what we know about the characters, read some passages aloud, pose questions, hold the discussion, and leave us to ponder an additional passage/question.  Don’t worry about what you don’t know; try to find a way to use what you do know, or what you guess might be right, or even in the ballpark, and remember that your classmates are all eager to help you.  It is a discussion, not a monologue.  As instructor, I will act as an observer and enter the discussion to produce overarching patterns, connect the dots, correct any misinterpretations, and draw attention to key takeaways.

Let’s have a great quarter working together!