Cinema and Representation: Latin America

This class centers on the ways in which the idea
of Latin America has been constructed through
cinema, from the first productions that took place
in the region (ca. 1930s) to our days. Looking at
a wide range of cinematic practices from both
"Latin American" filmmakers, as well as "foreign"
ones, this course asks: What is "Latin America"?
What do we mean by "Latin American" cinema? Is
there a "good" way to represent Latin America?
Intended as a kaleidoscopic approach to the region
where themes are privileged over chronologies,
this survey course examines some of the discourses
(cinematic, political, social, and so on)
surrounding the region, as well as their
ideological implications. Thus, one central
question undergirding this class regards what is
at stake in representation-representing oneself,
representing the other, representing a region, a
place. To delve further into these questions,
screenings will be placed in conversation with
companion readings written by key thinkers in the
interdisciplinary fields of Film and Media
Studies, Visual Culture Studies, Postcolonial
Studies, Gender and Queer Studies, Urban Studies,
among others. Ultimately, this course's overall
aim is to complicate dominant ideas about what
representation can and should do by looking at an
idiosyncratic range of "Latin American" cinematic
productions. No specialty experience is required
and a number of places will be held open for
Course Advising Day.