SPAN408L

Prerequisite: SPAN331, SPAN332, SPAN333, SPAN361, SPAN362, or SPAN363; or permission of instructor. This course explores the discursive construction of the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America, encompassing primarily El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala and extending into the rest of the isthmus. We will ask how and why this region has been historically represented as a site of violence, insecurity, despair, and e/migration, especially in light of hemispheric economic policies. We will examine novels, short stories, cronica negra, films, etc., and discuss issues of violence, crime, feminicide, impunity, corruption, and human trafficking as well as the struggles for equality, human rights, environmental justice, food security, healthcare, education, and employment in the region.