Undergraduate Course: The 'Other' in Latin American History (HIST10437)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | This course is about the 'other' in the history of Latin America, an exploration of the people, places, and ideas often deemed peripheral or foreign within Latin America and the Caribbean. We will trace this history of othering from the eve of European colonialism through the modern day, with semester one dedicated to the period of colonial rule (ca. 1450 to ca. 1820) and semester two looking at the modern period (ca. 1820 through the present day). |
| Course description |
As a balance to the dominant histories that understand Latin America from the perspective of centrally organised nation-states and mainstream societies, we will examine how the existence - or even just the perception - of othered communities has shaped national identities, cultures, and political economies. Through an historical analysis of the 'other' we can reimagine Latin America not as a cluster of inclusive, imagined communities--as Benedict Anderson would famously argue--but instead through the active exclusion of specific groups and ideas. We will measure how this exclusion was ideological, physical, and cultural. And more than just a study of subaltern or marginalised groups, we will focus on the process and implications of how certain Latin Americans were defined as subversive, exotic, heretical, perverse, or a litany of other terms intended to isolate and exclude. The range of groups studied will include indigenous communities, women, Afro-Latin Americans (before and after slavery), peasant farmers, workers, political dissidents, LGBT communities, exiles, and migrants.
Emphasis throughout will be on first-hand, close analysis of primary texts, both by famous figures like conquistadors, political leaders, and intellectuals, and also from the othered communities themselves. Please note, we will only use materials that have been translated into English; no knowledge of foreign languages is required for this course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass in 40 credits of third level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, Personal Tutors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Secretary to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 503767). |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, command of the body of knowledge considered in the course;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
Indicative Bibliography
Recommended Background Reading:
Chasteen, John Charles. Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America. Third ed. (New York, N.Y. ; London : W.W. Norton, 2011).
Appelbaum, Nancy P., Anne S. Macpherson, and Karin Alejandra. Rosemblatt. Race and Nation in Modern Latin America. (Chapel Hill, N.C.; London: University of North Carolina Press, 2003).
Indicative Required Reading:
Todorov, Tzvetan. The conquest of America: the Question of the Other. (New York, NY: HarperPerennial, 2006)
Townsend, Camilla. Malintzin's Choices: an Indian Woman in the Conquest of Mexico. (Albuquerque: Univ. of New Mexico Press, 2007)
Fisher, Andrew B., and Matthew D. O'Hara, eds. Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America. (Durham, N.C: Duke University Press Books, 2009)
Vinson III, Ben. "Race and Badge: Free-Colored Soldiers in the Colonial Mexican Militia," The Americas 56:4 (April 2000), 471-96.
Van Young, Eric. The Other Rebellion: Popular Violence, Ideology, and the Mexican Struggle for Independence, 1810-1821. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002).
Cunha, Euclides Da, and Samuel Putnam (trans). Rebellion in the Backlands, Os Sertoes. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2017).
Ferrar, Ada. Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868-1898. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999).
Guevara, Che. Guerrilla Warfare. (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1961).
Menchú, Rigoberta. I, Rigoberta Menchú : An Indian Woman in Guatemala. 2nd English-language ed. (London: Verso, 2009).
Nazario, Sonia. Enrique's journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother. (New York: Random House, 2014). |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jacob Blanc
Tel: (0131 6)51 1925
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Katy Robinson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3780
Email: |
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