Course Description
A course on individual and collective memoirs, diaries, confessions and traveling accounts. Students read and analyze written texts and films, keep journals, and create life writing or multimedia production in Spanish. Taught in Spanish.
Reflective Narrative
In SPAN 330, I learned that one of my favorite literary genres is testimonial literature, because it addresses social injustices directly and without limitations. In this class, I learned about the labor exploitation, the mistreatment and the abuse of the indigenous communities of Latin America, which is represented by the story of Rigoberta Menchú, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992. On the other hand, we talked about the dictatorships of Latin America during the 20th century and the role of the United States, which coordinated Operación Condor (Operation Condor), with the purpose of training generals and military who would violently seize power in several Central and South American countries. Another relevant topic was the testimonies of slavery in the Caribbean, where I learned about the inhumane treatment of people of African descent due to their skin color. Finally, we talked about the Mexican government's oppression of the student movements in Tlatelolco and Ayotzinapa. After reading, analyzing, and determining the structure and objectives of a literary testimony, I had the opportunity to write my own testimonial research with a focus on "Discriminación Legal" (Legal Discrimination). I conducted this project with Linda Heredia and Megan Ford, where we addressed the sexual exploitation of Rosa, a Mexican activist and poet who came to the United States to live through countless nightmares. The testimonial process consisted of 3.5 hours of interview, transcription and drafting, where the main objective was to maintain the essence of the story and the linguistic registry. This work was part of the Hispanic Testimony Anthology, the first contemporary testimonial book in Northern and Central California, which aims to give voice to the voiceless. This class is related to SPAN 301s.