SPA 347 Brujas, fantasmas y monstruos: una exploración del cine de terror hispano
Have your heard of a woman lurking at night, hollering in the dark and looking for children? She is the infamous la llorona, cursed for eternity for having drowned her own children in a moment of jealousy and insanity. How about the game un dos tres / toca la pared, a version of the innocent hide and seek? But, with this one, the closer you to from the wall, ghosts of orphans will also join you. Legends like that of La Llorona, myths about cursed orphanages, and sometimes true large-scale historical events and smaller anecdotes have sparked the creation of horror films across the Spanish-speaking world. This course will consist of a critical overview of the approaches that filmmakers have taken in interpreting stories, myths and facts in modern and contemporary Hispanic culture and society. By analyzing horror Hispanic cinema, along with selected critical texts on current issues in the countries of origin, we will explore such questions as women’s roles in society, immigration and exile, globalization, and experiences of war and violence, among other themes. We will study the sociological, cultural and political forces that have inspired such horror cinematic representations.
Prerequisite
SPA 230 or permission of the instructor.