- Winter 2021
Syllabus Description:
C LIT 357A / JSIS 480
The Political Thriller in Latin America
Professor Cynthia Steele
Winter 2021
TTh 12:30-2:20
Zoom Link:
https://washington.zoom.us/j/92395478220?pwd=ajc5WkdZSkMvZ3loWGdnV3ZuL3Zodz09
Meeting ID: 923 9547 8220
Passcode: 841709
206-503-4374
Description:
Introduction to the genre of the political thriller, through close readings of two Febels, nineteen films and five essays in film criticism, exploring family and intimate relationships against the backdrop of dramatic political changes in Argentina and Chile during the past half century: first the military coups, dictatorships, tortures and disappearances of the 1970s and 1980s, and then the processes of democratization and reconciliation of the 1990s and 2000s. Texts: Marcelo Figueras, Kamchatka. Trans. Frank Wynne. NY: Grove Press / Black Cat, 2010; and Eduardo Sacheri, The Secret in their Eyes. Trans. John Cullen. NY: Other Press, 2011. Films:
Spoils of War, The Official Story, Rojo, Clandestine Childhood, Kamchatka, El premio, The Invisible Eye, El secreto de sus ojos, The Secret in their Eyes, Salvador Allende, Massacre at the Stadium, Machuca, The Pinochet Case, Post-Mortem, No, Nostalgia for the Light, The Cordillera of Dreams, El Patio and Pacto de fuga. Most of the films will be available for instant streaming for free; a few are available on Netflix or on Amazon for a small rental fee.
I will post film questions to our Canvas site, to guide our discussions. Students will keep a film viewing and reading journal, participate in a group presentation, and write an analytical, 4-6-page essay, comparing a theme or problem in two or three of the texts or films we have studied. The films have English subtitles and the readings are in English translation, so no knowledge of Spanish is required (but is most welcome!).
Canvas Site:
https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1431501
Films: Argentina:
- Spoils of War (dir. David Blaustein, 2000). (Canvas)
- The Official Story (dir. Luis Puenzo, 1985) (Kanopy)
https://washington.kanopy.com/video/official-story-1
- Rojo (dir. Benjamín Naishtat, 2017) (Amazon, $4)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B07Z47YNKX/ref=atv_dp_cnc_1_0
4. Clandestine Childhood (dir. Benjamín Avila, 2011). (Kanopy)
https://washington.kanopy.com/video/clandestine-childhood-infancia-cland...
- Kamchatka (dir. Marcelo Piñyero, 2002). (Canvas)
- El premio. (dir. Paula Markovich, 2011). (Amazon Prime)
https://www.amazon.com/Prize-El-Premio-English-Subtitled/dp/B00I9YX6T6/r...
- The Invisible Eye (dir. Diego Lerman, 2010). (Kanopy)
https://washington.kanopy.com/video/invisible-eye-la-mirada-invisib
- El secreto de sus ojos (dir. Juan José Campanella, 2009) (Alexander Street))
https://video-alexanderstreet-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/watch/el-...
- The Secret in their Eyes (dir. Billy Ray, 2015) (Netflix)
https://www.netflix.com/search?q=the%20secret%20in%20their%20eyes&jbv=80...
Films: Chile:
- Salvador Allende (dir. Patricio Guzmán, Icarus Films, 2006), 1 hour 40 minutes (Alexander Street)
https://video-alexanderstreet-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/watch/sal...
- Massacre at the Stadium. (Dir. Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt, Netflix, 2019). (Netflix)
https://www.netflix.com/title/80191048
- Machuca (dir. Andrés Wood, 2004). (Kanopy)
https://washington.kanopy.com/s?query=Machuca
- The Pinochet Case (dir. Patricio Guzmán, 2002). (Alexander Street)
https://video-alexanderstreet-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/watch/the...
- Post-mortem (dir. Pablo Larraín, 2010). (Amazon $3)
https://www.amazon.com/Mortem-English-Subtitled-Pablo-Larrain/dp/B009D55...
- No (dir. Pablo Larraín, 2012). (Alexander Street)
https://video-alexanderstreet-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/watch/no
- Nostalgia for the Light (dir. Patricio Guzmán, 2011). (Alexander Street)
https://video-alexanderstreet-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/watch/nos...
- The Cordillera of Dreams (dir. Patricio Guzmán, 2019) (Alexander Street)
https://video-alexanderstreet-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/watch/the...
- El patio (dir. Elvira Díaz, 2016). (Amazon Prime)
https://www.amazon.com/El-Patio-Elvira-Diaz/dp/B074Q49B9Q/ref=sr_1_1?dch...
- Pacto de fuga (dir. David Albala, 2020). (Amazon Prime)
https://www.amazon.com/Pacto-Fuga-Benjam%C3%ADn-Vicu%C3%B1a/dp/B08GRJ3MH...
CALENDAR
Date |
In class |
Due today |
WEEK 1
|
||
Tues, 5 Jan |
Introduction |
|
Thurs, 7 Jan |
|
Film 1: Spoils of War (Canvas); Sacheri, Kamchatka, pp 3-73, Ch. 1-24 |
WEEK 2 |
||
Tues 12 Jan |
|
Film 2: Official Story (Kanopy); Sacheri, Kamchatka, pp 74-154, Ch. 25-45; Chaudhuri essay |
Thurs 14 Jan |
|
Film 3: Rojo (Amazon $4); Figueras, Kamchatka, pp 155-229, Ch. 46-63 |
WEEK 3 |
||
Tues 19 Jan |
|
Film 4: Clandestine Childhood (Kanopy); Figueras, Kamchatka, pp 233-309, Ch. 64-81 |
Thurs 21 Jan |
|
Film 5: Kamchatka (Canvas); Sacheri, The Secret in their Eyes, Ch. 1-12, pp 1-121 |
WEEK 4 |
||
Tues 18 Jan |
|
Film 6: El premio (Amazon Prime); Sacheri, The Secret in their Eyes, Ch 13-19, pp 122-189 |
Thurs 20 Jan |
|
Film 7: The Invisible Eye (Kanopy); Sacheri, The Secret in their Eyes, Ch 20-32, pp 190-284 |
WEEK 5 |
||
Tues 26 Jan |
|
Film 8: El secreto de sus ojos (Canvas); Sacheri, The Secret in their Eyes, Ch 33-End, pp 285-384; Hortiguera essay |
Thurs 28 Jan |
|
Film 9: The Secret in their Eyes (Netflix)
|
WEEK 6 |
||
Tues 2 Feb |
|
Film 10: Salvador Allende (Alexander Street)
|
Thurs 4 Feb |
|
Film 11: Massacre at the Stadium (Netflix); 7 pm Journal 1 due to Canvas |
WEEK 7 |
||
Tues 9 Feb |
|
Film 12: Machuca (Kanopy); Martín-Cabrera essay |
Thurs 11 Feb |
|
Film 13: The Pinochet Case (Kanopy) |
WEEK 8 |
||
Tues 16 Feb |
|
Film 14:Post-Mortem (Amazon, $3); Jung essay |
Thurs 18 Feb |
|
Film 15: No (Amazon, $4); Cronovich essay |
WEEK 9 |
||
Tues 23 Feb |
|
Film 16: Nostalgia for the Light (Amazon, $4) |
Thurs 25 Feb |
|
Film 17: The Cordillera of Dreams (Amazon, $4) |
WEEK 10 |
||
Tues 2 Mar |
|
Film 18: El Patio (Amazon Prime) |
Thurs 4 Mar |
|
Film 19: Pacto de fuga (Amazon Prime) |
WEEK 11 |
||
Tues 9 Mar |
|
Discuss draft of final essay |
Thurs 11 Mar |
Conclusions |
7 pm Journal 2 & Essay due to Canvas |
TEXTS:
Marcelo Figueras, Kamchatka. Trans. Frank Wynne. NY: Grove Press / Black Cat, 2010, 309 pp. 978-0802170873
Eduardo Sacheri, The Secret in their Eyes. Trans. John Cullen. NY: Other Press, 2011, 384 pp. 978-1590514504
Articles Posted to Canvas (under “Files”):
A1. Chaudhuri, Shohini. “The Art of Disappearance: Remembering Political Violence in Argentina and Chile.” In his Cinema of the Dark Side: Atrocity and the Ethics of Film Spectatorship. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2013, pp. 84-114.
A2. Hortiguera, Hugo. “Perverse Fascinations and Atrocious Acts: An Approach to The Secret in their Eyes by Juan José Campanella.” Studies in Latin American Popular Culture 30 (2012): 110-123.
A3. Martín-Cabrera, Luis. “Class Conflict, State of Exception and Radical Justice in Machuca by Andrés Wood.” Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies: Travesía 16.1 (2007): 63-80.
A4. Jung, Nike. “History, Fiction, and the Politics of Corporeality in Pablo Larraín’s Dictatorship Trilogy.” Film, History, and Memory 2015: 118-133.
A5. Cronovich, Paula T. “’No’ and No. The Campaign of 1988 and Pablo Larraín’s Film.” Radical History Review 124 (January 2016): 165-176.
Determination of Grades:
Reading Journal, Part One 20%
Reading Journal, Part Two 20%
Group Oral Presentation 20%
Comparative Analytical Essay, 4-6 pages 20%
Class Participation 20%
Reading and Viewing Journal:
Please write at least 200 words, typed, double-spaced, on each of the eleven films we will watch in class and on each of the ten essays we will discuss. Please see the numbered list of entries and instructions posted on Canvas under “Assignments.”
Group Presentation:
In addition to the films that we will screen in class, you will watch one other film and prepare a 30-40-minute presentation on it, together with several other students. I will distribute a sign-up sheet for this purpose. Please see the detailed instructions posted under “Assignments.”
Analytical Essay:
Students will write one 4-6-page analytical essay, including a list of works consulted, and incorporating discussion of the films and readings studied in class. The essay should compare and contrast a theme or problem in two of the films we have studied in class. Please see the topics and detailed instructions posted under “Assignments.”
Please follow the guidelines of the MLA Handbook:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Please utilize the services of the writing tutors at the Odegaard Writing and Research Center. You can make Zoom appointments with them online:
https://depts.washington.edu/owrc/signup.php
Academic Honesty:
You are responsible for understanding and observing the UW guidelines regarding academic honesty. Your written work will be submitted through Canvas, which utilizes Turnitin to detect and provide a detailed report on any instances of plagiarism. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.
Students with Disabilities:
To request accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, (206) 543-8924 ((V/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating that you have a disability that requires academic accommodations,