Undergraduate Course: Latin American Film: History, Identity and Social Justice (ELCH10059)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will offer an introduction to a range of Latin American films from different periods and styles, focusing on how filmmakers have recorded and contested societal and political upheaval. Students will examine a selection of Latin American films (originally in Spanish and in some cases Portuguese and Indigenous languages) in order to explore issues relating to history, identity and social justice. The syllabus includes films from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Cuba and Colombia, among other countries, and the course will make reference to broader continental and international currents, such as Third Cinema. The material will be discussed in terms of both the aesthetic contributions the films have made and their foregrounding of discourses on memory, violence, state terror, gender discrimination and ethnicity. |
| Course description |
A selection of the following themes will be covered:
- Introduction to Film Theory and Analysis;
- Latin American Film history overview;
- Third Cinema, Imperfect Cinema, and pornomiseria;
- Patricio Guzman and the Pinochet dictatorship;
- Post-dictatorship film in Argentina;
- Urban culture and film aesthetics;
- Displacement and the politics of land;
- Gender and sexuality
- Indigenous and Afro-Latin American narratives.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Entry to Spanish Hons required. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 17 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 4,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
170 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
70 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1 take-home exam essay worth 70% of the final mark and scheduled during exam diet;
and
1 close-analysis film commentary of 1000 words worth 30% in total.
One group class presentation for which they will receive feedback. This constitutes the formative component of assessment. |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be given on a continuous basis in the classes in response to student participation and activities. Written and oral feedback will be offered on a group presentation, which constitutes the formative component of the course, and written feedback with a grade will be given for the close-analysis film commentary, which comprises the course's assessed coursework. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Familiarize students with a diverse range of Latin American films, including fiction and documentary modes
- Facilitate an awareness of the importance of cultural interventions in broader political struggles and social contexts
- Develop students' critical awareness of key concepts and frameworks in analytical writing on Latin American film, and enable them to apply terminology effectively
- Hone skills in researching, verbal presentation, and written communication, in general and in relation to specific cultural contexts
- Foster group activity in order to enhance student's oral communication skills and competence in interpersonal interaction
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Reading List
Key readings will be in the form of pdfs and made available on the Learn site and will be read weekly for class study.
Additional reading includes:
Aguilar, Gonzalo. Otros mundos: Un ensayo sobre el nuevo cine argentino (Buenos Aires: Santiago Arcos, 2006)
Andermann, Jens. New Argentine Cinema (London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 2012)
Hayward, Susan. Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts (London and New York: Routledge, 2000)
King, John. Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America. London & New York; Verso, 1990.
King, John, Ana M. López and Manuel Alvarado. Mediating Two Worlds: Cinematic Encounters in the Americas. London: British Film Institute, 1993.
Martin, Michael T. New Latin American Cinema. Vol I & II. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1997.
Page, Joanna. Crisis and Capitalism in Contemporary Argentine Cinema (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2009)
Pick, Zuzana M. The New Latin American Cinema: a Continental Project. Austin: U of Texas P, 1993.
Shaw, Deborah. Contemporary Latin American Cinema; Breaking into the Global Market. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007.
Shohat, Ella and Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media (London and New York: Routledge, 1994)
Stam, Robert. Film Theory: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000)
Stock, Ann Marie. Framing Latin American Cinema: Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1997.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
A weekly 2-hour class involving mini-lectures, seminar-style discussion, presentations and film clip analysis. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Charlotte Gleghorn
Tel: (0131 6)51 3237
Email: Charlotte.Gleghorn@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Fiona Jack
Tel: (0131 6)50 3635
Email: f.jack@ed.ac.uk |
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