Syllabus

Week	Topic	Primary Readings	Secondary Readings	Activities
1 Friday 04/14	What is literature? What is a genre? What makes a literary genre a genre?	ÒInstrucciones para subir una escaleraÓ by Julio Cort‡zar.	ÒTesis sobre el cuentoÓ by Ricardo Piglia ÒLos gŽnerosÓ by Marc Angenot	Discussion of the topics presented in worksheet #1 (prepared and provided by the instructor).
Goals for week # 1 Problematize the limits of a literary genre. Identify gernal patterns of the genre of short stories. Identify general patterns of a genre within a genre (El cuento policial, el cuento fant‡stico, el cuento de hadas, el microcuento).
2 Friday 04/21	El cuento policial: Àlos malos y los buenos?	ÒLa esperaÓ by Jorge Luis Borges	ÒEl cuento policialÓ Conference given by Jorge Luis Borges in Universidad de Belgrano (16 June, 1978). Excerpts from The Novel and the Police by D. A. Miller	Discussion of the topics presented in worksheet #2 (prepared and provided by the instructor).
Goals for week # 2 Identify clues and deductions present in el cuento policial and question possible transgressions to the genre.
3 Friday 04/28	Cuento con tu sorpresa: el cuento fant‡stico	ÒNo se culpe a nadieÓ by Julio Cort‡zar	Excerpts from ÒDefinici—n de los fant‡sticoÓ by T. Todorov	Discussion of the topics presented in worksheet #3 (prepared and provided by the instructor).
Goals for week # 3 Identify the concept of ÒdefamiliarizationÓ as a mean to offering an alternative explanation of the world, present in el cuento fant‡stico.
4 Friday 05/05	Cuentos con encanto: el cuento de hadas	Ò4 pr’ncipes 4Ó (Pr’ncipe 3 y Pr’ncipe 4) by Luisa Valenzuela and ÒCenicienta IIIÓ, ÒSapo y princesa IÓ by Ana Mar’a Shœa	Excerpts from ÒLuisa Valenzuela: lectura descolonizadora del cuento de hadas tradicionalÓ by Nelly Mart’nez	Discussion of the topics presented in worksheet #4 (prepared and provided by the instructor).
Goals for week # 4 Deconstruct traditional gender roles and explore political uses of literature through the rewritings of fairy tales.
5 Friday 05/12	Contar con pocas palabras: el microcuento	ÒEl dinosaurioÓ by Augusto Monterroso. ÒLa verdadera crueldadÓ, ÒConsejoÓ, ÒEste tipo es una minaÓ, ÒHay algo m‡sÓ ÒEl mayor de los OdiosÓ, ÒÀEl sue–o seÉ?Ó ÒUbicaci—n geogr‡fica yÉÓ by Luisa Valenzuela. ÒUna vidaÓ by Adolfo Bioy Casares. ÒUnicornioÓ by Enrique Anderson Imbert. ÒParŽntesisÓ by Jorge Timossi. ÒUn sue–oÓ by Jorge Luis Borges.	Excerpts from ÒLos mecanismos de la brevedad: constantes y tendencias en el microcuentoÓ by Raœl Brasca	Discussion of the topics presented in worksheet #5 (prepared and provided by the instructor).
Goals for week # 5 Explore parodic uses of language in microcuentos. Explore metafictional strategies of language in microcuentos.
6 *Tuesday* 05/16	Conclusions			Participants will talk about their projects and share their proposals with the rest of the class