Latinx Lit: Speculative Fictio

Course Description

With the recent increase of writers of color who engage in speculative fiction (including genres such as horror, fantasy, and sci-fi), literary scholar Ramón Saldívar argues that speculative literature can function “as a basis for recognizing and understanding the construction of the new political destinies we may witness taking shape among diasporic groups in the US today.” This course will examine how Latino/a/x writers contribute to speculative fictions in response to a political era dominated by xenophobia and racism. To do so, we will ask questions such as: What are the symbolic affordances of speculative fictions and their genre conventions? How do Latino/a/x writers adhere to, or subvert, these genre conventions? What opportunities (or limitations) do speculative fictions present towards constructing a more inclusive vision of “latinidad”? How do speculative fictions allow us to imagine a potential utopian future? We will ask these questions as we consider texts like Carmen Maria Machado's genre-bending work or even HBO's horror-themed comedy series, Los Espookys.