Inspiring mexican literature

This course aims to inspire aspiring new authors and enthusiastic readers to discover Mexican Literature through the extensive revision of short stories and short novels that the instructor considers a significant influence in her writing works.

The selected readings have the following characteristics:

• All of them are from Mexican authors.
• They promote a sense of wonder, mesmerizing enchantment, or deep despair.

The course follows a sense of discovery. It reviews established authors as well as works of the strange and the inexplicable through a path that mimics the instructor’s way through literature. Literature changes you and wounds you. It induces a desire to find out who you are.

Teaches: Libertad Pantoja (CDMX, 1987) is a Mexican author and technical writer. She graduated in Literary Writing from Literaria: Centro Mexicano de Escritores. Libertad received the FONCA Young Creators scholarship in 2018 in the short story specialty and in 2021 in the novel one. She has participated in the «Under the Volcano» writing program thrice. Some of her stories appear in the anthologies «Historias de las historias» (Ediciones del ermitaño, 2011) and «Lo fantástico no existe» (Ediciones Periféricas, 2021). She has published in the magazines Penumbria, Temporales, and Literaria, as well as in the popular science sites «Más ciencia por México,» «Historias Cienciacionales,» «Cienciorama» and «Hypatia.» Malabar Editorial published her first short stories collection, “Tú, enfermo no estás”, in 2021.

Once the payment is made, please register your data in the following form:

 

Sessions

1. Who am I, and Where do I come from? Context, Heritage, and Personal Story. 

Horacio Quiroga (Uruguay):

• The Feather Pillow
• The Decapitated Chicken
• Wild Honey
• The Tongue

We will talk about the importance of the first writing influence. In this context, the instructor will share her perception and ideas about Horacio Quiroga and how his works influenced her to start writing. The objective is that the participants can identify their own influences and preferences in order to compare them with the works that we are going to review during the course, relating them to their context and life story.

During this session, the instructor will talk about her context. The participants will share their personal contexts and reasons for taking the course. The instructor will share the course’s objectives and structure.

The participants will read The Tongue, and the instructor will explain how the author influenced her.

Activities:

The participants will write a brief text (less than a page) simulating the writing of their current major influence or a short essay (half a page long) about their impressions of the text. 

 

2. Can I write? The Future vs the Establishment. Juan José Arreola and Carlos Fuentes.

Juan José Arreola:

• The Rhinoceros
• Baby HP
• The Toad

Others:

• The Switchman

Carlos Fuentes:

• The Doll Queen 
• Aura

We will talk about Juan José Arreola and Carlos Fuentes in the Mexican literature context. The instructor will share her first impressions of Juan José Arreola and Carlos Fuentes when she was in high school and later when she started to attend a writing workshop. The objective is that the participants can identify how first impressions and preferences are not always the best norths to find what helps us the most in our writing or reading journey.

During this session, the participants will share their impressions regarding Arreola’s and Fuentes’ writing and how they consider it relates (or not) to their main influences. 

The participants will read The Toad, and the instructor will explain how the author influenced her.

Activities:

Brief text (less than a page) simulating the writing of Arreola or Fuentes or a short essay (half a page long) about your impressions of the text. 

 

3. Reasons to Write. Starting. The Idealistic Darkness and the Violence. Rosario Castellanos, Fernanda Melchor, and Gabriela Damián Miravete.

Fernanda Melchor

• This is not Miami

Gabriela Damián Miravete

• Future Nereid

Rosario Castellanos

• Cooking Lesson

We will discuss the different reasons to write and what we aim to do with our writing. In this context, the instructor will share her first impressions of Cooking Lesson, Future Nereid, and This is not Miami and how these texts made her think about the different possibilities of writing.

The objective is that the participants can identify how different writers have different reasons to write and which one suits their reading or writing experience better.

Activities:

The participants will write a brief text (less than a page) about their impressions on these texts. 

 

4. Living Your Writing. Guadalupe Dueñas, Inés Arredondo, and Elena Garro. 

Guadalupe Dueñas

• The Rats
• Guide Through Death

Inés Arredondo

• The Shunammite

Elena Garro

• Blame the Tlaxcaltecs

We will talk about the influence of real life in writing. Guadalupe Dueñas used to say that she never wrote fiction and that everything that she wrote happened to her. We will discuss how real life influences the writer’s works and how they wrote about their real life and enlivened their writings. The students will compare their initially chosen texts with the writings of the authors they chose at the beginning of the course.

The objective is that the participants can identify the surroundings’ influence on the author’s writings.

Activities:

Brief text (less than a page) simulating your favorite author’s writing from this class or a short essay (half a page long) about your impressions of any of the texts. 

 

5. The Establishment 2.0. The magic of the Unknown. Juan Rulfo.

• The Burning Plain
• Tell them not to Kill Me
• They Have Given Us the Land
• Pedro Páramo

We will talk about how the revolution changed literature in Mexico and how Juan Rulfo stands (sometimes out of comprehension) as part of the main Mexican Literature. 

Activities:

Brief text (less than a page) of your impressions on how the prevailing narratives shape a country. 

 

6. Literature and the Otherness in the Desert. Jesús Gardea, Mario González Suárez, and Efrén Hernández.

Jesús Gardea.

• • Angel of our Summers
  • All

Mario González Suárez

• Sourceless River

Efrén Hernández

• Tachas

We will discuss the different reasons to write and what we aim to do with our writing. In this context, the instructor will share how the first time she took lessons with Mario González Suárez, she started questioning her reasons for writing. Reading Gardea made her realize other reasons to write and find one more according to her style. She will also share how she knew Efrén Hernández in the first place and what made her gat his book. The participants will share what literature means for them and how they came to that idea.

The objective is that the participants can start questioning what literature is.

Activities:

Brief text (less than a page) simulating any of the authors’ writing or a short essay (half a page long) about your impressions of their texts. 

 

7. Alone by Many Lovers.  Juan Vicente Melo, José Revueltas and Francisco Tario.

Juan Vicente Melo

• Fragments

José Revueltas

• The Little Doe

Francisco Tario

• The Night of Margaret Rose

These three writers revolve around death and loss. The instructor will mention how these three authors have influenced her writing recently and the importance of enriching your writing or reading knowledge rather than only reading what you like.

The objective is to make the participants aware that reading writings out of their comfort zone is good.

Activities:

The participants will write a brief text (less than a page) about how these texts made them feel. 

 

8. The Other Worlds and What Comes Next. Yuri Herrera. 

• Kingdom Cons
• Signs Preceding the End of the World

We will share the final remarks on what we have learned about Mexican literature, how it can inspire us to read or write, and the drawbacks of reading translated versions and finding good translations. The instructor will share her impressions on the new wave of Mexican literature and encourage the students to share their impressions of how Yuri Herrera relates (or not) to the texts they chose at the beginning of the course.

Activities:

The students will provide their feedback and impressions on the course.  

 

Bibliography

Sun, Stone, and Shadows: 20 Great Mexican Short Stories, Hernández, J.F., ISBN 9789681685942, Big read, 2008, FCL/FLM.

Underground River and Other Stories, Inés Arredondo, Translated by Cynthia Steele, University of Nebraska Press, 1996, ISBN 0803210345, 9780803210349, 128 pages