Spring 2025 Spanish BC3487 section 001

Latin American Cyberpunk Literature

Lat Am Cyberpunk

Call Number 00607
Day & Time
Location
TR 2:40pm-3:55pm
307 Milbank Hall (Barnard)
Points 3
Grading Mode Standard
Approvals Required None
Instructor Orlando Bentancor
Type LECTURE
Course Description

Welcome to our exploration of Latin American Cyberpunk, a genre that reimagines and revolutionizes the traditional cyberpunk narrative. Unlike the cyberpunk classics like William Gibson's Neuromancer, Blade Runner, and The Matrix, which established the genre's foundations with their visions of high tech and low life in dystopian futures, Latin American authors and creators have rewritten and subverted these tropes. They have turned their region's complex realities into a unique and vibrant cyberpunk laboratory, offering a fresh and engaging perspective. In this course, we will dive into the works of several prominent Latin American cyberpunk authors including Bernardo Fernández BEF, Jorge Baradit, Erick Mota, Ramiro Sanchiz, Juan Mattio, Karen Andrea Reyes, Maielis González Fernández, and Flor Canosa. In this course, our focus will be on how Latin America's complex realities have not only shaped but embodied cyberpunk concepts. As Chilean author Jorge Baradit states, Latin America doesn't just imagine cyberpunk - it lives it. The region's stark contrasts between ultra-modern technology and grinding poverty, its history of political upheaval and corporate exploitation, and its rich tapestry of cultures create a perfect backdrop for cyberpunk narratives that feel viscerally real. We'll delve into how Latin American cyberpunk doesn't limit itself to envisioning a high-tech dystopia but reflects and critiques an existing one, blending futuristic elements with the region's present-day challenges and cultural heritage.

 

 

Web Site Vergil
Department Spanish and Latin American Culture
Enrollment 14 students (15 max) as of 12:05PM Thursday, January 9, 2025
Subject Spanish
Number BC3487
Section 001
Division Barnard College
Section key 20251SPAN3487X001