Spanish 280, section 2: Barroco

In this seminar we will explore some of the aesthetic and sociopolitical debates linked to the term “Baroque.” Even though in the case of the Americas, many studies situate the emergence of the Baroque in European settings that later on “exported” its form and style to the Indies, we will contemplate connecting the Baroque’s rhetorical style to 16th century debates about the new territories, and to the role of the colonial experience in the development of aesthetics and politics on the other side of the Atlantic. We will study thinkers who explicitly connect the Baroque with modernity.  The course will be centered on Baroque texts from New Spain (and perhaps Peru), though we will also read texts produced in Spain. In addition, we will read representative texts of the political, religious, and philosophical thinking of the period (Loyola, Descartes, Leibniz) as well as contemporary literary theorists who help us understand the Baroque as either a historical period or a general style (Echeverria, Deleuze).