Module Content and Indicative Topics

In this module, we will examine the ways in which recent Latin American cinema engages with issues of race and ethnicity. After an initial introduction to key debates around race, ethnicity and around the more recent notions of multiculturalism and cultural diversity, we will devote each session to the analysis of representative thought-provoking films and the discussion of relevant theoretical texts from postcolonial/decolonial, race and film studies. We will discuss films from Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, focusing on the representation of ethnic/racial identities, agency, resistance, conflict and otherness. Specific topics to be addressed include socio-racial hierarchies; the legacy of colonialism; the interaction between gender and race; the notion of indigeneity; nationness and citizenship; land and environmental issues; decolonial aesthetics; film activism, among others. Throughout the module, we will assess the extent to which films are challenging dominant narratives of race and ethnicity and whether they are succeeding in offering de-colonial approaches.

The module will cover the following topics, which may be subject to variation: 


	Introduction: Race and Ethnicity in Latin America and in Cinema
	
	
	Socio-racial conflict: Representations of Domestic Servants
	
	
	Ethnicity, Gender and Trauma
	

	Representing Otherness: (Contesting) Eurocentrism
	
	
	Ethnicity and the Transnational Audience
	
	
	Black narratives and national belonging
	
	
	Race, Colonialism and Film Aesthetics
	
	
	Ethnicity and Land Sovereignty in Film: Cinema Activism
	

	Indigenous Filmmaking in Latin America
	
Teaching Delivery

The module will be taught through two-hour weekly classes, which will involve watching and analysing clips and discussing relevant secondary literature. Delivery will include interactive lectures and seminars, open class and small group discussions.

By the end of the module, you should be able to demonstrate:


	an understanding of the main debates on race, ethnicity and cultural diversity in the Latin American context, and of the issues surrounding these concepts.
	

	a strong knowledge of how recent Latin American cinema engages with the region’s racial and ethnic diversity and conflict
	
	
	a knowledge of some of the main genres and trends in contemporary Latin American cinema
	
	
	an understanding of the role played by film in shaping/challenging dominant ideologies
	
	
	skills of intercultural awareness
	
	
	skills of film and visual analysis
	

	an ability to discuss cultural forms in a written and oral manner through presentations, in-class discussions, employing appropriate terminology and theoretical frameworks.
	
Recommended Reading

In preparation for the module, we advise reading one or more of the following texts. These can be found in the UCL Library:


	Dennison (Ed.), Contemporary Hispanic Cinema: Interrogating the Transnational in Spanish and Latin American Film (pp. 155-180). Boydell & Brewer, 2013.
	

	Gleghorn, C. ‘Indigenous Filmmaking in Latin America’, In: M. Delgado, S. Hart, and R. Johnson, eds. 2017. A Companion to Latin American Cinema. Hoboken, NJ: John Wylie & Sons. pp.167-186
	
	
	Haskins V, Lowrie C. Colonization and Domestic Service: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, NY: Routledge, 2014.
	
	
	Hirsch, M. The Generation of Postmemory. Poetics Today (2008) 29 (1): 103-128.
	
	
	King, A M López, M Alvarado (eds), Mediating Two Worlds. Cinematic Encounters in the Americas, London: BFI Publishing, 1993.
	
	
	Mignolo, W. ‘Decolonial Aesthetics/Aesthesis’ https://blackeuropebodypolitics.wordpress.com/decolonial/.
	

	Ng’weno, Bettina. 2004. “Can Ethnicity Replace Race? Afro-Colombians, Indigeneity and the Colombian Multicultural State”. Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 12, no. 2: 414–40. 
	
	
	Quijano, Anibal, ‘Coloniality of power, Eurocentrism and Latin America’, Nepantla: Views from the South, 1(3), 2000, pp 533-580.
	
	
	Raheja, Michelle H, ‘“Will making movies do the sheep any good?” The afterlife of Native American images’, in Recasting Commodity and Spectacle in the Indigenous Americas, Gilbert H, Gleghorn C (eds),
	
	
	Schiwy, Freya, Indianizing Film: Decolonization, the Andes, and the Question of Technology, New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 2009.
	
	
	Stoddard J, Marcus A and Hicks A. ‘The Burden of Historical Representation: The Case of/for Indigenous Film’. The History Teacher Vol. 48, No. 1 (November 2014), pp. 9-36
	

	Stam R. and Shoat E., Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media. NY: Routledge, 1994 Stam, Robert. 1997. Tropical Multiculturalism: A Comparative History of Race in Brazilian Cinema and Culture. Durham: Duke University Press
	
	
	Wade, Peter, Race and Ethnicity in Latin America. Second edition. London: Pluto, 2010.