Recent Studies in the History, Culture, and Religion of Latin America I 3305-NBKAL1-1U

The aim of the course is to familiarize students with the latest international research on the history and culture (including religions) of Latin America. The course covers topics related to the history, culture, and religions of the Indigenous communities of Latin America, tracing their evolution, transformation, and survival in the precolonial, colonial, and contemporary periods. The issues discussed fall within the following thematic blocks: the study and critical analysis of historical sources, recent archaeological discoveries, unique Indigenous American cultural phenomena, and change and continuity in Indigenous religion and culture.

Methods of instruction include introductory lectures by the lecturer, discussion, group work, critical analysis of the primary sources (both alphabetic texts and Indigenous painted books), mini-projects, and one written assignment per semester.

All course materials are provided by the lecturer via the Google Classroom platform.

Course coordinators

Katarzyna Szoblik

Type of course

obligatory courses

Mode

Classroom

Prerequisites (description)

Fluency in Spanish is required (the language of instruction and of most of the bibliography), as well as reading proficiency in English, since some of the texts included in the bibliography are in that language.

Learning outcomes

The student knows and understands the subject-specific and methodological characteristics of research on the history and culture (including religions) of Latin America; advanced terminology related to the study of the history and culture of Latin America; the connections between research on the history and culture (including religions) of Latin America and other fields within the humanities and social sciences; the basic concepts and principles of intellectual property and copyright law, as well as the need to manage intellectual property resources in research on the history and culture (including religions) of Latin America; scientific and cultural phenomena in the countries of Latin America, with particular emphasis on an in-depth understanding of the relationships between new research and trends in the study of the history and culture (including religions) of Latin America and other humanistic discourses; terminology, theory, and methodology related to research on the history and culture (including religions) of Latin America; and contemporary achievements of research centers and academic schools in selected areas of research on the history and culture (including religions) of Latin America (K_W01; K_W02; K_W03; K_W04; K_W05; K_W06).

The student is able to apply acquired research skills, including the critical analysis of cultural products, historical sources, and social phenomena in Latin American countries; the synthesis of diverse ideas and viewpoints; the selection of methods and construction of research tools; and the development and presentation of research results enabling original solutions to complex problems in the study of the history and culture of Latin America. The student is also able to independently acquire knowledge about the history and culture of Latin America and further develop research skills in this field, as well as apply acquired language skills in the comprehension and production of oral and written texts using specialist terminology related to the history and culture of Latin America (K_U01; K_U02; K_U03).

The student is prepared to cooperate effectively in a group, assuming different roles within it (K_K01).

Assessment criteria

Requirements for passing the course:

- attendance in class (a maximum of two unexcused absences is permitted)
- active participation in classes and in discussions based on the prior reading of excerpts from primary sources and analytical texts
- final exam

Bibliography

Literature
Primary sources (chosen fragments):
Anales de Cuauhtitlan (1998) w: History and Mythology of the Aztecs. The Codex Chimalpopoca. Ed. J, Bierhorst. Tuscon: University of Arizona Press
Arzápalo Marín, Ramón, ed. El ritual de los Bacabes. 2a ed. Mérida: UNAM / UADY / Ayuntamiento de Mérida, 2007.
Cantares Mexicanos. n.d. Biblioteca Nacional de México, Mexico City, MS 1628bis.
Códice Borgia (s. f.) Original de la Biblioteca Apostólica Vaticana, núm. cat. Borg. Mess. 1.
Códice Boturini: Tira de la Peregrinación. Digital facsimile. Instituto
Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.
Códice Fejérváry-Mayer. Digital facsimile. Graz – México, ADEVA –FCE – Sociedad Estatal Quinto Centenario
Códice Vaticano A (s. f.) Original de la Biblioteca Apostólica Vaticana, núm. cat. Vat. Lat. 3738.
Códice Mendoza (1997) The Essential Codex Mendoza, ed. F. Berdan y P.R. Anawalt, 4 v., Berkeley-Los Ángeles-Londres, University of California Press.
Códice Xolotl (1981 [1951]), Ed. Charles Dibble. México, IIH-UNAM.
Histoire du Mechique (2002), Ed. Rafael Tena Martínez, México, CONACULTA
Popol Vuh (2013) Popol Vuh. Herramientas para un estudio crítico del texto k’iche’, traducción al español, notas gramaticales y vocabulario de Michela Elisa Craveri, México, IIF-UNAM
Ruiz de Alarcón, Hernando de. 1629. Tratado de las supersticiones y costumbres gentilicias que hoy viven entre los indios naturales de esta Nueva España. Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid, Spain, MS 3160.
Sahagún, fray Bernardino de (1989) Historia general de las Cosas de Nueva España, ed. de Josefina García Quintana y Alfredo López Austin, 2 vols. México, CONACULTA – Alianza Editorial Mexicana

Critical studies:

Anders, Ferdinand; Jansen, Maarten; Reyes García, Luis. 1996. Religión, costumbres e historia de los antiguos mexicanos. Libro explicativo del llamado Códice Vaticano A. México: FCE / ADEVA (fragmenty).
De la Torre, Renée. “Tensiones entre el esencialismo azteca y el universalismo New Age a partir del estudio de las danzas ‘conchero-aztecas’.” Ciencias Sociales y Religión / Ciências Sociais e Religião 9, no. 9 (2007): 143–166.
Estrada Peña, Canek. “Todo tiene su nawal: apuntes sobre las entidades sagradas de los k’iche’.” In Entidades sagradas del universo maya, edited by A. Rafael Flores Hernández, 217–234. México: Palabra de Clío
Knab, Timothy J. 1991. “Geografía del inframundo.” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 21: 31–57.
Navarrete Linares, Federico. 2004. “¿Dónde queda el pasado? Reflexiones sobre los cronotopos históricos.” W: El historiador frente a la historia: El Tiempo en Mesoamérica, ed. V. Guedea, 29–52. Mexico City:: IIH, UNAM.
Navarrete Linares, Federico. 2011. Los orígenes de los pueblos indígenas del Valle de México: Los altépetl y sus historias. Mexico City: IIH, UNAM (wybrane fragmenty).
Szoblik, K.; Kubiak, E. 2018. “Los códices mesoamericanos como objetos del mestizaje cultural en las obras europeas del siglo XVII”, W Códices y cultura indígena en México. Homenaje a Alfonso Lacadena García-Gallo, Eds. J.J. Batalla Rosado, J.L. de Rojas, L. Pérez Lugones. Distinta Tinta, Madrid, 377-410.