SPAN 8870: Contemporary Latin American Poetry: Getting started

This course is an overview of the most relevant poetic works in the post modernista era (post modern). Some of the major authors studied are Jorge Luis Borges, Vicente Huidobro, Cesar Vallejo, Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, and Octavio Paz. Two authors who are seminal figures in the development of vanguardismo, José Juan Tablada and Ramón López Velarde, as well as more recent writers such as Nicanor Parra, José Emilio Pacheco, Alejandra Pizarnik, and Cecilia Vicuña are often included in a study of Latin American poetry.

Important terms related to the course material include antipoesía, poesía revolucionaria, performance poetry, and terms that relate to the current debates of postmodernity, postcolonialism, and the related issues of gender, race, and class.

Assignments: Students will write a research paper on one of the more recent poets and will need to be familiar with library resources.

Check GIL-Find or the GIL-Find Universal Catalog to find works by and about the authors studied in Contemporary Latin American Poetry.

What is a legitimate source for your paper? Most scholarly books and academic journals will be good sources. How do I know it is an academic source?

• Check the author's affiliation or credentials. This information may be available in the book or journal article.
• Does the work include a works cited list or bibliography?
• If it is a journal article, is the journal peer-reviewed? Does the journal have an editorial board? Is it published by a scholarly society?
• Finally, look at the content of the work to make your final evaluation.
• If in doubt, check with your professor or a librarian.

Here is an example of a research plan for a presentation or paper.

Getting Started

1. Look up the author, Jorge Luis Borges in the Dictionary of Literary Biography (online)
2. Look up Jorge Luis Borges in Literary Reference Center or in Literature Criticism Online  to get basic information and some literary criticism articles.

Research Help

1. Use Cambridge History of Latin American Literature, PQ6033 .C36 (LN 4) for information on the author and the context for his work. Checked out? Search Google Scholar by putting the title in quotes, "Cambridge History of Latin American Literature", find it in Google Books, then search within the book for Gabriel García Márquez. The text of  books available through Google Books is limited due to copyright restrictions.
2. Look in Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature Ref. PQ7081 .A1 E558 2004 (print reference) for Jorge Luis Borges, then use the short bibliography. Look up the sources in the bibliography for more information.

Books

Use the keyword search in GIL-Find and enter the terms Jorge Luis Borges AND poetry. Also try Sujectt search- Jorge Luis Borge to find more relevant materials. Check the GIL-Find Universal Catalog or WorldCat for books in other University System of Georgia libraries and libraries world wide for more books on your author

Articles

Use databases such as MLA International Bibliography, Literature Online Reference Edition,  Project Muse, or JSTOR to find research articles on Jorge Luis Borges and his poetry.

• Look up an author in the Dictionary of Literary Biography (online source.) Use databases MLA International Bibliography, Literary Reference Center, and Literature Criticism Online to find information on authors and their works.