Pavel Andrade, Ph.D.

Undergraduate / Mexican Studies

Art, Politics, and Everyday Life in Mexico

Course Description

Wake up, go to work, feed the dog, cook dinner, watch TV, doomscroll, do the social media thing, go to bed, repeat. Everydayness is iterative, conspicuously boring, monotonous to the point of irritation; its regularity, however, often reveals the pervasiveness of power relations and social antagonisms. In this course, we will study how cultural representations mobilize the unremarkable status of the everyday. We will examine art’s capacity to reformulate the quotidian as something made, socially constructed and, ultimately, open to collective transformation. Focusing on different media such as film, photography, music, literature, and architecture, we will study the transformations of everyday life in Mexico from the mid-twentieth century to the present. We will explore how Mexican cultural production has registered the exhilarations and dissatisfactions generated by the advent of globalization and neoliberal capitalism. How do luchador films, pop music, and public housing projects capture the rhythms of the everyday and offer us an opportunity to interrogate the socioeconomic forces that modulate the experience of the social?

This course serves as an introduction to the fields of Mexican literary and cultural studies. Taught in Spanish. Readings in Spanish and/or English. All assignment submissions in Spanish.

Required Materials

  • Pen (or pencil) and notebook.
  • Students are strongly encouraged to bring print copies of reading materials to class

Book:

  • José Emilio Pacheco, Las batallas en el desierto/Battles in the Desert, 1980. Available to purchase from the TTU Bookstore/ Follet Discover.

Films:

  • Alfonso Cuarón, Roma, 2018. Available from Netflix and other streaming platforms.
  • Miguel M. Delgado, El analfabeto, 1961. Available from Prime and Apple TV.
  • Miguel M. Delgado, El Santo y Blue Demon contra Drácula y El Hombre Lobo, 1973. Available from Vix (Spanish subtitles only).
  • Vicky Funari and Sergio de la Torre, Maquilápolis, 2006. Available from TTU Libraries.
  • Betzabé García, Los reyes del pueblo que no existe, 2015. Available from Vimeo.
  • Javier García, La cocina de las patronas, 2016. Available from TTU Libraries.
  • Antonio Serrano, Sexo, pudor y lágrimas, 1999. CMLL screening.

All other materials available through Blackboard.

Course Guidelines and Grading

Attendance, Participation, and Note-Taking (20%). “Contained in this classroom,” reads Tom Wayman’s poem “Did I Miss Anything?”,  “is a microcosm of human experience / assembled for you to query and examine and ponder.” The classroom is a space that provides you the rare opportunity to question, speculate, and think collectively. Consistent, engaged participation (in Spanish!) is crucial for your success in this class. You are expected to come to class having read all the assigned materials, to actively participate in class discussion, and to take notes by hand. No cellphones, tablets, or laptops allowed.

Why take notes by hand:

Attendance Policy. Students are allowed two unexcused absences throughout the semester. For each subsequent absence, your final grade will be lowered by a half letter grade (e.g. a grade of A- will be lowered to a B+). Six or more absences (excused or unexcused) will result in a “fail” (F) grade for the course. Two late arrivals and/or early departures will count as one unexcused absence. Late work will not be accepted under any circumstances.In the case of an extreme situation or emergency, the student must notify the course instructor via email, including supporting evidence, to determine a course of action. Click here for student support resources on class absences.

Recording of class sessions is prohibited.

In-Class Writing Exercises (25%). Throughout the semester we will conduct several short, in-class writing exercises (in Spanish) based on assigned readings and class discussions. Prompts for each exercise will be provided in class. Six writing exercises total (see course calendar), the lowest score will be dropped and removed from grade calculations.

Album Review (25%). As a midterm project, students will write a 1000 to 1500-word review (in Spanish), of a landmark album of Mexican music. See “Album Review” assignment in Blackboard for detailed instructions.

Everyday Lubbock (30%). Final project. Throughout the semester, students will work on a video interview (in Spanish) centered around everyday life in Lubbock. Students may decide to work in small groups or individually. Instructions, guidelines, and recommendations will be presented in class. See “Everyday Lubbock” assignment in Blackboard for details.

Reading Calendar

Week 1: Introduction
Thur. Jan. 11: Read the syllabus

Week 2: Everyday Theory
Tues. Jan. 16: Henri Lefebvre, “Introduction to the Psychosociology of Everyday Life”
Thurs. Jan. 18: Raymond Williams, “Popular Culture: History and Theory”
In class: “Al pan, pan”
Writing Exercise #1

Week 3: City of Monsters
Tues. Jan. 23: Modernismo magazines (selection).
Thurs. Jan. 25: Ben A. Gerlofs, “A Century of Monsters, Machines, and Megaurbanization”

Week 4: Everydayness and the Social
Tues. Jan. 30: Betzabé García, Los reyes del pueblo que no existe, 2015
Thurs. Feb. 1: Elena Garro, “El zapaterito de Guanajuato” & Doreen Massey, “Three Ruminations”
Writing Exercise #2

Week 5: Everyday Kitsch
Tues. Feb. 6: Ilan Stavans, “The Riddle of Cantinflas”
Thurs. Feb. 8: Miguel M. Delgado, El analfabeto, 1961

Week 6: Lucha libre
Tues. Feb. 13: Anne Rubenstein, “El Santo’s Strange Career”
Thurs. Feb. 15: Miguel M. Delgado, El Santo y Blue Demon contra Drácula y El Hombre Lobo, 1973
In class: “De una a mil noches”
Writing Exercise #3

Week 7: Everyday Battles
Tues. Feb. 20: José Emilio Pacheco, Las batallas en el desierto (Chapters 1-5)
Thurs. Feb. 22: José Emilio Pacheco, Las batallas en el desierto (Chapters 6-12)
Album Selection Due

Week 8: Everyday Rebels
Tues. Feb. 27: Elena Poniatowska, “The Student Movement of 1968” & Louise E. Walker, “Rebel Generation”
Thurs. Feb. 29: Eric Zolov, “The Avándaro Rock Festival”

Week 9: Everyday Care
Tues. Mar. 5: Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Thurs. Mar. 7: Carla Marcantonio, “Roma: Silence, Language, and the Ambiguous Power of Affect” & Marcela García, “Roma Exposes Mexico’s Darkest Secret”
Album Review Due
Final Project Pitch

Spring Vacation March 9-17

Week 10: Everyday Spaces
Tues. Mar. 19: Emilio de Antuñano, “From the Horseshoe Slums to Colonias Proletarias” & Upton Dell, “Architecture in Everyday Life”
In class: “Las guerreras”
Thurs. Mar. 21: René Davids, “Mythical Terrain and the Building of Mexico’s UNAM” & Alma Guillermoprieto, “Zócalo, Mexico City: On Sacred Ground”
Writing Exercise #4

Week 11: Control remoto
Tues. Mar. 26: Carlos Monsiváis, “¿Es la vida un comercial sin patrocinadores?” & Olivia Cosentino, “Televisa Born and Raised”
Thurs. Mar. 28: Rosalind C. Pearson, “Fact or Fiction?: Narrative and Reality in the Mexican Telenovela”
Final Project Script Due

Week 12: Everyday Crises
Tues. Apr. 2: Claudio Lomnitz, “The Depreciation of Life During Mexico City’s Transition into ‘the Crisis’”
Thurs. Apr. 4: Roger Bartra, “The Crisis of Nationalism”

Week 13: Everyday Bodies
Tues. Apr. 9: Antonio Serrano, Sexo, pudor y lágrimas, 1999. CMLL screening
Thurs. Apr. 11: Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado, “The Rise of Emotional Capitalism” & Elizabeth Grosz, “Bodies-Cities”
Writing Exercise #5

Week 14: Everyday Cooking
Tues. Apr. 16: Javier García, La cocina de las patronas, 2016 & Luce Giard, “The Nourishing Arts”
In class: “Las delicias de San Juan”
Thurs. Apr. 18: No Class (Work on Final Project)

Week 15: Everyday Protest
Tues. Apr. 23: Vicky Funari and Sergio de la Torre, Maquilápolis, 2006 & David Bacon “The Maquiladora Workers of Juárez Find Their Voice”
Thurs. Apr. 25: Melissa Wright, “Paradoxes and Protests”
Writing Exercise #6

Week 16: Conclusions
Tues. Apr. 30: Saskia Sassen, “Whose City is it? Globalization and the Formation of New Claims”
Final Project Due