Transgression in the First-Person Singular
F06
Sonia Perez Villaneuva
Catalina de Erauso was a 17th-century Spanish nun who escaped from the convent, dressed as a man, and went to the Americas where she lived as a soldier, gambler, and killer before she wrote her autobiography. Her story provides the basis for a study of transgression. Was her cross-dressing a lie because she was concealing her identity as a woman, or was she exposing the lie of a society that imposed social, religious, and moral rules on women? What was risky and what was safe for the Lieutenant Nun? This course is an exploration of autobiography and a journey into the complexity of truths and lies. Students will explore texts with the signature of Catalina de Erauso, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and María de Zayas, among others. Students will develop narrative and descriptive styles while localizing, understanding, and interpreting transgression in texts written in the first-person singular. The development of research skills will also be an integral part of the course, culminating in a final project. Conducted in Spanish.