Representing Disappearance: Cultural Responses to the Argentine Dictatorship (1976-83) HISP4105
- Academic Session: 2026-27
- School: School of Modern Languages and Cultures
- Credits: 20
- Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
- Typically Offered: Runs Throughout Semesters 1 and 2
- Available to Visiting Students: Yes
- Collaborative Online International Learning: No
- Curriculum For Life: No
Short Description
This course examines how Argentine dramatists, writers and filmmakers have responded to the dictatorship (1976-1983) in their work. The course specifically focuses on the presence of the disappeared in the works to be studied and examines the strategies used for representing that which was not to be seen, that which was disappeared and excluded from view.
Timetable
20 x 1hr sessions over both semesters as scheduled on MyCampus
This is one of the honours options in SMLC and may not run every year. The options which are running this session are available on MyCampus.
Requirements of Entry
Available to all students fulfilling the requirements for Honours entry into Spanish, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes.
Excluded Courses
None
Co-requisites
None
Assessment
The standard assessments for this course are:
■ Commentary (1000 words) - 20%
■ Essay (2,000 words) - 50%
■ Group presentation, within which each student in the group will talk for c5 minutes (15% group mark and 15% individual mark) - 30%
If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available:
■ Student documents contribution to presentation/PowerPoint with substantial presentation notes as alternative to the Presentation
■ There is no alternative to the Commentary, but extensions to the deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (students should follow the usual process for extensions).
■ There is no alternative to the Essay, but extensions to the deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (students should follow the usual process for extensions).
Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.
Main Assessment In: April/May
Course Aims
This course will provide the opportunity to:
■ study the lasting impact of dictatorship, torture and disappearance in the works of Argentine dramatists, writers and filmmakers.
■ consider the ways in which silence or what is not said impacts upon possible debates within visual and literary texts.
■ develop and deepen your understanding of trauma in both personal and national terms.
■ foster an understanding of the general trends in 20th Century Argentine politics.
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
By the end of this course students will be able to:
• provide evidence of detailed knowledge and understanding of the dictatorship and its aftermath in Argentina;
• understand the complex inter-relations between a text and its historical context;
• apply distinct methods of cultural and historical analysis appropriately to a range of written and visual texts;
• present detailed arguments (oral and written), supported by primary and secondary textual evidence;
• access and evaluate critically secondary reading material and other relevant resources;
• analyse texts (both written and visual), showing awareness of their relation to the social, historical and generic context in which they were produced.