Reading Macondo: the Works of Gabriel García Márquez

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Gabriel García Márquez is a Colombian writer, who won the Literature Nobel Prize in 1982. He has been recognised as one of the world’s leading writers in the second half of the 20th century.

His works have been translated into many languages, been adapted for TV and film, and inspired many subsequent works of art.

Explore five works set in the fictional village of Macondo

The main goal of this course is to explore the literary contributions of Gabriel García Márquez to world literature, through five of his first few works. These are set in (or near) the fictional village of Macondo - a town inspired by the author’s birthplace, Aracataca. We will study:

• Leaf Storm - La Hojarasca
• No One Writes to the Colonel - El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba
• In Evil Hour - La Mala Hora
• Big Mama’s Funeral - Los Funerales de la Mamá Grande
• One Hundred Years of Solitude - Cien Años De Soledad

Starting from a close reading of the texts, we will study different narrative dimensions such as:

• the author’s life in relation to his oeuvre;
• the idiosyncratic use of language;
• and the role of time and space in Garcia Marquez’s poetics.

You will discover why he won international fame with 100 Years of Solitude, which remains a classic today.

Learn with Gabriel García Márquez experts from Bogotá, Colombia

Your guides for this course are experts in analysing the works of Gabriel García Márquez, from the Department of Literature at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia’s capital, Bogotá.

The department trains writers, editors and teachers, and will bring you a unique perspective from Gabriel García Márquez’s native land.

You will need a basic ability to read and understand Gabriel García Márquez works in English.

Course videos will be in Spanish with English subtitles.

We recommend that you read each of the works before the course begins. You may find the books in your local library since any edition will do just fine.