Introductions! (Week 1)

Hello everyone! My name is Julia and I am a fourth year dual degree student majoring in sociology and business with a minor in Latin American studies. I was born and raised in Canada, but I love reading and studying about other countries. I'm looking forward to learning about society from a literary perspective as throughout my degree, I haven't really had many opportunities to examine how fiction can speak to the truth of current and historical events. I took SPAN 312 with Jon last year and I loved how this course felt like a fun weekly book club where I got to learn so much from other students and experience such a wide range of literature. Excited to discuss with you all througout this semester!

As for the lecture, I must admit, I've never really thought much about Romance Studies and what it entails. I find the point about where it fits within university coursework to be interesting as so many aspects of what I would consider to be part of Romance Studies would also be part of other degrees. While I don't have the answer to where it sits within a faculty, the generality of it makes me excited for this class as it allows for multiple different perspectives to inform different opinions. As a sociology major, maybe I would have a different perspective as someone who is in psychology or history. The generality of Romance Studies sounds like it creates the potential for creativity and discussion. I believe this also fits well with the idea of commonality between works of literature as they can be constructed in any way that is inspiring to you.  

What surprised me about the lecture was the connection to linguistic studies. I must admit, in my limited familiarity with Romance Studies I didn't really think about it from a linguistic perspective. Instead, I thought about it more from a cultural one. Language obviously impacts culture, however I am excited to see how books written in different languages amongst different cultures share commonalities and fit within the field of Romance Studies. However, the point about what is lost in translation will also be interesting to unpack. While Romance Studies may not have a specific geographic location (another wrong assumption I had about this field of study) as someone who is Portuguese and Italian, I'm still excited to read and learn more about my own culture through this course. 

Excited to read with you all! Also, as a side note, Inca Kola is one of my favourite drinks I have a bottle in my fridge at all times :D 

My question to you this week: What were your ideas of Romance Studies before starting this course? What did you think it studied?