"Primavera con una esquina rota". Verfahren zur Förderung literarischer Kompetenz am Beispiel eines Romans von Mario Benedetti

Abstract

The examination of Latin American social structures reveals the continent’s ongoing confrontation with the legacy of dictatorship in the context of globalization, alongside the pursuit of freedom and justice. Mario Benedetti’s novel Primavera con una esquina rota (1982) engages with Uruguay’s military dictatorship in a fragmentary yet personal manner. Its polyphonic structure, in which multiple narrators voice their perspectives, provides students with opportunities to explore diverse modes of thought and behavior while reflecting on political and private realities shaped by exile and repression. From a didactic perspective, the novel’s fragmentary composition not only enhances its aesthetic value but also opens possibilities for differentiated classroom practice. Combining production-oriented approaches with analytical and reflective tasks allows learners to engage both creatively and critically with the text. Thus, the risk of reducing complexity in the teaching of literature is transformed into a chance to foster literary competence in the foreign language classroom through a nuanced engagement with the novel’s form and content.