OBJECTIVES
The aim of this Course is to offer students an approach to Spanish Literature as it developed during both these periods within its historical, sociocultural and period-specific artistic context, a wide-ranging and interactive overview being offered of the main phases, movements, and genre modalities involved. Exemplification through key referents will also be provided, while special attention will be paid to certain authors and their most representative works as a way of revealing the shared imaginative heritage, the culture, and the traditions of the Spanish society of the time. In order to enrich students’ cosmovision of Spain’s language and culture, attention will be centered on not only the meaning or interpretation of the texts being dealt with, but also on the use which different authors make of language in their works, as well as on their historical and social connotations, besides certain of the customs and incidents descibed in them.
METHODOLOGY
Class sessions will be both theoretical and practical in character, while, in terms of the use of texts, the linguistic competence of the students involved will be kept in mind. Lecturer explanations will be backed up by shared reading-comprehension activities based on the texts concerned, while audiovisual and other kinds of related material will be made use of, such as journals and periodical publications available on the web. Students will be encouraged to share their findings, with regard to areas of the syllabus content, by carrying out assignments, on an individual basis, or in groups, involving oral presentations, or the researching and selection of further materials and complementary texts. In this way, through oral assignments, workshops, and colloquia, every student will be able to participate actively in the Course sessions.
SYLLABUS
• BLOCK I:
1. Spain in the Seventeenth Century. Mannerism and Baroque Art: their Historical, Cultural, and Literary Significance. Festive Occasions. The Charcateristics of Baroque Aesthetics.
2. The Seventeenth-Century Novel. The Picaresque Tradition. Cervantes.
3. Seventeenth-Century Poetry: Quevedo, Góngora, and Lope de Vega.
4. Seventeenth-Century Drama: its Importance, Function, and Key Manifestations. The Theory of Drama as contained in Spanish Plays. The Arte nuevo de hacer comedias.
• BLOCK II:
5. The Eighteenth Century. An Introduction to the Spain of the Eighteenth Century. Synthesis of Key Historical and Cultural Milestones. European Thought in the Eighteenth Century: its Ideological and Artistic Manifestations.. The Aesthetics of the Enlightenment. Thinkers, Politicians, and Writers.
6. Eighteenth-Century Prose: Cadalso.
7. Eighteenth-Century Poetry: Meléndez Valdés.
8. Eighteenth-Century Drama: Moratín.
Set readings to be used in classroom sessions (recommended editions):
• BLOCK I:
- Miguel de Cervantes, Novelas ejemplares, in Obra completa, edición de Florencio Sevilla Arroyo y Antonio Rey Hazas (Ed. Alianza). Required novella readings as such: “Rinconete y Cortadillo” and “La Gitanilla”, which will be distributed in class.
- Poesía de la edad de oro, II, Barroco (selección), edición de José Manuel Blecua (Castalia). Specifically indicated texts will be distributed during class sessions.
- Lope de Vega, Fuenteovejuna, ed. de Donald McGrady (Crítica).
• BLOCK II:
-José Cadalso, Cartas marruecas (selección), edición de Russell P. Sebold (Cátedra). Specifically indicated texts will be distributed during class sessions.
- Poesía española del siglo XVIII (selección), edición de Rogelio Reyes Cano (Cátedra). Specifically indicated texts will be distributed during class sessions.
- Leandro Fernández de Moratín, El sí de las niñas (Crítica / Castalia).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• General Reference Manuals:
ALBORG, J. L. Historia de la Literarura Española, tomos II y III. Madrid: Gredos (varias eds.)
CANAVAGGIO, J., dir. Historia de la Literatura Española, tomos III y IV. Barcelona: Ariel (varias eds.)
GARCÍA DE LA CONCHA, V., ed. Historia de la Literatura Española, tomos VI y VII. Madrid: Espasa "Calpe (varias eds.)
PEDRAZA JIMÉNEZ, F. B. y RODRIGUEZ CÁCERES, M. Manual de Literatura Española, tomos III, IV y V. Tafalla (Navarra): Cénlit (varias eds.)
RICO, F., dir. Historia y crítica de la Literatura Española, tomos III y IV con sus respectivos Suplementos. Barcelona: Crítica (varias eds.)
• Baroque:
ALCALÁ-ZAMORA, J. N. La vida cotidiana en la España de Velázquez. Madrid: Temas de Hoy, 1989; 1999.
BENNASSAR, B. La España del Siglo de Oro. Barcelona: Crítica (varias eds.)
MARAVALL, J. A. La cultura del Barroco. Barcelona: Ariel (varias eds.)
• Enlightenment:
AGUILAR PI"AL, F. Introducción al siglo XVIII. Madrid: Júcar, 1991.
HAZARD, P. La crisis de la conciencia europea, 1680-1715. Madrid: Pegaso, 1952.
SÁNCHEZ AGESTA, L. El pensamiento político del despotismo ilustrado. Sevilla: Universidad de Sevilla, 1979.
COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES
As part of the activities prior to readings, so as to enable a greater degree of understanding of the texts concerned, cultural visits will be organizad to some of the landmarks within Baroque Sevilla and the Sevilla of the eighteenth century:
-Hospital de la Santa Caridad.
-Iglesia de San Luis de los Franceses.
-Palacio de San Telmo.
-Universidad.
ASSESSMENT
In order to ensure being assigned a final grade, students will be expected to sit two exams (one, to be held mid-way through the semester, covering the first half of the syllabus content, and the other, at the close of the semester) which will be both theoretical and practical in character, while being based on the contents of each syllabus block. The exams will contain a question linked to a point dealt with on the syllabus, as well as commentary on one of the set reading texts which will have been the subject of explorationt during class sessions. Students will be asked to complete one of these alternatives. Likewise, final grading will also take into account regular class attendance and active participation in debates on a day-to-day basis, as well as the individual or group assignments alreday mentioned.
Print this page