Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

Advanced

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of four semesters (or six quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE.

This course aims to explain the basic fundamentals of modern and contemporary Spanish literature (18th to 20th centuries) and offer students a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of Spanish literature during this period. The course is intended to transmit a global, not specialized, vision of the different literary phenomena that have happened in Spain from the Age of Enlightenment to the postmodern era, without forgetting the historical and cultural context that accompanied and provoked them.

II. OBJECTIVES.

Due to the great expanse of time examined in the material (more than two centuries) covered by this relatively short course, the fundamental objective will be that the student is able to familiarize himself or herself on the theories related to the different movements covered in class. The student should also be capable of recognizing the topics and concepts covered in class in concrete texts and explaining them briefly.

III. STRUCTURE OF COURSE CONTENT.

1. The 18th century. The Enlightenment in Europe and Spain. From Neoclassicism to Pre-romanticism. Theatre, poetry, and prose.

2. The 19th century (1). The bourgeois revoloutions. The crisis of the romantic conscience and its artistic representation in Europe.

3. The 19th century (2). Realism and Naturalism: Man against heredity and environment. Spiritualism and Symbolism.

4. The 20th century (1). Spanish literature in its Silver Age. The Generation of ’98. Modernism. Novecentismo. The Generation of ’27.

5. The 20th century (2). Spanish literature from postwar to the present: testimony, memory, experimentation, and the day-to-day experience.

IV. TEXTS.

Texts will be assigned by the professor for each one of the above topics.

V. EVALUATION.

- The student will be able to choose between two options:

A) Taking a final exam over the content covered in the course.

B) A paper about one work of Spanish literature related to any of the topics listed above. The student may choose the text, but it must be approved by the professor.

- Class participation is highly valued and is considered in determining the final grade.

- Attendance is mandatory. Students who have more than three unexcused absences at the end of the course will not have the right to take the final exam.