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Spanish 1: Introductory Spanish. Introduction to spoken and written Spanish. Intensive study of introductory grammar and vocabulary with a focus on culture. Oral class activities, readings and compositions. Weekly practice in the virtual language lab includes viewing TV series and films and weekly drill sessions. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements. Sample Syllabus. (PDF)
Spanish 2: Intermediate Spanish I. Continuation of Spanish 1. Further intensive study of grammar and vocabulary with a focus on culture. Oral class activities, readings and compositions and continued practice in the virtual language laboratory. Weekly drill sessions. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements. Open to first-year students by qualifying test and to others who have passed Spanish 1. Sample Syllabus. (PDF)
Spanish 3: Intermediate Spanish II. Continuation of Spanish 2. Spanish 3 provides additional, intensive study of grammar and vocabulary with a focus on literature and culture. Oral class activities, readings and compositions and continued practice in the virtual language laboratory. Weekly drill sessions. Completion of this course on campus or as part of the LSA constitutes fulfillment of the language requirement. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements. Open to first-year students by qualifying test and to others who have passed Spanish 2. Sample Syllabus. (PDF)
Spanish 5 (Language Study Abroad): Taught in the context of the Language Study Abroad program, this course in Hispanic culture reinforces listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills in Spanish. The thematic focus is on local and regional art history, with special emphasis on the city as a dynamic form of cultural production through time. Attending to political, social, economic, and religious contexts, the course features brief presentations by local personnel as well as relevant field trips. Assignments include conversation, writing projects, oral presentations, and a final course examination. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad Program. Dist: WCult: W (Spain), NW (Mexico).
Spanish 6 (Language Study Abroad): Taught in the context of the Language Study Abroad program, this introductory course in Hispanic literature strengthens listening, reading, speaking and writing skills in Spanish. The reading materials are selected to help students develop their analytical strategies as well as to expose them to relevant cultural issues and major figures of the region in which they are studying. Assigned work may include brief research papers, oral presentations, a mid-term exam and a final course examination. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad Program. Dist: LIT; WCult: W (Spain), NW (Mexico).
Spanish 7: First-Year Seminars in Spanish and Spanish-American Literature. Consult special listings. Sample Syllabus. (PDF)
Spanish 8: Writing and Speaking: A Cultural Approach for Speakers of Spanish. This course is designed for students with a cultural background in Spanish who wish to enhance their skills in reading, writing and comprehension. Course materials will reflect a multi-media approach to understanding the cultural experiences of U.S. Latino/as and the Spanish-speaking world. Assignments will be geared toward improving existing language skills and developing higher levels of academic proficiency. This course fulfills the language requirement for heritage speakers and serves as a prerequisite for Spanish 9 and/or all upper-level courses (30 and higher). With departmental approval, this course may be considered equivalent to Spanish 9. Open to all classes. Sample Syllabus. (PDF)
Spanish 9: Culture and Conversation: Advanced Spanish Language. This course serves as a bridge between Spanish 3 and Spanish 20. Through the intensive study of a variety of aural media (e.g., documentaries, TV and radio programs, films), grammar, vocabulary and speech acts as presented in the course packet, students will actively practice listening and speaking skills with the goal of reaching an Intermediate High Level (on the ACTFL scale). Additional written material may be added according to the professor’s particular interests. Prerequisite: Spanish 3; AP Lang 4 or AP Lit 4; local placement test 600+, or permission of the instructor. It serves as a prerequisite for Spanish 20.
*Spanish 10: Effective Summer term 2011 Spanish 10 will be re-numbered Spanish 20 and will be a required course for the major, minor, and modified major. All students who have taken Spanish 10 prior to Summer term 2011 can use this course as a required course for the major/minor or modified major in the Department.
Spanish 20: Writing and Reading: A Critical and Cultural Approach. Spanish 20 is the first course of the Major/Minor, and serves as transition between the skills acquired through the Spanish language courses (Spanish LSA or equivalent preparation) and those needed for all upper-division courses (30 and above). Through the study of critical and theoretical vocabulary, and the reading of short stories, poems, films, theatrical plays and journalistic articles, students will acquire analytic tools to comprehend and analyze several types of texts. This course is also designed to familiarize students with different textual genres and a wide array of literary and interpretative key concepts.
Prerequisite: Participation in one of the Spanish LSA programs; Spanish 8 or 9; exemption from Spanish 9 based on test scores (see Department web site); or permission of instructor. Spanish 20 may be taken in conjunction with 30-level survey courses. It serves as a prerequisite for all Spanish courses 40 and higher. Dist: LIT.
Spanish 23: Argentine Cultural Heritage. (FSP) This course deepens the student’s knowledge of the Argentine art and cultures through the study and discussion of the visual, architectural and plastic arts, as well as music and performance. The materials will expose the students to the main trends and topics of contemporary Argentine art, cultures and society. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Argentina. Dist: ART; WCult: NW.
Spanish 24: Spanish Cultural Heritage. (FSP) This course deepens the student’s knowledge of the Spanish art and cultures through the study and discussion of the visual, architectural and plastic arts, as well as music and performance. The materials will expose the students to the main trends and topics of contemporary Spanish art, cultures and society. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Spain. Dist: ART; WCult: W.
Spanish 30: Introduction to Hispanic Studies I: Middle Ages to 17th Century. This course presents an overview of major literary trends and cultural productions from the Middle Ages to the 17th century in both their Spanish and Spanish American contexts. Students will read a representative selection of major literary works from that period, both Peninsular and Spanish-American, and discuss theoretical, aesthetic, and critical issues pertinent to the Renaissance, the Baroque, colonialism, syncretism, etc. Texts may also be cultural, visual, and/or filmic. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
Spanish 31: Introduction to Hispanic Studies II: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. This course presents a chronological study of major trans-Atlantic literary trends and cultural productions, corresponding to the cultural and aesthetic movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Students will read a representative selection of major literary works, both Peninsular and Spanish-American, from that period and discuss theoretical, aesthetic, and critical issues pertinent to modernity, empire, enlightenment, nationalism, gender, democracy, etc. Texts may also be, cultural, visual, and/or filmic. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
Spanish 32: Introduction to Hispanic Studies III: 20th - 21st Centuries. This course presents a chronological study of trans-Atlantic major literary trends and cultural productions, corresponding to the cultural and aesthetic movements from the 1880s to the present. Students will read a representative selection of major literary works from that period, both Peninsular and Spanish-American, and discuss theoretical, aesthetic, and critical issues pertinent to modernismo, the avant-garde, revolution, post-modernism, etc. Texts may also be cultural, visual, and/or filmic. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
Spanish 33: Argentine Civilization: Society, Culture, and Politics in Argentina. (FSP) This course studies socio-political events in the Southern Cone that have shaped the contemporary configuration of society in Argentina. Emphasis will be placed on key political figures, social movements, oppositional tensions, dictatorship and democracy, and their articulation in the cultural field. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program. Dist: SOC; WCult: NW.
Spanish 34: Society, Culture and Politics in Spain. (FSP) This courses studies socio-political events in the Iberian Peninsula that have shaped the contemporary configuration of society in Spain. Emphasis will be placed on key political figures, social movements, oppositional tensions, dictatorship and democracy, and their articulation in the cultural field. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Spain. Dist: SOC; WCult: W.
Spanish 35: Studies in Spanish-American Literature and Culture. (FSP) This course is designed to offer students an opportunity to study a topic of interest in Spanish American literature and culture through the reading of a wide variety of literary and cultural texts. Emphasis will be placed on Argentina and the Southern Cone. Topics may vary. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Argentina. Dist: LIT; WCult: NW.
Spanish 36: Studies in Modern and Contemporary Spanish Literature. (FSP) This course is designed to offer students an opportunity to study a topic of interest in the literature's and cultures of Spain through the reading of a wide variety of literary and cultural texts. Topics may vary. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Spain. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
Spanish 40: Hispanic Literature and Culture by Period. This course will focus on the study of the significant historical periods and cultural movements of the Hispanic world. It is organized according to chronological eras that are marked by distinct cultural and literary movements. Areas covered will be the Middle Ages, the culture of the Renaissance and the Baroque, the Colonial Period, Enlightenment and Modernity, Nineteenth-Century Romanticism and Realism, the Avant-Gardes, Post-modernism, and new developments in the contemporary period. One or more periods will be selected for study. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
2013-14:
In 13F, The Novels of Destruction. Social and State Violence in 19th Century Latin American Narrative Fictions.
This course will explore the topics of social and state violence through 19th century novels from the Southern Cone. The course will have two overarching objectives. First, we will study the novel as genre in the context of political and aesthetical movements that pertain to the State-building process. Second, we will rethink the role of narrative fictions as they bear witness to the social upheavals and military destruction produced by that very process of nation construction (revolutions, wars, riots, mutinies). Authors we will explore in this course: José Victorino Lastarria (Chile), Juan María Gutiérrez (Argentina), Alejandro Magariños Cervantes (Uruguay), Alberto Blest Gana (Chile), Eduardo Acebedo Díaz (Uruguay), Juan Crisóstomo Centurión (Paraguay), and Eugenio Cambaceres (Argentina). Diaz-Duhalde.
2012-13:
In 12F, Love, Latin American Way.
This course provides a survey of major Spanish American literary works of the 20th and 21st century, and an examination of various genres and literary trends. The thread that ties these texts together is love. The study of literature about love will allow us to understand the paradox of the junction of a contingent exterior with the most intimate interior, since love is never? just? love but always the screen, the field, on which the battles of power and domination are fought. Works by male and female authors (Cambaceres, Bombal, Macedonio Fernández, Garro, Bellatín, Pauls and others). Emphasis on writing strategies, cultural perspectives, and gender representation. Ariza.
Spanish 43: Hispanic Literature and Culture by Genre. A literary genre is defined as an established category of written work employing a set of recognizable common conventions, such as technique, style, structure or subject matter. This course will focus on the study of Hispanic literature's and cultures and is organized around one or more basic genres like poetry, drama, novel, and essay. Other articulating categories for the course may include epic poetry, tragic drama, short-fiction narrative, the picaresque novel, and melodrama, among others. The course will provide students with the appropriate critical vocabulary to understand the specificity of the genre or sub-genre examined in the course. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
2013-14:
In 13F, Spanish Theatre of the 18th and 19th Centuries.
The theater in 18th century in Spain enjoyed a new age of splendor, as the genre had a large public and participation of the greatest authors of the time. This survey course will explore essential theatrical works by Cruz, Moratín padre e hijo, Zorilla as well as non-canonical texts such as Cañizares's Marta la Romarantina, Luzán's La virtud coronada, Jovellanos' El delincuente honrado and Dicenta's Juan José. Special attention will be paid to other related features of the theatre such as its social influence, the physical environments of performers, audiences' experiences and questions of reception and representation. Muñoz.
2012-13:
In 13W, Genealogy of the Narrative Discourse.
This course will investigate the "protonovel" as an aesthetic category crucial in the novel history. The main focus of the course will be the generic transformation from epic to novel. Epic, novel and short fiction, as well as the historical contexts from which they emerged, will be discussed in order to understand the changing concepts of the hero in types that range from the warrior to the rogue or pilgrim of the baroque novel. Readings and discussion will be of various novelistic genres representative of central trends in Spanish literature from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, such as Libro de buen amor, El libro de Apolonio, La doncella Teodor, Paris y Viana, Flores y Blancaflor, El abencerraje y la hermosa Jarifa, Ozmín y Daraja and a selection on Novelas by Cervantes and by Lope de Vega. Lozano.
Spanish 45: Regional/National/Trans-Atlantic Approaches to Hispanic Studies. This course studies the complex intersections between literatures, languages, cultures and their national, regional, and trans-Atlantic contexts in Spain, Latin America, and the US. In this course, literary and cultural expressions are studied in relation to place in a wide array of historical contexts. Issues may include literature and colonialism, "indigenismo," the city/country dialectic, regional and national languages and cultural interdependence, the arts as buffers of political/nationalistic violence, national borders and cultural identity, and the formation of national literatures. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
In 14S, Utopian Cartographies of Enlightenment and Emancipation/Cartografías utópicas de la Emancipación.
This course will trace the fascinating map of utopian journeys, visions and proposals that shaped Latin America's independence from Spain between the 18th century and 1900. We will read a variety of literary works and documents as we explore the many dialogues that, across the Atlantic and between North and South America, revolutionized Spanish American societies and helped shape new ideals of freedom, justice, culture and art. Readings will include Lizardi, Miranda, Bolívar, Alberdi, Sarmiento, Marti and many others. Pastor.
Spanish 50: Gender and Sexuality in Hispanic Studies. This course will explore how the study of gender and sexuality is integral to understanding the complexities of Hispanic societies and cultures. In addition to analyzing literary texts and cultural and artistic productions, students will also examine theoretical and critical approaches to the study of gender and sexuality. Topics may include feminist movements, the construction and performance of gender, the theory and practice of women’s writing, sexual identities, and queer theories as they relate to Hispanic embodiments and representations in literature and culture. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: CI. Varies.
In 13W, Machos and Malinches: Gender and Sexual Identities in Latin/o America.
The principle focus of this course will be to familiarize students with the broad span of gender and sexuality theories as they pertain to the literatures and cultures of Latin America and Latinas/os in the U.S. We will examine how gender and sexuality intersect with other identity categories, such as race, social class or nationality, and how they are articulated through language, performance, and the media. Reyes.
Spanish 53: Topics in Spanish Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Poetics. The focus of study for this course will be the evolution of the Spanish language from its old and early modern manifestations to contemporary uses. Specific geographical contexts will be given special attention. Topics may include the constitution of Castilian as a national language and its relation to other peninsular languages; the history of linguistic change on all levels (phonetic/phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic); the influence of Arabic, indigenous languages of the Americas, English, and dialectal variants. Fundamental notions of rhetoric and poetics will be central to this course as well. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
2013-14:
In 13F, Spanish Linguistics, Rhetoric, Poetics, and the Politics of Language.
The first part of this course surveys the evolution of Castilian language, with special emphasis on the influence of Arabic and indigenous languages of the Americas, Judeo-Spanish (ladino), Italianisms and Cultisms, Voseo, and the influence of English. In the second part, students will acquire analytical skills to understand the rhetorical and poetic architecture of major works of the Golden Age (Garcilaso de la Vega, Luis de Góngora, Fray Luis de León, etc). Finally, the course reflects on the politics of language by focusing on the history of Language Academies, the production of Grammars, Dictionaries and Orthographies, the relation between Castilian and other languages in Spain and Latin America, and the place of Castilian/Spanish in the United States. Cirnigliaro.
Spanish 55: Hispanic Literature, Culture, and Politics. This is an interdisciplinary course that studies through diverse representations in literature and the arts major sociopolitical realities that have shaken and transformed the Hispanic world such as the Conquest, colonialism, the rise of the modern nation states, the Mexican and Cuban revolutions, the Spanish Civil War, Latin America’s “dirty” wars, etc. The course will explore the interconnection between culture and politics allowing the student to read culture as a political text and political events as texts. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
2012-13:
In 13W, Spanish Leviathan: Literature and State Violence from 1812 to 2009.
Spain’s modern history could be read as an almost incessant succession of wars, authoritarian dictatorships and repressive gestures. The state’s monopoly of violence, its rhetoric of sacrifice and regeneration, and its self-arrogated historico-political superiority have been at the core of many of these tense processes. In this course, students will be exposed to a series of Iberian literary texts that deal with this issue and, in a concise and pedagogic fashion, to the most relevant theories and critiques of the modern state (i.e. Hobbes, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Mill, Schmitt, Benjamin, Derrida, Agamben). Gómez.
In 13S, Literature on the Verge of a Political Breakthrough.
This course studies literary texts whose primary goal is to advocate for the transformation of society by attempting to redefine ethnic, cultural, political, and gender identities through aesthetic means. We will explore new definitions for articulating a civil society seen as more heterogeneous and less haunted by the values inherited from the Franco dictatorship. Authors include Goytisolo, Semprún, Vázquez Montalbán, Riera, and Lucía Etxebarria. Aguado.
Spanish 60: Race and Ethnicity in Hispanic Studies. A common misperception about race and ethnicity is that they are uniformly defined and that one region’s understanding of these terms is identical to any other. How are race and ethnicity conceptualized and represented in Spain, Latin America, and U.S. Latino communities? This course will examine the particular historical, regional, and cultural factors that give rise to different notions of race and ethnicity in the Hispanic world. Individual offerings of this course may focus on one or more of the following: Moorish Spain and the Reconquista; the Jewish Diaspora in Spain and Latin America; indigenous societies in Latin America; racial and cultural “mestizaje”; whiteness, racial purity, and “blanqueamiento”; slavery, the African Diaspora, and “afro-latinidades.” Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: CI.
2013-14:
In 14S, Bullets and Letters: Basque Terrorism and the Arts.
This course will focus on Basque culture produced in response to ETA terrorism and its resolution. We will study the ideology that governs nationalist discourses, understand the relation between identity and violence, and find in the arts (literature, film, painting, and sculpture) a reason to make the humanities one of the legs upon which peace and reconciliation rest. Literature by Atxaga, Etxenike, Otxoa, Juaristi, Zaizarbitoria; films by Medem, Calparsoro, Arteta, Gutiérrez Aragón, Rosales, Taberna; and art by Ugarte, Ameztoy, Oteiza, and Chillida. Martín.
2012-13:
In 12X, Portraying the Other in Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film.
This course explores contemporary literary and filmic representations of immigration in Spain. Spain, traditionally a country of emigrants, has become a country of immigration. 12% of the population today is comprised of immigrants, a number that was less than 2% until 2002. This sudden change in Spanish demography has naturally given rise to several challenges at socio-cultural and economic levels. The course analyzes the socio-political background and the changes at the economical level but focuses on literary and filmic productions. Insofar as immigration has been figured as one of the central social problems of our time it has also gradually impregnated cinema and literature. The filmic and literary productions included document or fictionalize a concrete social phenomenon - immigration and the unfortunate but unavoidable ramifications of racism and xenophobia - and a social group, immigrants. These works' approaches and methods ensue from the authors' understanding of artistic products as a cultural, ideological and ethical apparatus representing the intersection of race, gender, sexuality and class. The way a community views itself is always mediated, with art playing an important role in showing the boundaries between the insiders and outsiders of a society. Rodríguez.
Spanish 63: Hispanic Film Studies. Film and the visual arts in Spain, Latin America, and/or the US will be studied under different approaches in order to: understand the historical evolution of film making within these contexts; examine the different film genres (surrealism, neorealism, melodrama, film noir, Hollywood realism, animation, documentary, etc.) in their Hispanic contexts; study the body of work of renowned Latino, Spanish, and Latin American filmmakers and visual artists; analyze important cultural or historical events through their visual representations (the Mexican Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, the Cuban Revolution, end of Francoism, etc.); etc. Students will become familiar with relevant concepts in film analysis, film theory, and cultural studies and learn how issues of representation in the visual arts are linked to their literary counterparts. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: ART; WCult: Varies.
2013-14:
In 14W, Latin American Film.
In this survey of Latin American film we will study the Mexican Golden Age of film (1936-1969), Cuba's revolutionary film (Lucia) as well as other radical films of the 60s (Sangre del condor), and women's films. We will end looking at the most important production coming out of Latin America today such as the films of Francisco Lombardi, Claudia Llosa, Lucrecia Martel and others. We will also study important film manifestos. Spitta.
In 12S, A Self-Reflective Spain: Contemporary History in Film and Literature.
Topics addressed in this course are the Spanish CivIl War and its postwar years, the economic boom of the 1960's, tourism, emigration to Europe and foreign immigration to Spain, the transition to democracy and Spanish postmodernity, la Movida, national and cultural identities, and Basque and Islamic terrorisms. Authors and film directors include: Alberto Méndez, Raúl Guerra Garrido, Bernardo Atxaga, Quim Monzó, Víctor Érice, Chus Gutiérrez, and Pedro Almodóvar. Aguado.
Spanish 65: Hispanic Performance, Media, and the Arts. In our increasingly globalized society, what impact have transnationalism and new technologies had on the formation and articulation of local cultures in the Hispanic world? How do subjects remember and represent themselves as embodied actors in the spaces where conflicting and contestatory identities meet? How have television, the visual and graphic arts, and music redefined national space and identity in Spanish, Latin American, and U.S. Latino communities? Individual offerings of this course may focus on one or more of the following: theater, performance, and performativity; comics and the graphic arts; literature and the marketplace; the politics of mass media; sports and national identity; and popular culture’s strategies of resistance. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: ART; WCult: Varies.
In 12F, Performing Latin American Identities.
What meanings are produced when we invite others to look at our bodies? How do these meanings change when our bodies are live, on stage, as opposed to on film or in printed literature? How do we change when we look at others' live bodies? To begin to answer these questions, we will examine the ways in which identities and power are created through live, deliberate performance. We will analyze theoretical texts (such as Richard Schechner, Diana Taylor, and Josefina Alcazar), theatrical works (Yuyachkani, Jesusa Rodríguez, Teatro de los Andes, etc.) and watch videos of live performances (from the folkloric, to the political, to the artistic) in order to formulate questions that invite us to think in new ways about gender, race, and the construction of Latin American identities. Santana.
In 13S, Offensive Images. The Unthinkable, the Untreatable, and the Unrepresentable. Visual and Textual Culture in Latin America.
What do pictures of mutilated soldiers, chronicles of torture, posters of Evita Perón in drag, and comics of aliens invading Buenos Aires have in common? All these productions have been culturally segregated or displaced for being “offensive”. In this course we will explore different Latin American visual and textual productions from the last two centuries (comic, photograph, novels) paying special attention to the social circulation of imagery and the discourses that make these images and texts unthinkable, untreatable, or simply “offensive”. Díaz.
Spanish 70: Great Works of Hispanic Literature: Don Quixote and One Hundred Years of Solitude. Few novels of the Hispanic world have had greater resonance than Cervantes’ Don Quijote (published between 1605 and 1615) and Gabriel García Márquez’ Cien años de soledad (1969). Both have continually fascinated their readers and provoked myriad interpretations and reinterpretations. This course seeks to understand each text as an autonomous work of literature and as a highly creative response to the literary and cultural forces in which it was forged. Individual offerings of this course will focus on one of these literary masterpieces. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
2013-14:
In 14S, Don Quixote.
From the time of its publication in 1605 (Part I) and 1615 (Part II), Don Quijote has provoked radically different interpretations. Taking as point of departure both the comic and the romantic interpretation, the course will explore, in the first place, the meaning of the Quijote across the centuries. Parallely the course seeks to understand the Quijote both per se--as an autonomous work of literature--and as a highly creative response to the literary and cultural forces from which it was forged. In addition to explore the historical context, such as social conflicts in the Hapsburg monarchy, in order to make understand better the work, the course will attend also to the literary history, and will offer an approach to novel as literary genre, product of the Medieval "mixtification" which flourished in the Renaissance. Lozano.
2012-13:
In 12F, One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Gabriel García Márquez’s novel opens up a magical world where the boundaries that separate fantasy and reality, fairy tale and history seem to dissolve naturally. And yet, no fictional work has ever been more deeply grounded in the reality and history of a people. The book tells the incredible story of the Buendía family as it develops through the successive cycles of destruction and rebirth that shape history in the mythical world of Macondo. And, as the story unfolds, it illuminates the wonders and terrors of the history of Latin American countries, the complexities and contradictions that have defined their peoples and shaped their cultures. In this course we will read, enjoy and analyze One Hundred Years of Solitude as well as a selection of García Márquez’s short stories and journalistic works. The works will be discussed within the framework of major theoretical and historical issues and in constant dialogue with a variety of secondary sources. Pastor.
Spanish 73: Special Topics in Hispanic Literary and Cultural Production. This course is offered periodically with varying content so that writers, genres, historical contexts, or theoretical approaches not otherwise provided in the curriculum may be studied. The course can be offered any term and its distinct content, theoretical, or methodological approach will depend on the area of specialization of the instructor. Prerequisite: Spanish 20. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies. Spanish 75: Creative Writing in Spanish. This course offers a workshop in creative writing to be taught by prominent writers in residence in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. It is designed for native speakers of Spanish, heritage speakers, and Spanish majors in their junior or senior years. Seminar-sized class meets twice or three times a week plus individual conferences when necessary. The class will consist of group workshops on student writing (fiction, poetry, and/or theater) and individual conferences with the instructor. The limit for this class is 14. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor. Dist: ART; WCult: Varies.
Spanish 77: Texts and Contexts: Topics in Writing (formerly Spanish 37). This course is designed to help students develop excellence in writing as they prepare for upper level literature and culture courses in Spanish. Topics will vary according to term and faculty as well as the "texts" studied in the course (literary, filmic, cultural, and visual). Given that thinking, reading, and writing are interdependent activities, Spanish 77 is designed to offer students an opportunity to study a topic of interest in Hispanic literature or culture while simultaneously emphasizing the advanced writing skills required of a research paper. Frequent exercises in writing and close textual study are basic to this course. Prerequisite: Spanish 20 or permission of instructor. (PDF). Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
In 13X, Mario Vargas Llosa: The Evolution of a Narrative Poetics. From La ciudad y los perros (Time of the Hero) to El Sueño del Celta (The Dream of the Celt)
This course will delve into the Nobel laureate's stylistic evolution. It will pay special attention to the development of those narrative techniques such as communicating vessels, fragmentarism, a quite distinctive free indirect style, telescopic narration, and totalitarism, among others, that granted Vargas Llosa the fame of being one of most innovative novelists of twentieth century global literature. In the process of eliciting Vargas Llosa's Poetics we will explore the composition of several of his most memorable novels - a selection from: Los cachorros, La casa verde, Conversación en La Catedral, La guerra del fin del mundo, La tía Julia y el escribidor, Pantaleón y las visitadoras, El hablador - as well as the political and ideological polemics enacted by those works. The study includes comparative analyses with the movies based on Vargas Llosa novels, and a revision of the most relevant criticism on Vargas Llosa (Rama, Cornejo Polar, Oviedo, Kristal, etc.). Bueno.
Spanish 80: Senior Seminar in Hispanic Studies. The senior seminar in Hispanic Studies is designed to provide Spanish majors with a small group setting that facilitates in-depth discussion of key concepts of critical theory, literary studies, and the discipline. The seminar will encourage students to research and explore relevant topics related to Hispanic literature and the arts and experiment with the application of the different concepts under discussion in creative ways (essay writing, visual arts projects, performance pieces, etc). Prerequisite: Senior standing. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
2013-14:
In 13F, Piratas, aventureros, curas, guerras y crisis religiosas: Miguel de Unamuno y Pío Baroja
The turn and first decades of the XXth century in Spain was a period of profound social, sexual, political, and philosophical changes. Miguel de Unamuno engaged in his time by focusing on religious values and existential crisis while Pío Baroja responded by freeing his characters from any form of constraint. We will read major works by both writers. Aguado.
In 14W, The Best Hispanic Poetry: Emotion for the Contemporary Reader
Sentiment and subjectivity establish themselves as pillars of modern poetry. In order to overcome its restrictive communicative function and prevail over time, language dwells in a figurative realm by grace of the metaphorical leap. This course will concentrate on the study of some of the finest poems and poets of the Spanish language. Starting with some early examples of the Castilian lyrical tradition (Jorge Manrique, Garcilaso de la Vega, Luis de Góngora or Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz), we will take pleasure in reading and study in depth major figures like Rubén Darío, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Federico García Lorca, and Pablo Neruda. Particular attention will be paid to contemporary manifestations of poetry that inhabit the territory of popular songs. del Pino.
In 14S, NARCO-NARRATIVAS (discurso político, literatura, música, y cine)
From the 1970s to the present day, the international War on Drugs has--directly and indirectly--produced a rich popular culture that might be organized as a new genre: narco-narrative. The stories that celebrate, defend, decry, or attack drug trafficking offer intriguing windows onto the relationship between cultural production (music, prose, and film) on the one hand, and politics/identity-formation on the other hand. In the specific context of Colombia and Mexico, we will explore governmental narratives about drug-trafficking (such El Plan Colombia and El Plan Mérida), popular corridos, rap, films, testimonios, novels and short stories in order to identify the aesthetic, economic, and moral stakes of these different types of story-telling about the drug trade. Biron
2012-13:
In 12F, Life in Literature / La experiencia vivida y la literatura
How real life or biographical experience goes into fiction? Is it possible to bring to light individual Poetics for that type of translation? In this seminar we investigate how the personal experience and the memory of some leading, XXth and XXIst Century Hispanic writers migrate into important works of art. While decoding the artistic process that each writer uses to convert his/her own life into literature, we will analyze the aesthetic configuration of such important Hispanic works as Güiraldes' Don Segundo Sombra, Neruda's Residencia en la tierra, Vargas Llosa's El hablador, García Márquez's Doce cuentos peregrinos, Ribeyro's Los geniecillos dominicales, Gil de Biedma's Poemas póstumos, Pizarnik's La última inocencia y las aventuras perdidas, Cisneros's Como higuera en un campo de golf, Cercas' La velocidad de la luz, or Fuguet's Las películas de mi vida. Personal diaries, memoirs, testimonies and interviews are highly relevant to this critical inquiry, as well as pertinent sections of autobiographical theory (excerpts from works by de Man, Derrida, Marcus, Berryman, Pascal, Conway, and Cañelles). Bueno.
In 13W, Xing the US-Mexico Border: Myths and Icons of Hybridity.
The US-Mexico is both a vital zone of contact and a death zone between two of the most diverse and vibrant cultures in the Americas. We will study how border writers and filmmakers from both sides of the border represent that in-between space that some argue is fast becoming a third nation. Readings and films will include Eduardo Parra, Tierra de nadie, Crosthwaite, La luna siempre será un difícil amor, Campbell's Tijuana, Rosina Conde's internet novel La genara, and we'll watch films such as María Novaro's El jardín de Edén and Sin dejar huella. Spitta.
In 13S, Hollywood Revisited: The Films of Pedro Almodóvar.
Pedro Almodóvar, Spain's most internationally acclaimed filmmaker, will be studied in this course as the most visible representative of the New Spanish Cinema Movement. Almodóvar's filmmaking will appeal to students interested in understanding the ways culture, politics, and aesthetics get entangled in the Spanish postmodern context. The representative of "La Movida Madrileña," Pedro Almodóvar has been an iconoclast of Spanish culture in that his filmmaking is concerned with sexual freedom, gender representation, popular and mass culture, and the subversion of conservative Spanish national icons (bullfighting and Catholicism). In aesthetic terms, his films are genre studies of Hollywood melodrama, screwball comedy, and Italian neorrealism reconfigured at times in a post-pop, campy fashion. In this course, we will also pay special attention to the ways Almodóvar's lens is a gendered one, one that repeatedly depicts the importance given to "el sentimiento" in the formation of socioemotional ties among women that speak to particular social tensions within Spanish society. Martín.
Spanish 83: Independent Study. A program of individual study directed by a member of the Spanish and Portuguese faculty. Spanish 83 will normally consist of a program of reading and research that is not covered in regularly scheduled course offerings. After consultation with the faculty advisor of the project, all Independent Study proposals must be submitted for approval to the Department. Only open to majors in Spanish or Romance Languages. Under normal circumstances, no student may receive credit for this course more than once.Students interested in pursuing an Independent Study must identify their topic and faculty advisor, and present a proposal to their faculty advisor and to the Department for approval no later than the seventh week of the term preceding the term they wish to undertake the Independent Study. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor and the Department.
Spanish 90: Honors Course. Supervised independent research under the direction of a designated advisor. Honors majors will normally elect this course as the first in the required sequence (90 and 91) for completion of the Honors Program. Spanish 90 is intended to prepare the student for writing the Honors thesis, through readings in primary and secondary texts, theory and methodology. The course will include periodic written assignments and culminate in a final paper. Prerequisite: Admission to the Honors Program.
Spanish 91: Honors Seminar. A prearranged program of study and research during any term of the senior year, on a tutorial basis, with individual faculty members (normally the thesis advisor). A thesis and public presentation are the expected culmination of the course. Prerequisite: Prior admission to the Department's Honors Program; clear evidence of capability to perform honors level work, normally indicated by completion of Spanish 90 with a grade of B+ or higher.
