Teaching code

4S002908

Academic staff

Antonella Gallo, Federica Zoppi

Coordinator

Antonella Gallo

Credits

9

Language

Spanish

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-LIN/05 - SPANISH LITERATURE

Period

I semestre (Area Lingue e letterature straniere) dal Sep 23, 2024 al Dec 21, 2024.

Courses Single

Authorized

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

The course aims at providing students of the Bachelor's degree in Languages and Cultures for Tourism and International Commerce with an adequate knowledge of the Spanish culture of different periods, focusing on its literary, historical, geographical and anthropological aspects. At the end of the course, students will acquire a sound knowledge of the issues covered by the module (historical and cultural context, main writers/texts/movements/genres of the period examined). With regard to the applied and communication skills, students will be able to critically comment the primary texts listed in the syllabus, in relation both to their historical and cultural context and literary specificities, as well as to express the acquired knowlegde in a clear and consistent way.

Prerequisites and basic notions

Students must have passed the exams of “Spanish literature and culture 1” and “Spanish Language 1” in order to take the examination.

Program

The course, taught in Spanish, aims at providing students with an introduction to the Spanish history, literature and culture of the first half of the 19th century through the reading of some canonical works of Spanish Romanticism, meant to illustrate the historical, cultural and literary specificities of the period examined. In particular, the course intends to explain the Spanish contribution to European Romanticism, an era marked by a profound artistic, philosophical and political revolution, so important and so enduring that some of its values still permeate contemporary society.

The course program is divided in two parts, as detailed below:

Part I: An introduction to the historical and cultural context (spanning from the Independence Spanish War to the liberal revolution "The Gloriosa”) and a brief outline of the Spanish Romantic movement (central themes, most representative literary genres and works, main authors and authoresses).

The historical lessons will focus in particular on the following topics: the controversial formation of a liberal and constitutional state, the divisions within the large Spanish liberal family, the role of the Monarchy, the slow rise of the bourgeoisie and the birth of nationalism. The more literary part of the program will focus mainly on the peculiar characteristics of Romanticism at the level of values and poetics, such as the affirmation of individuality, the tension towards the Absolute, the clash between individual and society, pessimism, civil and patriotic commitment, the rediscovery of imagination and fantasy, the exaltation of creative genius, the return to spirituality and religiosity, the rediscovery of the medieval past, along with a critical appraisal of the most representative literary genres (narrative poem, romantic drama, historical novel and literature of custom in the periodic press). To complete the historical-literary panorama, ample space will be given to a transversal theme, namely the romantic image of Spain between literary myth, prejudice and historical reality.

A detailed syllabus of the topics dealt with during the lectures will be given at the beginning of the course, together with the calendar of the scheduled lessons, and will be available in the Moodle e-learning repository.

Part II: Primary texts.
MARIANO JOSÉ DE LARRA, Artículos varios, ed. de E. Correa Calderón, Madrid, Castalia, 1989 (or M. J. De Larra, Artículos, ed. de Enrique Rubio, Madrid, Cátedra, 1993). Only the texts listed below:
-“Los barateros, o el desafío y la pena de muerte”
-“El casarse pronto y mal”
-“El castellano viejo”
-“El día de difuntos de 1836. Fígaro en el cementerio”
-“En este país”
-“Jardines públicos”
-“El mundo todo es máscaras. Todo el año es Carnaval”
-“La Nochebuena de 1836. Yo y mi criado. Delirio filosófico”
-“¿Quién es el público y dónde se le encuentra?”
-“Vuelva usted mañana”

JOSÉ DE ESPRONCEDA, El diablo mundo; El Pelayo; Poesías, ed. de Domingo Ynduráin, Madrid, Cátedra, 1992 (only the texts listed below):
-“A la noche”
-“Himno al sol”
-“Canción del pirata”
-“A la patria”
-“A una estrella”
-soneto “Fresca, lozana, pura y olorosa…”
-“A Jarifa en una orgía”
-“El verdugo”

JOSÉ DE ESPRONCEDA, El estudiante de Salamanca, ed. de Benito Varela Jácome, Madrid, Cátedra, 2016 (integral reading)

JOSÉ ZORRILLA, Don Juan Tenorio, ed. de Aniano Peña, Madrid, Cátedra, 1998 (integral reading)

Bibliography (mandatory):
-F. B. Pedraza Jiménez-M. Rodríguez Cáceres, Las épocas de la literatura española, Barcelona, Ariel, 2002: cap. 6 (El Romanticismo).

- R. Navas Ruiz, El romanticismo español, 4ª ed. renovada, Madrid, Cátedra, 1990: chapters X (Espronceda), XI (Larra), XIII (Zorrilla).

-F. Calvo Serraller, La imagen romántica de España, in “Cuadernos hispanoamericanos”, 332, 1978, pp. 240-260.

N.B. All the references listed in the syllabus (handbook, primary texts and critical bibliography) are available at the departmental “Walter Busch” library or at “A. Frinzi” central library. Further readings (optional) on the topics covered by the module will be indicated during the lectures.

Please be advised that the program also applies to non-attending students, who must supplement the program with a series of mandatory readings instead of the planned exercises (see “ASSESSMENT METHOD”). They are strongly advised to read the critical introductions to the primary texts (see the suggested editions above, Part II) and to consult the additional materials available in the MOODLE e-learning repository and on the website “Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes”, see sections “Literature/Authors/Larra/Espronceda/Zorrilla” (http://www.cervantesvirtual.com).

Bibliography

Didactic methods

Lectures. To complete the lectures, there will be compulsory exercises, held by the lecturer (Prof.ssa Zoppi) and aimed at strengthening the critical commentary skills on the scheduled texts.
All teaching materials (slides, texts, images, etc.) that will be used in class will be available for download from the MOODLE e-learning repository by the end of the lessons.

Learning assessment procedures

The final exam will consist of a single oral discussion (in Spanish) on the whole program. Duration of the exam: 45 min. aprox. Attending students will be asked to write a short written paper in Spanish at the end of the exercises. For all other students, the exercises will be replaced by the compulsory reading of a series of essays indicated and uploaded to the course's Moodle platform.

Evaluation criteria

The assessment will consider: the depth of the knowledge of the module’s topics (historical and cultural context, main writers/texts/movements/genres of the period examined, Part I); the ability to critically comment on the primary texts listed in the syllabus, in relation both to their historical/ cultural context and literary specificities (Part II); the ability to express oneself and discuss clearly and consistently. The final mark will be expressed in thirtieth.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

For attending students, the final grade will be the one resulting from the oral exam with the course coordinator (Prof.ssa A. Gallo), based on the above criteria, and the outcome of the written paper related to the exercises held by the lecturer (Prof.ssa Zoppi). For all other students, the final grade will result from the oral exam with the course coordinator (Prof.ssa A. Gallo), which includes the mandatory readings provided instead of the exercises.

Exam language

Spagnolo

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