University of Utah
Department of World Languages and Cultures
Span 6900-001. Post-War Spanish Literature.
Dr. Gary L. Atwood-Méndez.
This seminar analyzes discursive conceptualizations of space in the work of Spanish Post-War writers (1939-1975). The class assumes that the way space is imagined and/or represented is ultimately crucial to its aesthetic, ideological and social implications. Conceiving space as textual and symbolic, as well as topological, our exploration traces the spatial contours of gender, race and nation in Francoist Spain, emphasizing especially the employment of counter-discourses that challenged official and hegemonic discourses on Spain and Spanish identity.. Taking into account Michel de Certeau’s definition of “space” as “a practiced place” and William Leap’s contention that “the ‘ways of seeing’ relevant to a particular landscape, as well as the distinction between place and space itself, are not static arrangements, but topics continually being constructed, negotiated and contested,” we will explore the construction of the space of the Spanish nation-state, as well as the important role played by the construction of space in the regulation of gender, sexuality and bio-power. The course will require a number of primary readings and literary criticism, as well as a number of theoretical readings on space, discourse and the nation.
Course Objectives:
By the end of this semester students should be able to:
1)Identify and discuss the major literary movements of Spanish literature from 1939 until 1975.
2)Discuss and think critically about the relation between literary form and politics in the context of the Spanish Post-War period.
3)Demonstrate an understanding of the historical context in which Spanish Postwar literature was produced.
4)Write clearly and critically about literature, critically employing existent literary criticism and theory.
5)Use critical theory to think through the texts that we are discussing.
6)Present clearly one theoretical text and one work of literary criticism.
7)Produce a final paper that could be revised for presentation at a conference.
Accommodations:
The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations.
All written information in the course can be made available in alternative format with prior notification to the Center for Disability Services.
Content Accomodations:
This course includes content that may conflict with your deeply held core values. Because I make no accommodations of content, it is your responsibility to decide whether or not to remain enrolled in this course.
Evaluation:
Abstract10%
Annotated bibliography of at least 5 sources.10%
Final Essay (10-12 pages)40%
Oral Presentations25%
Thoughtful contributions to weekly CANVAS discussions10%
Active Participation and regular attendance 10%
Coursework:
Participation. Students must attend and arrive on time for all meetings. Because attendance is an essential part of the participation grade, final grades will be affected by absences. Should unforeseen, unavoidable events arise, it is the student’s responsibility to notify the professor. Personal engagements or conflicting schedules (including employment) do not constitute “unforeseen, unavoidable events.” Students must actively contribute to class discussions in a way that demonstrates that they have completed and thought critically about all readings and assignments for each meeting.
University Attendance Policies
You may not attend a University course unless you are officially registered and your name appears on the class roll.
The University expects regular attendance at all class meetings. You are not automatically dropped from your classes if you do not attend. You must officially drop your classes by the published deadline in the academic calendar to avoid a "W" on your record. You are responsible for satisfying the entire range of academic objectives, requirements and prerequisites as defined by the instructor. If you miss the first 2 class meetings, or if you have not taken the appropriate requisites, you may be required to withdraw from the course. If you are absent from class to participate in officially sanctioned University activities (e.g. band, debate, student government, intercollegiate athletics), religious obligations, or with instructor's approval, you will be permitted to make up both assignments and examinations
CANVAS. Students will post weekly responses to the assigned readings, and constructively discuss the ideas presented by other students. Responses should be of about 500 words, and are due by Sunday night at 7:30 PM for Monday´s readings.
Oral Presentations. Each student will do three presentations: one on one of the secondary readings (marked with “**”), one on one of the tertiary readings (“***”), and finally, one on their own paper at the end of the semester.
The presentation should clarify the author’s thesis, trace the major points of the author’s argument, and identify and discuss the author’s theoretical paradigm. Furthermore, the presentation should address the author’s contribution to the field and identify what ideas could be developed or revised in the future. The point is neither to disparage nor to fully assimilate the work of an established authority, but rather to enter into dialogue with the ideas presented in the article.
Abstract. 150-250 words. This should be a well-structured proposal that 1) clearly states the thesis and main ideas that you plan to address in your paper, 2) places that thesis within the existing critical literature on your topic, and 3) justifies the importance of your particular claims.
Annotated bibliography. Must be in MLA format and include 5 sources not included on the class syllabus that the student is considering for use on the final paper. Should include at least one theoretical text, one literary history, and three articles from refereed academic journals.
Final paper. Each student will write a 12-15 page paper on one of the primary texts of the course. The paper should demonstrate knowledge of the existing criticism on that work, offer a new thesis and support that thesis with evidence from the text. It both include close-reading and take a theoretical point-of-view that helps to elucidate the text of interest.
Calendar: Subject to change at instructor’s discretion.
Jan 8. *Camilo José Cela. La familia de Pascual Duarte.
**José B. Monleón. “Dictatorship and Publicity. Cela’sPascual Duarte: The Monster
Speaks.”
***. Bakhtin. Selection from "Discourse in the Novel".TheDialogicImagination.
** Claudia Schaefer. “Conspiración, manipulación, conversión ambigua: Pascual Duarte y la Utopía Histórica del Nuevo Estado Español”.Anales de la literaturaespañolacontemporánea 13.3 (1988). 261-281
Jan 15. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Readings for week of Jan. 15; discussion still due by Sunday 14, 11:00 PM
*Carmen Laforet. Nada
***Michel de Certeau. “Spatial Stories.” The Practice of Everyday Life.
**Enrique Fernández. “Nada de Carmen Laforet, Ricitos de Oro, y el laberinto del minotauro”Revista Hispánica Moderna 55.1 (2002=. 123-132).
Jan. 22. *Laforet. Nada (continued)
**Barry Jordan. “Looks that Kill: Power, Gender and Vision in Carmen Laforet´sNada.” Revista canadiense de estudios hispánicos. 17.1 (Fall 1992). 123-132.
** María Pilar Rodríguez. “La impropiedad de lo extraño: el desarrollo femenino como
creación en Nada”
*** KathleenKirby. “Thinking Through the Boundary: The Politics of Location, Subjects, and Space.” Boundary 2.20 (1993). 173-189.
Jan 9. *Sender. Requiem por un campesino español
** YawAgawu-Kakraba. “Meditation, Memory and Denial: Ramón Sender’s Requiem por un campesino español” Letras peninsulares 12.2 (Fall 1999). 319-334.
**Fernando Larraz. “El lugar de la narrativa del exilio en la literatura española.”Iberoamericana (2001-), 12. 47 (Septiembre de 2012), pp. 101-113 Publishedby: Iberoamericana Editorial VervuertStable URL:
*** Walter Benjamin. “Critique of Violence” Reflections. New York: Schocken, 1986,277-
300.
Feb. 5. * Blas de Otero. Selectedpoems.
**Laura Scarano. “La cuestión del sujeto en la poesía de Blas de Otero: Pluralidad y fragmentación de la voz¨. ALEC 19.1 (1994) 113-131.
**Shirley Mangini. “Del intimismo existencial al ansia de responsabilidad (1950-1955)”.
Rojos y Rebeldes.
** PhillipSilver. “Blas de Otero en la Cruz de las palabras”.La casa del Anteo. Salusiano
Masó (trad). Madrid: Taurus, 1985.
Feb. 12. .Jaime Gil de Biedma.
Shirley Mangini. “La euforia y el realismo social”. Rojos y Rebeldes.
**Enrique Álvarez. “Conocimiento y comunicación: El homoerotismo y los límites del sujeto en la poesía urbana de Jaime Gil de Biedma”.
**Jonathan Mayhew. “Jaime Gil de Biedma´sMoralidades: Rationalism and Poetic Form”.
***. William Leap. “Introduction.” Public Sex / Gay Space
Feb. 19. President’s Day
Readings for week of Feb. 19; Discussion still due by Feb 18.
*Ana María Matute. Primera Memoria.
**Christopher L. Anderson and Lynne Vespe. “Ana María Matute’sPrimera memoria: A Fairy
Tale Gone Awry.”
**.SilviaBermúdez. “Novels as History Lessons in Ana MaríaMatute’sPrimeramemoria(1960)
and Demonios familiars (2014): From Betrayal to Solidarity.”
***. Rey Chow. “The Fascist Longing in Our Midst” in Ethics after Idealsim. Theory-Culture-
Ethnicity-Reading.
Feb. 26. *Matute. Primeramemoria (cont.)
**Catherine Davies. “Spain Under Franco: Women and the Authoritarian State.”
***. Michel Foucault. “El sujeto y el poder”
Mar. 5*MercèRodoreda. La plaza del diamante.
**Elizabeth Scarlet. “MercèRodoreda.” Under Construction: The Body in Spanish Novels.
***Theresa de Lauretis. “The Violence of Rhetoric” in Techonologies of Gender.
*** ViktoriaHakbarth. “Natialia’s Journey from the Imaginary to the Symbolic in Merce
Rodoreda’sLa plaza del diamante” (get from library, Romance Quarterly 58.3. 199-209.
Mar. 12. *Fernando Arrabal. El arquitecto y el emperador de Asiria.
** William Flores. “Ecocrítica, colonización y El arquitecto y el emperador de Asiria de Fernando Arrabal: subversión en la tradición satírica”. Hispania 92.4 (2009). 673-680.
** Lecturaadicional para serdeterminada.
***Julia Kristeva. “From One Identity to Another” in Desire and Language: a Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art”.
March 19. Spring Break
Mar 26. *JuanGoytisolo.Señas de identidad capítulos 1-4.
** Robert Spires.“Modos narrativos y búsqueda de identidad en Señas de identidad”. Anales de la novela de la posguerra 2 (1977) 55-72.
** David Hertzberger. “Language and Referentiality in Señas de identidad.” Revista canadiense de estudios hispánicos. 11.3 (J-Stor)
.
April 2. *Juan Goytisolo.Señas de identidad capítulos 5-8.
** Brad Epps. Capítulo sobre Señas de identidad.
*** HomiBhabha. “DissemiNation.” The Location of Culture.
April 9. Juan Marsé. Últimas tardes con teresa. (firsthalf).
**Shirley Mangini. “Últimas tardes con Teresa: Culminación .
***. Alberto Villamandós. “Ascenso y caída del charnego trágico: Un análisis poscolonial de
Marsé y Vázquez Montalbán”. In El modo trágico en la cultura hispánica. 2008. 327-340.
*** James H. Kavanagh. “Ideology” in Frank Letricchia and Thomas McLaughlin. Critical Terms
for Literary Study
Apr 16. Juan Marsé. Últimas tardes con Teresa (secondhalf).
Solano Rábago. “Burguesitastransgresoras” (pedir al ILL)
April 23. Guillermo Carnero. SelectedPoems.
**JillRobbins.“FramingtheSelf in Dibujo de la muerte”.
**Carlos Bousoño. “La poesía de Guillermo Carnero.”Intro to Ensayo de una teoría de la
visión.
** Luis Martín Estudillo. “Neobarroquismo en la poesía de Guillermo Carnero”
May 2. (Date subject to change upon consultation with students). We will meet at 3:30. Students will do a presentation on the main points of their papers.
*Indicalecturasprimarias
** Indica lecturas secundarias
*** Indica lecturas terciarias.