GRADUATE COURSES IN SPANISH

SPRING 2005

(Course information subject to change)
(Cross-reference with Department Roster)

Spanish 684-301
The Spanish Novel at the Dawn of Modernity
Prof. López
T 1:30-4:30

The nineteenth-century novel develops in Spain several decades after it appears in other European countries, including France, Russia, Germany, Italy, and Portugal. Contrary to what happens with these national literatures, the Spanish novel of this period is not linked to the appearance of a new social class (e.g., the emergence of the bourgeoisie as a dominant class) nor to the birth of a nationalistic discourse. Historically, the birth of the novel is linked to the 1868 revolutionary process. The revolution of September 1868 is the historical episode after which Spain embarks in a rapid process of modernization. This process unleashes enormous social energies advancing through acute social and ideological confrontations. Modernity is embraced once the endless opportunities it creates for financial and economic development become obvious. But modernity is also feared for its potential for social unrest. The Spanish modern novel results partially from this conflict and, not surprisingly, it begins to appear after 1875, that is, once the revolution has been defeated: the novel appears as a critical discourse that seeks to maintain alive the revolutionary ideology once the revolution has failed and Spanish society settles for an order that combines slow-paced industrial modernization with social and ideological conservatism. In this seminar we will explore The Spanish Novel through a detailed reading of the main authors of the nineteenth-century Spanish canon, including Alarcón, Pereda, Galdós, Valera, Clarín and Pardo Bazán. Readings from these authors will be complemented with theoretical texts concentrating on the novel as the dominant genre of the nineteenth century in Europe.

Spanish 689-301
Space and the Political Imagination
Prof. Nadal-Melsió
W 1:00-4:00

In this seminar we will explore the ways in which space has shaped the political imagination and, in turn, how the political has informed spatial experience. From Plato's Republic to Situationist practices, space has often emerged as a corrective to a purely abstract understanding of power and the political. It has since taken a variety of roles, from an ally to state control to a resilient remnant of historical memory on to the experiential site of the urban everyday. Topics for discussion will include: the city, the spatial politics of everyday life, power, the spectacle, the monument and memory, urban insurrection as an event and globalization. The first two-thirds of the seminar will be devoted to careful critical readings of key theorists of space--Henri Lefebvre, Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau, Guy Debord, Kristin Ross, Jacques Rancière, Alain Badiou, Andreas Huyssen, David Harvey, Fredric Jameson. Once the conceptual framework of the discussion has been established, each student will introduce to the class materials that explore spatial questions taken from his or her own field of expertise.

Spanish 692-401
Post-Colonial Theory, Early Modern Texts
Prof. Fuchs
M 1:00-4:00

We will examine the vexed relations between postcolonial studies and early modern studies by focusing on a series of debates, including the role of Said's Orientalism in early modern Mediterranean studies, the relevance of postcolonial theory to the Spanish experience of empire, and the problem of the early modern nation. Primary texts will include Columbus, Leo Africanus, More, Camoens, Hakluyt, Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Behn.

Spanish 693-301
Modernismo y fin de siglo
Prof. Salessi
R 1:30-4:30

The course proposes to study Latin American "modernismo" in the context of turn-of-the-century Latin American culture. We will explore a literary movement as a literary practice, but also as a tool for national and continental definition. Focusing on the Latin American system of cultural appropriation and manipulation of European writing of the period as it "buys" into the international liberal capitalism of the end of the nineteenth century, we will consider the importation of commodities and the Latin American inflection in the handling of contemporary topics, such as travel literature, cosmopolitanism, women as objets d'art, fashion, dandyism, museums, collections, prostitution and politics, degeneration and regeneration. Authors will include: Agustini, Casal, Silva, Darío, Senin Cano, Gutiérrez Nájera, Gómez Carrillo, and Cané.