The contemporary Spanish novel within a historical, social and cultural framework. Study of the novel’s evolution during the post-war period through different authors, groups and trends, with an emphasis on the most representative styles.
Prerequisites:
Good comprehension of Spanish.
Method of presentation:
Introductory lectures on major themes and relevant background information. Close reading of each novel and discussion. Active class participation is expected of all students.
Required work and form of assessment:
Reading and discussion of the assigned novels (10%); mid-term (30%); final exam (40%); term paper (20%).
content:
1. Introduction: Social, historical and cultural contexts
2. Spanish literature in the years following the Civil War.
3. The Spanish novel in the post-war period: “confessional” and “testimonial” novels of the 1940’s and early 1950’s.
4. The period of exile. Major authors.
5. The social novel of the 1950's and 1960's.
6. Towards a renewal of the Spanish novel. Social-realistic aesthetics during the 1960’s.
a. New forms of the novel and the novelist’s confrontation with social realities in Spain. Luis Martín Santos’ Tiempo de silencio.
b. Juan Marsé and the demystification of the proletariat and the middle-class compromise. Novel: Últimas tardes con Teresa.
7. Early 1970’s. Towards an “experimental” narrative. Juan Goytisolo and the narrative as a reflection of personal and generational self-examination.
8. Late 1970’s. Period of “disenchantment” and personal escape. Carmen Martín Gaite or the search for an interlocutor.
9. Women’s writing and narratives.
Required readings:
LAFORET, Carmen, Nada, Editorial Crítica.
SENDER, Ramón J., Réquiem por un campesino español, Destino. GARCÍA MORALES, Adelaida, El sur / Bene, Anagrama.
MILLÁS, Juan José, El desorden de tu nombre, Punto de Lectura. LORIGA, Ray, El hombre que inventó Manhattan, Quinteto.
Recommended readings:
BASANTA, Ángel, La novela española de nuestra época, Madrid, Anaya, 1990.
CIPLIJAUSKAITÉ, Biruté, La novela femenina contemporánea (1970-1985), Barcelona, Anthropos, 1988.
FERNÁNDEZ PORTA, Eloy, Afterpop. La literatura de la implosión mediatica, Córdoba, Berenice, 2007.
GIL CASADO, Pablo, La novela deshumanizada española (1958-1988), Barcelona, Anthropos, 1990.
GARRIDO DOMÍNGUEZ, Antonio, El texto narrativo, Madrid, Síntesis, 1993.
GULLÓN, Germán, Los mercaderes en el templo de la literatura, Barcelona, Caballo deTroya, 2004.
HUTCHEON, Linda, A Poetics of Postmodernism. History, Theory, Fiction, New York, Routledge, 1988.
INGENSCHAY, Dieter y Hans-Jörg NEUSCHÄFER, Abriendo caminos. La literatura española desde 1975, Barcelona, Lumen, 1994.
The contemporary Spanish novel within a historical, social and cultural framework. Study of the novel’s evolution during the post-war period through different authors, groups and trends, with an emphasis on the most representative styles.
Good comprehension of Spanish.
Introductory lectures on major themes and relevant background information. Close reading of each novel and discussion. Active class participation is expected of all students.
Reading and discussion of the assigned novels (10%); mid-term (30%); final exam (40%); term paper (20%).
1. Introduction: Social, historical and cultural contexts
2. Spanish literature in the years following the Civil War.
3. The Spanish novel in the post-war period: “confessional” and “testimonial” novels of the 1940’s and early 1950’s.
4. The period of exile. Major authors.
5. The social novel of the 1950's and 1960's.
6. Towards a renewal of the Spanish novel. Social-realistic aesthetics during the 1960’s.
7. Early 1970’s. Towards an “experimental” narrative. Juan Goytisolo and the narrative as a reflection of personal and generational self-examination.
8. Late 1970’s. Period of “disenchantment” and personal escape. Carmen Martín Gaite or the search for an interlocutor.
9. Women’s writing and narratives.