Spanish 89 Syllabus

Spanish 89: Postwar Spain and the Novel
AMHERST COLLEGE
Spring 2008
M, W, F 10-10:50    

Chapin 203

                                        
Profa. Sara J. Brenneis
sbrenneis@amherst.edu
office: Barrett 106
office hours: Monday 2-3; Wednesday 11-12 and by appointment

I.    Course Description

The Spanish Civil War ended in 1939 with the beginning of what would become Francisco Franco’s 36-year dictatorship over Spain.  The majority of authors in postwar Spain were subject to censorship and overt oppression while they attempted to understand their own history and translate it onto the page.  The postwar Spanish novel, while often examining a common period in Spanish history, is a varied genre.  In this course, we will study the historical and cultural background of the period, reading novels that reflect the diversity of postwar Spanish literature and its authors as well as historical accounts and theoretical materials in order to gain a more complete understanding of the era and its reflection in literature.  The course will consist of short lectures, class discussions, student presentations (individually and in groups), group activities, short writing assignments, five written literary analyses of 2-3 pages, and a more extensive final paper.  Students should come prepared to discuss the day’s reading in class.  This will be a collaborative course that will necessitate the participation of the entire class, allowing a wide variety of subjects relating to the main topic of the course to be discussed.

II.    Objectives and Grading

Students will read and interpret narrative texts written and set during Spain’s last century, considering them in conjunction with cultural currents and theoretical trends of the same period.  During classroom activities and discussions, students will analyze texts in terms of subject matter, narrative style, historical interpretation, social background of the authors and secondary critical sources.  The participation grade is based on the students’ involvement and engagement in classroom discussion, and includes announced and unannounced short written assignments.  The oral grade refers to both types of presentations: discussion facilitations and informative oral presentations.  Students will write an essay after reading each novel, analyzing thematic elements in the novel, and applying historical and critical knowledge to fictional representations; the fifth essay will incorporate a comparison of a cinematic interpretation of the novel under analysis. For the final paper, students will write a comparative essay, evaluating two narrative texts by utilizing a secondary historical and/or critical source they have identified as pertinent.  This final paper will demonstrate the critical reading and evaluation skills that the student has developed during the semester and will necessitate limited outside research.

Novel essays (5) – 50%
Final paper – 20%
Classroom participation – 20%
Oral presentations – 10%

III.    Student Responsibilities
Students are expected to adhere to Amherst College’s Honor Code at all times.  Students with disabilities or specific limitations that will affect their participation in the course should speak with the professor privately as soon as possible to make arrangements.  Regular attendance is required and absences will adversely affect the participation grade.  If students must miss a class, regardless of the reason, they should communicate with a classmate about what they missed and inform themselves of the homework for the next class.  In order to respect the professor and the students, cell phones and other technological distractions are not permitted during class.  This course is conducted entirely in Spanish: respectful dialogue en español is expected at all times!


III.    Course Readings:

1) Fiction (Available at Amherst Books)
•    La familia de Pascual Duarte, Camilo José Cela (1942), Ediciones Destino
•    Requiem por un campesino español, Ramón J. Sender (1950), Ediciones Destino
•    Últimas tardes con Teresa, Juan Marsé (1966), Random House Mondadori
•    El cuarto de atrás, Carmen Martín Gaite (1978), Ediciones Destino
•    Soldados de Salamina, Javier Cercas (2001), Editors Tusquets

2) Historiography and Theory (Course Packet available in Barrett 201)
•    Usos amorosos de la postguerra española, Carmen Martín Gaite: Introduction, “III. El legado de José Antonio,” and “VII. Nubes de color de rosa”
•    Narrating the Past: Fiction and Historiography in Postwar Spain, David K. Herzberger: “Introduction – Narrative Intimacies: Fiction and History” and “Ch. 3: History and the Novel of Memory”
•    Spain: Dictatorship to Democracy, Raymond Carr and Juan Pablo Fusi: Chronology, Glossary of Terms, “Introduction,” “Chapter 1: Franco and the Legacy of the Civil War,” and “Chapter 6: Culture 1939-1977”
•    The New Spaniards, John Hooper: “Chapter 11: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”
•    Historia de la literatura española, Santos Sanz Villanueva: “El marco histórico-literario: 1. 1939, Fecha de la ruptura”
•    Poetics of Postmodernism: Historiographic Metafiction: History, Theory, Fiction, Linda Hutcheon: “Historiographic Metafiction: ‘The Pastime of Past Time’”
•    La pluralidad narrativa: escritores españoles contemporáneos (1984-2004): “Una historia fantasmal,” Robert Spires

3) Film (Amherst Streaming Video)
•    “Soldados de Salamina,” dir. David Truebas (2003)

4) Additional Texts on Reserve
•    Historia de la novela española, 1936-2000, Ignacio Soldevila Durante
•    Myth and History in the Contemporary Spanish Novel, Jo Labanyi
•    Historia de la literatura española: El Siglo XX: (Del 98 a la Guerra Civil) Vol. 6/1, Gerald R. Brown
•    Historia de la literatura española: El siglo XX: literatura actual, Vol. 6/2, Santos Sanz Villanueva
•    Historia y crítica de la literatura española: Epoca contemporánea, 1939-1980 (Vol. 8), Domingo Ynduráin
•    Historia y crítica de la literatura española. Suplementos ; 9/1. Los nuevos nombres 1975-2000,  Jordi Gracia García and Francisco Rico
•    English translations of Cela, Sender, Martín Gaite and Cercas (to be used sparingly, if at all)

IV.    Course Outline

Historia y historiografía en la España del S. XX

 


ENERO

Semana 1:
lunes 28:    Introducción al curso
miércoles 30:    Texto de la Ley de la Memoria Histórica  Course Packet
“Introduction” de Spain: Dictatorship to Democracy, Raymond Carr and Juan Pablo Fusi. Course Packet
Trasfondo a la Guerra Civil Española (1936-1939)  

FEBRERO

viernes 1:    “Chapter 1: Franco and the Legacy of the Civil War,” de Spain: Dictatorship to Democracy. Course Packet
“El marco histórico-literario: 1. 1939, Fecha de la ruptura,” Historia de la literatura española, Santos Sanz Villanueva. Course Packet
Trasfondo al periodo de la postguerra (1939-1975)

La novela de posguerra temprana 1940-1975


Semana 2:
l 4:    Requiem por un campesino español, Ramón J. Sender (páginas 7 - 33)
m 6:    Requiem por un campesino español, Ramón J. Sender  (páginas 34 - 69)
v 8:    Requiem por un campesino español, Ramón J. Sender  (páginas 70 - final)

Semana 3:
l 11:    Redacción 1
“Introduction – Narrative Intimacies: Fiction and History,” de Narrating the Past: Fiction and Historiography in Postwar Spain, David K. Herzberger.  Course Packet
m 13:    “Chapter 6: Culture 1939-1977,” de Spain: Dictatorship to Democracy, Raymond Carr y Juan Pablo Fusi. Course Packet
v 15:    La familia de Pascual Duarte, Camilo José Cela (prólogos [dedicatorio, nota del transcriptor, carta anunciando..., cláusula del testamento...], capítulos 1 - 3)

Semana 4:
l 18:    La familia de Pascual Duarte, Camilo José Cela (capítulos 4 - 10)
m 20 :    La familia de Pascual Duarte, Camilo José Cela (capítulos 11 - 16)
v 22:    La familia de Pascual Duarte, Camilo José Cela (capítulos 17 - 19, epílogos [otra nota..., carta final])

Semana 5:
l 25:    Redacción 2
Introducción y “III. El legado de José Antonio,”de Usos amorosos de la postguerra española, Carmen Martín Gaite. Course Packet
m 27:    “VII. Nubes de color de rosa” de Usos amorosos de la postguerra española, Carmen Martín Gaite. Course Packet
v 29:    Últimas tardes con Teresa, Juan Marsé (Parte 1: secciones 1-4)

MARZO

Semana 6:
l 3:    Últimas tardes con Teresa, Juan Marsé (Parte 1: secciones 5 y 6; Parte II: sec. 1)
m 5:    Últimas tardes con Teresa, Juan Marsé (Parte II: sec. 2 - 5)
v 7:    Últimas tardes con Teresa, Juan Marsé (Parte II: sec. 6 - 9)

Semana 7:
l 10:    Últimas tardes con Teresa, Juan Marsé (Parte II: sec. 10, Parte III: sec. 1 - 3)
m 12:     Últimas tardes con Teresa, Juan Marsé (Parte III: sec. 4 - final)
v 14:    No hay clase

VACACIONES DE PRIMAVERA

17-21 de marzo

La novela después de Franco: la Transición (1975-1982)


Semana 9
:
l 24:    Redacción 3
“Chapter 11: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” de The New Spaniards, John Hooper. Course Packet
m 26:    El cuarto de atrás, Carmen Martín Gaite (capítulo 1)
v 28:    El cuarto de atrás, Carmen Martín Gaite (capítulo 2)


Semana 10
:
l 31:    El cuarto de atrás, Carmen Martín Gaite (capítulo 3)

ABRIL

m 2:    El cuarto de atrás, Carmen Martín Gaite (capítulo 4)
v 4:    El cuarto de atrás, Carmen Martín Gaite (capítulo 5)

Semana 11:
l 7:    El cuarto de atrás, Carmen Martín Gaite (capítulos 6 y 7)
m 9:    Selección de “Ch. 3: History and the Novel of Memory,” de Narrating the Past: Fiction and Historiography in Postwar Spain, David K. Herzberger. Course Packet
    Entrega y discusión de otros textos críticos de la novela
v 11:    “Historiographic Metafiction: ‘The Pastime of Past Time,’” Linda Hutcheon. Course Packet


La novela actual (S. XXI)


Semana 12
:
l 14:    Redacción 4
Introducción a la España de S. XXI, técnicas narrativas postmodernas
m 16:    Soldados de Salamina, Javier Cercas (1ª parte: 17 - 40)
v 18:    Soldados de Salamina, Javier Cercas (1ª parte: 41 - 74)

Semana 13:
l 21:    Soldados de Salamina, Javier Cercas (2ª parte: 77 - 105)
m 23:     Soldados de Salamina, Javier Cercas (2ª parte: 105 - 140)
v 25:    Soldados de Salamina, Javier Cercas (3ª parte: 143-172)

Semana 14:
l 28:    Soldados de Salamina, Javier Cercas (3ª parte: 172 – final)
m 30:    “Una historia fantasmal,” Robert Spires. Course Packet
Propuestas del Ensayo final (texto primario y secundario)

MAYO

v 2:     Redacción 5
Ver en Amherst Streaming Video: “Soldados de Salamina”
discusión de la película en clase

Semana 15:
l 5:    Presentaciones/Talleres de los ensayos finales
m 7:    Presentaciones/Talleres de los ensayos finales
v 9:    Conclusiones

lunes, el 12 de mayo: Ensayos finales