Module Identifier SP31110  
Module Title SURREALISM IN SPAIN  
Academic Year 2002/2003  
Co-ordinator Professor Robert G Havard  
Semester Semester 2  
Pre-Requisite (Normally) eligibility for entry to Level 3 Spanish.  
Course delivery Lecture   9 Hours  
  Seminars / Tutorials   6 Hours (3 seminars; 3 tutorials)  
Assessment Semester Assessment   Continuous Assessment: 2 essays of 2000 words each and one presentation.   100%  

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module students will have a knowledge of the way the Surrealist movement evolved in Spain through several phases, from the Freudian to the Marxist. They will be familiar with major works by three of its foremost practitioners in three separate genres, namely Luis Bunuel (film), Salvador Dalì (painting) and Rafael Alberti (poetry). They should know what is meant by such challenging concepts as 'psychic dictation', oneiric symbolism and the 'surrealist object', and they should be able to elucidate these and other concepts in relation to the specific works studied.

Brief description

How was it that such a traditional country as Spain produced some of the most avant-garde figures of the twentieth century? This module inquires into the fascinating world of Surrealism, a revolutionary movement born of Freudian theory and stimulated by the anti-bourgeois ethos of Marxism. Major creative figures are studied in four separate genres, Bunuel as film director, Alberti as poet, Dali as painter and , briefly, Maruja Mallo (Alberti's lover) as a painter. This variety illustrates the different facets of Surrealism and its distinctiveness in the Spanish context.

Syllabus

Weeks   1-4   Garcia Lorca, Asi que pasen cinco anos
   5-8   Luis Bunuel, Un perro andaluz, Salvador Dali (slides)
   9-12   Rafael Alberti, Sobre los angeles (+ Maruja Mallo)

The module will be assessed entirely on the basis of two essay of 2000 words each and one presentation.

Reading Lists

Books
Rafael Alberti. Sobre los angeles. Catedra
Salvador Dali. Salvador Dali. Tate Gallery Publications
Maruja Mallo (paintings, no text).
Garcia Lorca. Asi que pasen cinco anos. Any.
Luis Bunuel. Un perro andaluz (film, no text).