Module Identifier SP35120  
Module Title READING LATE 19TH CENTURY LITERATURE  
Academic Year 2007/2008  
Co-ordinator Dr Jose M Goni Perez  
Semester Semester 1  
Pre-Requisite SP20130  
Course delivery Lecture    
  Workload Breakdown   Lectures and seminars = 20 hours; reading and researching = 100 hours; essay research and preparation = 50 hours; textual analysis and commentary = 30 hours.  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Continuous assessment 2 x 2000 word essays (equally weighted)80%
Semester Assessment Seminar debates, performance and participation20%
Supplementary Exam 1 x 2 hour examination if continuous assessment submitted. 1 x 3 hour examination if no continuous assessment submitted100%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. demonstrate a knowledge and critical understanding of the set texts;
2. locate the set texts in some of the contexts of their production;
3. explain and engage with relevant aspects of recent critical debates about the material studied;
4. produce well organized, coherently argued and critically informed written work;
5. engage in coherent oral discussion of the material studied.

Aims

It provides an understanding of key texts in their historical context and of their impact on the development of literature. It introduces students to the study of language and stylistic features in late nineteenth-century literature and the specific skills associated with it. It also allows students to map Spanish Literature within European cultural movements, such as the rise of the social problem novel, the relationship between religion, philosophy and realism, and the ways in which the novel responded to the problem of God and Woman towards the end of the century.

Brief description

This module explores some of the contradictions and anxieties of late nineteenth-century Spanish literature. The students will analyze essays, articles and letters from the period that responded to a particular inquietude caused by social changes, political instability and the last vestiges of the Spanish Empire. The texts studied will present some of the most famous characters and places in Spanish culture, which are representative of developments in Spanish literature of the time. Students will be made aware of the importance of both immanent and transcendent analysis. Some of the authors read in this module are Caballero, Alarcon, Valera, Pereda, Galdos, Clarin, Bazan, Valdes, Blasco Ibanez.

Content

The module covers five different topics:
1. Introduction: Spain and the social difficulties of late nineteenth century
2. Literature and society: the Realist vision
3. 'Dios y la mujer' in the late 19th century novel
4. 'La novela de tesis' and nature
5. Locus, space and broken habitats

Module Skills

Problem solving Students face analytical problems which arise when analysing the content and linguistic elements of the selected literary texts.  
Research skills Students will be required to compare, analyse and select various research materials (primary and secondary).  
Communication Students will be expected to use linguistic and literary terminology in seminars and to write at an appropriate level for assignments.  
Improving own Learning and Performance Students will be able to observe the improvement in their own competence by critically and linguistically analysing literary and essay texts, both in the seminars and in the written essay.  
Team work Students will be expected to work in groups during seminars and critically to debate and discuss questions raised during the seminars.  
Information Technology Students will be expected to use on-line articles and to learn how not to use some unreliable sources. The students are expected rapidly to adapt to using the Real Academía Española dictionaries and its on-line linguistic resources. Students also need to use the official on-line archive of Spanish literature.  
Application of Number n/a  
Personal Development and Career planning The students will be able to gain skills in analysing and commenting on the stylistic features in 'poiesis' which will help them to develop their linguistic competence.  
Subject Specific Skills Linguistic competence, critical literary analysis and intertextuality.  

Reading Lists

Books
** Reference Text
Cardwell, R. (1973) Blasco Ibáñez. La barraca. Critical Guides to Spanish texts London : Grant & Cutler y Tamesis Books
Ciplijauskaité, B. (1984) La mujer insatisfecha. El adulterio en la novela realista Barcelona : Edhasa
Frances M. López-Morillas (transl) (1981) The Krausist movement and ideological change in Spain, 1854-1874 / Juan López-Morillas Cambridge : Cambridge University Press
Giménez Caro, María Isabel (2003) Ideas acerca de la novela española a mediados del siglo XIX. Alméria : Universidad de Alméria, Servicio de Publicaciones
López, I. J. (1989) Realismo y ficción. La desheredada de Galdós y la novela de su tiempo Barcelona : PPU
Molina Martínez, José Luis (1998) Anticlericalismo y literatura en el siglo XIX / José [Murcia] : Universidad de Murcia
Oleaza, J. La novela del XIX Valencia, Bello, 1976. Barcelona, Laia, 1984.
Palacio Atard, Vicente (1978) La España del siglo XIX, 1808-1898 : (introducción a la España) / [por] Vicente Palacio Atard Madrid : Espasa-Calpe

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6