Module Information

Module Identifier
SP25220
Module Title
Spanish Cinema ii: New Tendencies
Academic Year
2018/2019
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Pre-Requisite
Other Staff

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Lecture 10 x 2 Hour Lectures
Seminar 4 x 1 Hour Seminars
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Continuous assessment  2 Essays (1,500 to 2,000 words each)  80%
Semester Assessment Seminar debates, performance and participation  20%
Supplementary Assessment Resubmit or resit failed elements and/or make good any missing elements  100%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. show understanding of the study of the interactions of the topics covered and Cinema in Contemporary Spain;
2. show understanding of the historical background of current representations of Franco's Spain and current Spanish cinema;
3. show understanding of the current Spanish division between the old generation and the new generation;
4. demonstrate skills in comparative analysis and to show familiarity with cinematic and technical vocabulary;
5. engage critically with a variety of scholarly material including monographs and specialised articles.
6. present their findings in a logical, organised and scholarly fashion both orally, through debates and seminars, and in written form, through essays and text commentaries.

Aims

This module will prepare students to understand modern Spanish cinema in its context and to recognize it as part of a cultural production that tries to respond to new tendencies in Spanish society, such as developments in thinking about identity, gender and neopostmodernity. This module will teach students to analyse films both from immanent and transcendent standpoints. During the module, short films and written text will be used to develop an overview of artistic representations of Spain in the last 20 years.

Brief description

This module substitutes for SP2/350020 Seeing Spain through Spanish Cinema - cycle module 2007-9. Divided into four different topics, this module explores the most recent cinematic tendencies of Spanish cinema and seeks to understand these tendencies in relationship to the current cultural and socio-political situation of Spain. The first topic explores the concept of identity as espanolidad, which has been under discussion in Spain in the last two decades. The key texts studied will allow students to identify the ironic portrayal of a Spanish hero and the evaluation of Spanish stereotypes in the context of an intertextual pastiche. The second topic will allow students to discuss Spanish cinema as one which puts forward theses, but without resolving them, and to assess it as part of a cultural expression that uses ambiguity to raise wider cultural questions. The third topic covers the representation of women in recent cinema. Students will compare key films representative of Franco's regime's propagandist use of cinema, as in La gran familia, with modern representations of women, such as Princesas. The last topic will address Almodovar's cinema and the trend towards neo-posmodernity in his latest films.

Content

Introduction: (2 h) Spain from the 90's: socio-political context

Topic A: (4 h) The concept of espanolidad: Identity, Stereotypes and Intertextuality
Films: Torrente I, II, III y IV

Seminar 1.

Topic B: (4 h) Cinema as social thesis: engaging the viewers. The case of Amenabar's cinema
Films: Tesis, Mar adentro; Te doy mis ojos

Seminar 2.

Topic C: (4 h) Representations of Women: social cinema
Films: La gran familia; Princesas; Nadie hablara de nosotras cuando hayamos muerto; Flores de otro mundo

Seminar 3.

Topic D: (4 h) Almodovar: Spain under the lents of Postmodernity
Films: Los abrazos rotos; Volver; La mala educacion; Hable con ella

Seminar 4.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number n/a
Communication Written communication will be developed in assessments.
Improving own Learning and Performance Students will be able to assess their own progress week by week through their increased understanding of the issues raised and the skills developed.
Information Technology Students will use on-line journals and source collections; delivery of course materials and information via e-learning system.
Personal Development and Career planning Students will acquire transferable skills; in-depth acquaintance with Cinema as an academic subject.
Problem solving Students will select appropriate reading material; developing evaluative analysis and critical skills and formulating a detailed argument.
Research skills Students will analyse cinematic representations in their political/historical contexts and synthesize information in an evaluative argument.
Subject Specific Skills Students will acquire Modern Spanish vocabulary, slang expressions, corrupted grammatical structures, mispronunciations, ideolecto, fasolecto and sociolecto. As all films are in their original language: students will apply listening techniques learned during the Aural classes.
Team work Students will participate in debates and group presentations during seminars.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5