SPANISH LITERATURE 1

Literature and the City
As part of the activity that characterizes the curriculum of European, American and Postcolonial Languages and Literatures - Literatures and Cultures, the course aims to provide students with a general knowledge of the historical-cultural context and the study of the city taking as an example the case of Barcelona. It also aims to provide critical and methodological tools, aimed at the acquisition by students of the ability to understand and analyze texts and films that promote autonomy of judgment. Lessons, reading, text analysis and exams will be held in Spanish, with the aim of consolidating comprehension and communication skills in an appropriate language.

Expected learning outcomes are:
-the features of the history of the city of Barcelona, with particular attention to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries;
-the fundamental critical notions for the analysis of texts, films and urban spaces;
-development of autonomy of judgment in the interpretation of texts and films and ability to rework bibliographic sources;
-autonomous learning skills that allow to apply the acquired knowledge to the study of texts.

Excellent knowledge of Spanish language, and knowledge of twentieth century Spanish history and literature; analytical skills to perform critical commentary of literary texts.

The course will outline the cultural context that underlies literary, artistic and film production in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Barcelona, in its links with the European context. The study of the salient features of the great aesthetic-literary currents and of the transformation of the city in their evolution will be accompanied by some in-depth studies on authors and works of particular importance. The analysis of fragments taken from works in the program and anthological pieces is planned.

a) Testi letterari (integrale)
-Mercè Rodoreda, La plaza del diamante
-Eduardo Mendoza, La verdad sobre el caso Savolta
-Montserrat Roig, Tiempo de cerezas
-Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Los mares del sur
-Sergi Belbel, Morir o no

Films
-Walter Ruttmann, Berlin, Symphonie einer Großstadt (1927) -José Luis Guerín, En construcción (2001)
-Ventura Pons, Barcelona (un mapa) (2007)
-Manuel Huerga, Salvador (2006)
-José Luis Guerín, En construcción

Additional teaching materials and texts will be made available online during the course.

b) Testi per lo studio
William H. Robinson, Jordi Falgàs, and Carmen Belen Lord, eds. Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí. (New Haven, CT: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Yale University Press, 2007).
Enric Bou & Jaume Subirana, The Barcelona Reader (Liverpool: Liverpool UP, 2017)

Final exam is a written test in Spanish. It consists of four questions (the student must answer two of their choice) in order to ensure the skills acquired in the analysis of texts. Questions include two or more topics discussed in the course.
To pass the course is required:
-active participation in class.
-short critical essay on each one of the texts/films.
-class presentation of one of the course topics.
-final written exam.
The constant and active participation in lessons and two cultural activities by the teacher will award a bonus of up to 2 points on the final grade.

Lectures in Spanish with the help of films, documentaries, interviews.

The file "Calendario" in noodle (available after the first class meeting) provides the daily activities/readings of this course.

written