Fall Courses 2005

Miguel Delibes PORT 73200 - Brazilian Poetry of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: GC, Thursday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., 3 credits, Professor Garay [92478]

This course presents a basic survey of Brazilian poetry in the nineteenth century (Gonçalves Dias,Casimiro de Abreu, Alberto de Oliveira & etc.), with special emphasis on the Symbolist movement (i.e., Cruz e Sousa). We will examine a series of trends and themes that lead to Brazilian modernismo as well as to the period of postmodern development in lyric expression after 1945 (Manuel Bandeira, the two Andrades, Jorge de Lima, Cecília Meireles, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Vinícius de Moraes, João Cabral de Melo Neto, Ferreira Gullar, Adélia Prado & etc.). The course will focus on an interdisciplinary analysis of literary texts and movements within a comparative context.

SPAN 70100 - History of the Spanish Language: GC, Monday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., 3 credits, Professor del Valle [92660]

This course traces the external and internal history of Spanish (standard and non-standard dialects as well as contact varieties) . The historical frame is wide, spanning from the spread of Latin in the Iberian Peninsula to present-day issues associated with the unity and prestige of Spanish throughout the world. One component of the course will outline the traditional description of the language's history as a linear evolution of forms (phonetic, morphological, syntactic) from Latin to Spanish. A second component will present sociolinguistic and cultural phenomena (bilingualism, diglossia, standardization, language death) relevant to the understanding of the emergence of Spanish as a "language" and of its spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula and the Americas.

SPAN 70200 - Spanish Literary Theory: GC, Thursday, 4:15-6:15 p.m., 3 credits, Professor Reisz, [92298]

This course will offer a survey of the most influential theories of literature in the 20^th century. Among the theoretical perspectives considered will be formalism, structuralism, semiotics, hermeneutics, aesthetics of reception, deconstruction, Bakhtin's dialogical principle, postcolonialism, feminism, and the diverse identity/minority studies which have been developed in the United States since the seventies.

The first part of the course will basically focus on European and Anglo-American constructs. The second part will take into account the analytical systems born in the Hispanic world from the urgency to explain the differential traits and the specific production's conditions of their own literary enterprises. The analysis of politicized points of view will debate the ethical-political need of examining the gap between theory and practice, as well as the academic institutionalization of radical theories.

SPAN 70300 - Introduction to Methods of Research: GC, Tuesday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., 3 credits, Professor Lerner, [92299]

This course will deal with problems surrounding the preparation of the critical edition of a literary text. After a brief historical overview of the origin and development of modern philology, it will describe the process and material elements that go into the production of the manuscript and printed text. The course will provide a brief examination of the philological terminology and its correct application in order to understand the main theories from different literary traditions thus far advanced in the field of textual criticism. Upon completion of the presentation of such a detailed introduction, the course will then focus on the analysis of the main types of critical editions most commonly in use. To this end, the course will examine very closely the contributions and shortcomings of the latest theories of textual criticism regarding the manuscript tradition, of textual bibliography and its printed tradition and the most recent proposal regarding the genetic or author's philology. Texts for the course will be announced later.

SPAN 72200 - Cervantes and the Pastoral: GC, Monday, 4:15-6:15 p.m., 3 credits, Professor Finello, [92300]

The interpretation of Cervantes's texts from the perspective of its vast body of pastoral antecedents, the effects of imaginative pastoral disguises on character portrayal, the interaction with bucolic settings, and the integration of pastoral style. The course includes readings of excerpts of pastoral precursors (poetry, drama, narrative) to define the genre, a thorough analysis of La Galatea, and a study of the imitation of shepherd life in the Quijote through its major pastoral episodes (Grisóstomo Marcela, Camacho's wedding, the simulated Arcadia, Pastor Quijotiz, among others). Pastoral themes showing affinity with Renaissance dialogue, play-acting, and story interpolation will be closely examined in the contexts of Cervantes's works. Required texts include pastoral poems (culto and folkloric), the dramatic eclogue, and prose excerpts from pre-Cervantine novels (to be distributed); La Galatea (ed. Cátedra, 1994); and Don Quijote, Parts I and II (ed. Francisco Rico et al. latest ed.).

SPAN 72800 - Introduction to Spanish Phonology: GC, Monday, 4:15-6:15 p.m., 3 credits, Professor Otheguy, [92661]

The course offers in-depth study of the phonological system of Spanish, seen in the context of the major functional approaches to the study of sound systems. Students will learn about the organizational structure of sound in several varieties of Spanish, and will place Spanish phonological patterns in the context of generalizations and constraints on the likely, possible and impossible types of organizations of sound in languages of the world. Phonemic inventories, permissible syllable structures, markedness, and variable processes of assimilation and deletion will receive special attention. Usage-based phonology and its application to Spanish will be one of the main theoretical paradigms that will serve to organize the presentations.

SPAN 76200 - Spanish-American Colonial Literature [Betraying Tradition? Lyric Poetry and Colonial Criollismo]: GC, Wednesday, 4:15-6:15 p.m., 3 credits, Professor Chang-Rodríguez [92301]

The aim of this course is to explore how New World poets in viceregal America assimilated Spanish poetic tradition. The discussions will include the manner in which Spanish themes and models were appropriated and often subverted to produce a singular vision of America and its colonial subjects. The analyses will underscore how the New World poets in expressing their concerns and interests, contributed to developing a "conciencia criolla." Readings will include selections from poets born in Spain and America ("Amarilis," Bernardo de Balbuena, Silvestre de Balboa, Juan del Valle Caviedes, Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora). Works by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz will receive special attention in order to highlight the concerns of women and other marginalized subjects. The writers will be situated in their historical and literary contexts and their work studied as paradigmatic texts of a "mestizo" poetic tradition born in the colonial period.

SPAN 82000 - Seminar: Spanish Literature of the Renaissance [Major Trends in Spanish Renaissance Thought: From Cartagena to Vives]: GC, Tuesday, 4:15-6:15 p.m., 4 credits, Professor Di Camillo, [92302]

This course will deal with the emergence and development of Renaissance Humanism and with the spread of the new learning and ideas that characterized the cultural life of Castile during the period extending approximately from 1420 to 1550. Beginning with a critical evaluation of the term Humanism and Renaissance with regard to their origin and historical development, we will examine the economic and social context in which the traditional arts of the Trivium were gradually expanded and transformed into the studia humanitatis, a cycle of disciplines better suited to the needs of an incipient modern state. In examining the repercussion of humanism in the writings of the period, we shall pay special attention to the rhetorical, philological, literary, historiographical, pedagogical and ethical theories and practices as well as to the social, political and religious concerns of representative humanists. Since Spanish Renaissance Humanism is an area of study relatively unexplored, a good deal of emphasis will be placed on research and discussion aimed at generating further investigations studies and critical editions of humanistic texts. Among the texts to be studied, are selections from Juan de Lucena, De vita beata; Antonio de Nebrija, Introducción a la Gramática castellana; Alonso Ortiz, Diálogo sobre la educación del Príncipe Don Juan; Cristobal de Villalón, Ingeniosa comparación entre lo antiguo y lo presente, and El scholastico; Juan de Valdés, Diálogo de la lengua; Luis Vives, De las disciplinas, and Del socorro de los pobres; Antonio de Guevara, Cartas Familiares. General and specific bibliography will be distributed in class throughout the semester.

SPAN 87000 - Seminar: Special Topics in Spanish Literature (Cervantes y el Quijote en la literatura española del siglo XX): GC, Friday, October 14 (2:00-7:00 p.m.); Saturday, October 15 (10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.), 1 credit, Professor Mainer [92303]

Readings of the 1939 Spanish Exile: Cervantes and the Quijote: Lecturas del exilio español de 1939 - Cervantes y el Quijote

The purpose of this seminar is to study the presence of Don Quijote in Spanish literature of the exile. The course will be structured around three topics. 1) Don Quijote and the literary thought of the exile, as represented by María Zambrano, and her poetic philosophy; Pedro Salinas's Cervantine readings; the evolution of the concept of Spain in the work of Américo Castro; Joaquín Casalduero's Cervantine explorations; Francisco Ayala's ideas and José Bergamín's Quixotic approaches. 2) The poets' Don Quijote. León Felipe and his Promethean don Quijote; Jorge Guillén's Cervantine reading and a note on Luis Cernuda and Spanish literature. 3) Don Quijote and the novelists. Cervantes and his characters in the work of Benjamín Jarnés; an allegory by Ramón J. Sender: Cervantes' hens and a biography by María Teresa León: the soldier that taught us to speak.

SPAN 87000 - Seminar: Special Topics in Spanish Literature (The Theory and Practice of Editing Hispanic Texts I: Print Transmission): GC, Wednesday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., 3 credits, Dr. John O'Neill [92304]

The course will study the development and evolution of the printed text in the Hispanic world from its beginnings to ca. 1830, with special emphasis on the medieval and Golden Age periods. We will also study the theory of editing early modern printed texts and will transcribe various texts.

SPAN 87100 - Seminar: Special Topics in Spanish-American Literature (Latin American and Caribbean Women's Writing since 1970's): GC, Wednesday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., 4 credits, Professor Martínez, [92305]

During the past four decades Latin American and Caribbean women's writing has, vis-á-vis feminists movements, gained greater visibility. This course focuses on significant novels and short stories written by women published since the 1970s. Among the topics to be discussed are the development of a feminist literary consciousness in Latin America, eroticism and writing, and the use of metafictional and autobiographical forms. We will pay particular attention to the function of humor and irony as strategies to articulate feminist views. While focusing on novels and short stories, this course also examines theoretical readings on feminism, gender identity, sexuality, and ethnicity. Some of the representative authors to be studied are Rosario Ferré (Puerto Rico), Mireya Robles (Cuba), Sylvia Molloy (Argentina), Ana Lydia Vega (Puerto Rico), and Cristina Peri Rossi (Uruguay).

SPAN 87500 - Seminar: Studies in Galician Literature (Twentieth Century Galician Poetry and the Canon Process): GC, Thursday, 2:00 pm-4:00 pm, 1 credit, Professor Casas, [92306]
(Mini-course, 10 hours, Thursdays)

The course will present a panorama of twentieth-century Galician poetry with special attention being paid to poets, groups and the most relevant poetics. At the same time, we will analyze the mechanisms of canon construction employed by literary criticism and historiography. To do so, we will consider the aesthetic, sociocultural and ideological coordinates which have framed both the poetic production and the subsequent critical reflection.

The fundamental stages that will be studied are the following ones: 1) the derivations of popular poetry and Modernism in the first three decades of the century, 2) the assimilation of the avant-garde and the renewal of poetic language in the twenties and thirties, 3) the neotrobadorismo and existential poetry in the post-war period, 4) social realism and 5) poetry of the last quarter of the century. Some poets who will receive a preferential attention are Manuel Antonio, Álvaro Cunqueiro, Luís Pimentel, Celso Emilio Ferreiro, Xohana Torres, Xosé L. Méndez Ferrín, Xosé M. Á lvarez Cáccamo, and Chus Pato.

SPAN 89900 - Independent Literary Research: GC, Variable credits, Faculty

SPAN 90000 - Dissertation Supervision: GC, 1 credit, Faculty