HP318-15 Crime and Punishment in Spanish Film
Introductory description
This module explores how the varied depictions of criminality in Spanish cinema have reflected broader changes in the cultural understanding of transgression, civil disorder and social control in Spain.
Module aims
While Spanish audiences have long been fascinated with criminality, the nature of the criminal act depicted onscreen has undergone a series of dramatic transformations from the early Franco period to the present day. This course explores how the varied depictions of criminality in Spanish cinema have reflected broader changes in the cultural understanding of transgression, civil disorder and social control in Spain. It examines ‘deviance’ in its various guises and meanings, from violent crime, petty theft and delinquency, to police torture and domestic abuse, as a means of tracing a recent history of the Spanish penal system and its evolution of criminal justice. In doing so, the course will study a number of important crime thrillers, police procedural films and delinquent films, as well as controversial films whose making itself has been considered deviant by the authorities.
The course is taught through a combination of weekly lectures and seminars, where students are expected to have watched the film in advance.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
La muerte de un ciclista (Juan Antonio Bardem, 1955)
Cría cuervos (Carlos Saura, 1976)
Deprisa, deprisa (Carlos Saura, 1980)
La ley del deseo (Pedro Almodóvar, 1987)
Amantes (Vicente Aranda, 1991)
La noche de los girasoles (Jorge Sánchez Cabezudo, 2004)
Celda 211 (Daniel Monzon, 2009)
La isla mínima (Alberto Rodríguez, 2014)
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- a keen understanding of how representations of criminality in Spanish cinema have reflected broader changes in the cultural understanding of transgression, civil disorder and social control in Spain
- ability to consider the changing meanings of deviance within a range of different historical and social contexts
- Intercultural awareness, understanding and competence
- Familiarity with the methodologies and approaches appropriate to the discipline.
- Knowledge and understanding of one or more aspects of the literatures, cultures, linguistic contexts, history, politics, social and economic structures of the country or countries of the target language.
Indicative reading list
View reading list on Talis Aspire
International
All modules delivered in SMLC are necessarily international. Students engage with themes and ideas from a culture other than that of the UK and employ their linguistic skills in the analysis of primary materials from a non-Anglophone context. Students will also be encouraged to draw on the experiences of visiting exchange students in the classroom and will frequently engage with theoretical and critical frameworks from across the world
Subject specific skills
This module will develop students’ linguistic skills through engaging with primary materials in the target language. It will build students’ capacity to engage with aspects of Hispanic culture through analysis of this primary material and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students’ awareness of Spanish film will be enhanced through lectures and seminars which engage in scholarship in the field.
Transferable skills
All SMLC culture modules demand critical and analytical engagement with artefacts from target-language cultures. In the course of independent study, class work and assessment students will develop the following skills: written and oral communication, creative and critical thinking, problem solving and analysis, time management and organisation, independent research in both English and their target language(s), intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between languages and cultures, ICT literacy in both English and the target language(s), personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 11 sessions of 1 hour (12%) |
| Seminars | 11 sessions of 1 hour (12%) |
| Private study | 68 hours (76%) |
| Total | 90 hours |
Private study description
N/A
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A2
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
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| Written Assignment 1 (2500 words) | 50% | 30 hours | Yes (extension) |
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Essay |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Written Assignment 2 | 50% | 30 hours | Yes (extension) |
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Essay |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Feedback on assessment
Feedback will be provided in the course of the module in a number of ways. Feedback should be understood to be both formal and informal and is not restricted to feedback on formal written work.
Oral feedback will be provided by the module tutor in the course of seminar discussion. This may include feedback on points raised in small group work or in the course of individual presentations or larger group discussion.
Written feedback will be provided on formal assessment using the standard SMLC Assessed Work feedback form appropriate to the assessment. Feedback is intended to enable continuous improvement throughout the module and written feedback is generally the final stage of this feedback process. Feedback will always demonstrate areas of success and areas for future development, which can be applied to future assessment. Feedback will be both discipline-specific and focussed on key transferrable skills, enabling students to apply this feedback to their future professional lives. Feedback will be fair and reasonable and will be linked to the SMLC marking scheme appropriate to the module.
Courses
This module is Core option list A for:
- Year 4 of UHPA-R4W4 Undergraduate Hispanic Studies and Theatre Studies
This module is Option list B for:
- Year 4 of UPOA-M166 Undergraduate Politics, International Studies and Hispanic Studies