Introductory description

This module will take a relational approach to the cultural life of the small Atlantic country of Galicia, in Spain’s north west, from the perspective of Galicia’s situation as a crossroads between land and sea, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Europe and America, and the Hispanic and Lusophone worlds. We will consider how Galician and foreign writers and artists have explored Galician language and culture across time, asking how the foundations of modern Galician cultural identity are both consolidated and transformed in a relational context. Teaching will be through a combination of weekly lectures and practical hands-on workshops.

Module aims

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.

Week 1: Galicia in the World
Weeks 2-3: A Terra: Rosalía de Castro, land and language
Weeks 4-5: Alén-mar: Emigration and the Celtic connection
Weeks 7-8: American Connections
Weeks 9-10: British Connections

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

•  demonstrate a keen understanding of the issues at stake in modern and contemporary Galician culture, its wider historical and cultural context, and of relevant critical theory
•  discuss and evaluate how Galician and foreign writers and artists have articulated Galicia’s distinct linguistic, cultural and historical identity across time
•  demonstrate a sound understanding of written Galician; the ability to read, translate and analyse Galician-language texts of low to medium difficulty and relate them to wider contexts and discourses
•  demonstrate an ability to apply detailed textual analysis to primary texts and relate them to wider historical and cultural contexts and discourses
•  demonstrate intercultural awareness, understanding and competence
•  demonstrate an ability to access, read and critically analyse primary and secondary source materials in the target language
•  demonstrate familiarity with the methodologies and approaches appropriate to the discipline.
•  Demonstrate intercultural awareness, understanding and competence

Indicative reading list

Extracts for detailed analysis will be circulated in class.
Aires d’a miña terra (Buenos Aires, 1908-1909). Available online.
Hooper, Kirsty and Manuel Puga Moruxa. Contemporary Galician Cultural Studies: Between the Local and the Global. New York: MLA, 2011.
Miguelez-Carballeira, Helena, ed. Companion to Galician Culture. Woodbridge: Tamesis, 2014.

Secondary Texts:
Beramendi, Xusto. De provincia a nación. Historia do galeguismo político. Vigo: Xerais, 2007.
Beswick, Jaine. Regional Nationalism in Spain: language use and ethnic identity in Galicia. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2007.
Gemie, Sharif. Galicia: A Concise History. Cardiff: U Wales P, 2006.
Hooper, Kirsty. Writing Galicia in/to the World: New Cartographies, New Poetics. Liverpool: Liverpool UP, 2011.
Hooper, Kirsty, ed. ‘New Spaces, New Voices: Notes on Contemporary Galician Studies.’ Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies 7.2 (2006).
López Sández, María. Paisaxe e nación. A creación discursiva do territorio. Vigo: Galaxia, 2008.
Mariño Paz, Ramón. Historia da lingua galega. Santiago: Sotelo Blanco, 1998.
Miguelez-Carballeira, Helena, and Kirsty Hooper, eds. ‘Critical Approaches to the Nation in Galician Studies.’ Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 86.2 (2009).
Miguelez-Carballeira, Helena. Galicia: A Sentimental Nation. Cardiff: U Wales P, 2013.
Moya, José C. Cousins and Strangers: Spanish Immigrants in Buenos Aires, 1850-1930. U California P, 1998.
Murado, Miguel-Anxo. Otra idea de Galicia. Barcelona: Debate, 2008.
Romero, Eugenia. Contemporary Galician Culture in a Global Context: Movable Identities. Lanham MD: Lexington Press, 2011.
Vilavedra, Dolores. Historia da literatura galega. Vigo: Galaxia, 1999.
Villares, Ramón. Historia de Galicia. Vigo: Galaxia, 2004.
Villares, Ramón. Breve historia de Galicia. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2004.

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 Galician culture through analysis of this primary material and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students’ awareness of how the foundations of modern Galician cultural identity are both consolidated and transformed in a relational context 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.