Introductory description

Spain and Portugal experienced the two longest lasting dictatorships in Western Europe in the 20th century. Since the mid-1970’s, they likewise engaged in parallel processes of transition to and consolidation of democracies. Through the lens of literature and, to a much lesser extent, of film, this course examines how the experience of living under dictatorship was portrayed in selected Iberian works. In addition, it focuses on representations of the transition to democracy and of the challenges emerging in these socio-political realities conditions. It adopts a comparative approach, examining artistic resistance and subversion under the Franco and Salazar dictatorships, followed by contemporary responses to the establishment and consolidation of democracy.

Module web page

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.

Weekly 2-hr seminar, consisting of one lecture and a discussion of directed reading prepared in advance. WEEK 1: Spain and Portugal in the 20th Century. WEEKS 2 and 3 (Living under dictatorship): Carlos Saura's La caza/The Hunt and Víctor Erice's El espíritu de la colmena/Spirit of the Beehive; José Cardoso Pires, Balada da Praia dos Cães/Ballad of Dog’s Beach. WEEKS 3 and 4 (Living in democracy, engaging with memory): Carmen Martín Gaite's El cuarto de atrás/The Backroom; Javier Marías, Corazón tan blanco/A heart so white. Week 6: Reading week. Week 7 (Colonial war and memory): Lídia Jorge, A Costa dos Murmúrios/The Murmuring Coast. WEEKS 8 and 9 (Democracy and it’s challenges): José Saramago, Ensaio sobre a cegueira/Blindness; Javier Cercas, Terra Alta / Even the darkest night. WEEK 10: Spain and Portugal at the beginning of the 21st century: commonalities and disparities.

Learning outcomes

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

• develop a keen understanding of the similarities and differences in the political, cultural, and literary development of Spain and Portugal in the second half of the twentieth century
• develop an understanding of the processes of democratization as they played out in Spain and Portugal in the 1970s and after
• discuss and evaluate literary and film texts (both individually and in a group)
• engage in close readings of visual and written narrative
• marshall information and write comparatively across cultures and languages
• understand and explain the relation between twentieth- and twenty-first-century fiction and film and their historical and political contexts
• make clear and relevant contributions to discussions and seminars
• present in written form a commentary and an essay that examine the context, content, and significance of one or more narrative works
• engage with other cultures, appreciating their distinctive features

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

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 Luso-Hispanic culture through analysis of this primary material and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students’ awareness of contemporary Spain and Portugal 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.