Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature straniere e Culture moderne

The themesand topics covered, as well as the skills and abilities that are intended to be formed, are an essential part of the content characterizing the training course aimed at offering specific preparation in the field of Spanish literature and culture. In particular, the course aims to train the necessary skills for the critical analysis of the XX Century Spanish story and the understanding of literary techniques and the historical context.

At the end of the course the student will have acquired the following skills:

- in-depth knowledge of twentieth-century Spanish literature, in relation to the historical context;

- ability to understand, analyse and comment on narrative texts in Spanish;

- ability to understand the mechanisms of writing the story;

- ability to understand the mechanisms of writing the short- story;

- development of autonomy of judgment in the interpretation of literary texts and ability to rework bibliographic sources;

-ability to apply critical methodologies for the analysis of the literary text.

In order to ensure constant interaction with students and their active participation, despite the emergency situation, frontal lessons will be held at a distance, through the Webex platform, in synchronous mode (live video lectures), with the help of audio-visual materials and will include moments dedicated to interventions/activities for students.

The exam will be based on an oral interview in Spanish aimed at verifying the knowledge of the Spanish taleof the twentieth century, in relation to the historical, political and cultural context.

Students must also demonstrate to have acquired the methodological skills necessary for reading and interpreting the narrative text, have autonomy of judgment and learning and know how to argue and express the contents of the program through an appropriate language register.

THE SPANISH STORY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, BETWEEN EXILE, TRANSITION AND CONTEMPORANEITY

The course will be based on the study of twentieth century Spanish storytelling, considering the narrative production of the "two Spains", which includes the work of the authors of the Spanish Republican exile.

After a first part of a theoretical nature, aimed at providing the tools for the analysis of the forms of the story and the short-story, we will study the stories composed by exiled authors, such as Aub, Ayala, Chacel and Sender, taking into account both the formal aspects and the political and cultural reflections they promote.

Afterwards, we will read and critically comment on some stories published in Spain after the Transition by authors such as Mateo Díez, Luis Goytisolo, Merino and Marías, in which different languages, styles and themes are found.

In the last part of the course, we will examine the very recent narrative corpus "Relatos del confinamiento", which collects stories written during the period of confinement imposed by the health emergency Covid-19 (March-April 2020), as an opportunity for reflection on the processes of literary reworking of issues and themes related to the pandemic. This activity is part of the project "COVID19 - LiTraPan. Literary Training via ICT for Higher Education Improvement, Behavioural Coaching and Discomfort Management".

Through this triple perspective, it is intended to offer an overview of the evolution of the Spanish story of the twentieth century and its peculiarities, formal and semantic.

Theoretical handout, downloadable from the didactic materials:

- Baquero Goyanes, Mariano, "Qué es el cuento", in Qué es la novela, qué es el cuento, Editum, 1998: pp. 101-158;

- Anderson Imbert, Enrique, Teoría y técnica del cuento, Barcelona, Ariel, 2007;

-Cortázar, Julio, "Algunos aspectos del cuento", Casa de las Américas, 1970;

- Cortázar, Julio, "Del cuento breve y sus alrededores";

-Valls, Fernando, "El microrrelato como género literario";

- Álamo Felices, Francisco, "El microrrelato. Análisis, conformación y función de sus categorías narrativas".

Readings:

- Quiñones, Javier (ed.), Sólo una larga espera. Cuentos del exilio republicano español, Menoscuarto, Palencia, 2006.

- Encinar, Ángeles; Percival, Anthony (eds.), Cuento español contemporáneo, Madrid, Cátedra, 1993 (1a edition), 2004.

-AA.VV., Relatos del confinamiento (downloadable PDF from the didactic materials).

Starting from the first session in June, the exam will be held in person. International, out-of-region and disadvantaged students must indicate any request to take the exam at a distance when registering in the Notes field: please note that random checks will be carried out and that false declarations may result in disciplinary measures.