SPANISH Course Descriptions

Undergraduate - Upper Division - FALL QUARTER 2008

Spanish 100: Principles of Hispanic Literature and Criticism
Leo Bernucci, Professor (sec. 1, TR 10:30-11:50) CRN 80834
Cristina González, Professor (sec. 3, TR 9:00-10:20) CRN 83448

This course is an introduction to textual analysis with readings from Spanish and Spanish American literature and culture. The course will deal with basic genres: narrative, poetry, drama and essay and will provide students with the opportunity to acquire the basic technical vocabulary of the Hispanic literary and cultural critic.
Lecture-3 hours; extensive writing or discussion-1 hour. Prerequisite: course 24 or 24S or 33.

Textbooks: Check at the bookstore, books will vary with each section.

Spanish 100: Principles of Hispanic Literature and Criticism
Emilio Bejel, Professor (sec. 2, MW 12:10-1:30;1:40-2:00) CRN 80835

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to ways of reading and analyzing texts in different genres in Spanish. The course serves as an introduction and foundation for many other courses offered in the department. With practice and effort, students will gain, by the end of the course, an increased ability to understand and critically analyze a variety of texts from the Hispanic world. Narrative, poetry, drama, essay, and film will be among the genres to be studied. We will study problems of style, form, and language, which contribute to the artistic or aesthetic value of a work of art and can also be employed to carry out rhetorical strategies. Students will not only learn to read texts, but also to interpret them critically through the lens of cultural criticism, which reflects on both aesthetics and ideology. Although the course is primarily oriented toward reading, it will also be very important to participate frequently in class discussions and to carefully write and edit written assignments in which the concepts learned from readings and dialogue are clearly and concisely articulated.

Textbooks: Paola Bianco & Antonio Sobejano-Moran, Lorca: La casa de Bernarda Alba: A Student Edition.

Spanish 110: Advanced Spanish Composition
Charles Oriel, Lecturer (sec. 1, MWF 2:10-3:00) CRN 83449

Practice in expository writing with emphasis on clarity, structure and idiomatic expression, focusing on a variety of topical and practical issues. Practical application and review of selected grammar topics.
Lecture-3 hours; frequent writing assignments. Prerequisite: course 24, 24S or 33.

Textbooks: Maria Dominicis and John Reynolds, Repase y escriba: curso avanzado de gramática y composición.

Spanish 115: History of the Spanish Language
Robert Blake, Professor (sec. 1, MW 10:00-11:20; 11:30-11:50) CRN 83629

The Spanish language from its roots in spoken Latin to modernity. Emphasis on the close relationship between historical events and language change, and the role that literature plays in language standardization. Not open for credit to students who have completed course 115S.
Lecture-3 hours; extensive writing or discussion-1 hour. Prerequisite: course 24 or 24S or 33 and Linguistics 1 or consent of instructor.

Textbooks: Valdes, Dialogo De La Lengua; David Pharies, Breve historia de la lengua espanola.

Spanish 117: Teaching Spanish as a Native Tongue in the U.S.: Praxis Theory
Cecilia Colombi, Professor (sec. 1, TR 9:00-10:20) CRN 83453

Especially designed or students who are interested in teaching Spanish to native speakers. The course will focus on the cultural diversity of the main Spanish speaking populations in the U.S. and on applied language teaching methodologies in the context of teaching Spanish to native speakers at different levels. Course content includes: a review of the cultural diversity of the main Spanish-speaking populations in the United States: Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Cuban-Americans, Central Americans and other Latinos. First and second language acquisition process. Methods and technology in the teaching of Spanish to native speakers. Teaching of the receptive skills to native speakers (listening-reading). Teaching of the productive areas to native speakers (speaking-writing). Inclusion of materials in the classroom setting pertaining to the cultural and literary contributions of main Spanish-speaking groups in the U.S. Micro-teaching.

The course will be conducted primarily in Spanish through lectures, individual, and group activities. There will be sessions of micro-teaching, i.e. workshops based on students' simulated in-class teaching.
Lecture-3 hours; extensive writing or discussion-1 hour. Prerequisite: Linguistics 1 and course 24 or 33, or consent of instructor.

Textbooks: Ana Roca and Cecilia Colombi (eds.), Mi lengua.

Spanish 118: Topics in Spanish Linguistics
Ann Delforge (sec. 1, MWF 9:00-9:50) CRN 83630

Spanish Dialectology
In this class we will explore the tremendous dialectal diversity of the Spanish language. We'll examine the phonetic, syntactic and lexical characteristics of major Spanish varieties of the Iberian Peninsula, and South America. We will also discuss the role of historical factors, language contact and natural language change in the formation of these dialects.
Lecture-3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: Linguistics 1.

Textbooks: A course reader.

Spanish 123: Creative Writing in Spanish
Francisco Alarcón, Lecturer (sec. 1, MWF 2:10-03:00) CRN 84217

Intensive writing of poetry or fiction in Spanish or in a bilingual (Spanish/English) format. Workshop will focus on the Chicano/Latino experience within the U.S. Students will write both in prescribed forms and in experimental forms of their won choosing. Offered in alternate years. The course will have the format of a seminar or literary workshop in which all participants will have the opportunity to critically comment on works presented by their peers in class. Poetry and narrative fiction will be the main literary genres covered during the quarter. Other genres like drama and autobiographical essays could also be reviewed following the particular interests of the participants. The class will be conducted in Spanish.
Discussion-4 hours. Prerequisite: course 24 or 33, or consent on instructor.

Textbooks: Carmelo Virgillo, Edward H. Friedman, and L. Teresa Valdivieso, Aproximaciones al studio de la literatura Hispánica; Francisco Alarcón, From the Other Side of Night/Del otro lado de la noche: New and Selected Poems; Olivio Jimenez, Antología de la poesía hispanóamericana contemporanes.

Spanish 130: Survey of Spanish Literature to 1700
Sam Armistead, Professor (sec. 1, TR 4:40-6:50) CRN 83454

Medieval
A goal of the course is to familiarize the student with Spanish literature of the Middle Ages and its sociocultural background. A survey of various masterworks, Cantar de Mio Cid, Berceo, Juan Ruiz, Celestina, the Romacero, will be presented in relation to the distinctive cultural traditions that coexisted in Spain (Christian, Muslim, Jewish). At the conclusion of the quarter, the student should be able to read a text from the period and to identify its main characteristics, both from a literary and from a sociocultural point of view. The assigned readings will also be an important tool in the enhancement of the students' vocabulary and syntactical repertoire.
Lecture-3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 100 or 100S.

Textbooks: A. Sanchez-Romeralo and F. Ibarra, Antologia de autores espanoles, Vol. I.

Spanish 133: Pícaros, Pícaras and the Art of Survival in Early Modern Spain
Adrienne Martín, Professor (sec. 1, TR 1:40-3:00) CRN 80841

In this course we will study the novela picaresca, or “romance of roguery,” whose realistic recounting of the poor and downtrodden began a sea-change in literature that, together with Cervantes's Don Quijote, would lead to modern fiction. The protagonists tell their life story from the lowly perspective of orphaned youths. Known for the wily ways in which they trick, cheat and steal, the young pícaros narrate a life of delinquency that, they insist, is not their fault, since they were born into poverty. The authors of these novels imbue their characters with a sense of acute irony as they recount hilarious yet cruel episodes, in which they are constantly made the butt of jokes, until they—and the author—get the last laugh at the reader and reveal with great irony the dark side of life in Imperial Spain. The Spanish picaresque novels became instant best sellers and the picaresque genre remains one of the most dynamic means of storytelling even today.
Lecture-3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 100 or 100S.

Textbooks: Lazarillo de Tormes (anonymous), Quevedo, El buscón, Cervantes, Rinconete y Cortadillo, María de Zayas, El castigo de la miseria.

Spanish 148: Spanish Film
Cristina Martínez-Carazo (sec. 1, TR 10:30-11:50; R 6:10-9:00) CRN 83458

Cinema in the Spanish-Speaking World in Translation
This course will analyze the construction of Spanish identity and the socio-historical events that have shaped it through film. The selection of movies and texts presented in this class will help the students to improve their ability to read films aesthetically, culturally, and historically. Cultural aspects such as gender differences, the role of women in Spanish society, the political situation, social structures, economical aspects, power institutions, religion will be studied through movies. The emphasis will be on the cultural information illustrated by these films. No prior knowledge of cinematography techniques and principles will be required.
Lecture-3 hours; film viewing. Prerequisite: course 24 or 24S or 33. GE credit: ArtHum, Div.

Textbooks: Barry Jordan and Mark Allison, Spanish Cinema: A Student's Guide.

Spanish 150N: Survey of Spanish-American Literature to 1900
Leo Bernucci, Professor (sec. 1, TR 9:00-10:20) CRN 83459

Lecture-3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 100 or 100S.

Textbooks: Chang-Rodríguez & Filer, Voces de hispanoamérica.

Spanish 155: Culture and Context of the Twentieth-Century Mexican Novel
Linda Egan, Professor (sec. 1, TR 9:00-10:20) CRN 83460
A historico-cultural, theoretical and analytical study tracing the evolution of the Mexican Novel from it roots in the colonial period and nineteenth century to the present. Major goals of the course include acquisition of knowledge about the sociopolitical reality influencing significant stages in the Mexican novel’s development, iteration of the major literary tendencies reflected in the novel over time (romantic, realistic, etc.) and application of critical and theoretical concepts through close textual readings. Emphasis is on the narrative of the Revolution as it undergoes formal and ideological transformations. Lecture-3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 100 or 100S.

Textbooks: Mariano Azuela, Los de abajo; Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo; Carlos Fuentes, La muerta de Artemio Cruz; Ángeles Mastretta, Arráncame la vida.

Spanish 156: Darío, Modernism and Its Legacy
Linda Egan, Professor (sec. 1, TR 12:10-1:30) CRN 83461

The course focuses on one major literary "movement" in the development of Spanish-American literature as an autonomous expression of Hispanic culture independent of Spanish peninsular writing. For the first time since Spain colonized the American territories, a Western literary mode finds its authentic and original expression in Latin America, through the inventive works of Rubén Darío, Manuel Gutiérrez Nájara, José Martí and other modernist authors of Spanish America. Textual readings will emphasize poetry, as this literary mode grew out of versified experimentation with language, but we will also see how modernist techniques and themes are developed in selected prose works, and consider, overall, the influence of modernism on later poetry and prose of the 20th century. Lecture-3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 100 or 100S.

Textbooks: A course reader.

Spanish 157: 20th Century Masters in Spanish American Literature
Emilio Bejel, Professor (sec. 1, MWF 9:00-9:50) CRN 83462

The course consists of the examination of a literary corpus central to contemporary Hispano-American cultural history. The selected works, united by the classic (and problematic) notion of the "masterpiece", will allow us entry to the entire spectrum of problems that define the Hispano-American culture of the period in question. Therefore, each case, in addition to a formal and thematic analysis of each work, will initiate a reflection on "Hispano-American identity" and issues of clase, gender, ethnicity, ideology, and politics.
Objectives
(1) Present a comprehensive panorama of the problems that define Hispano-American history and culture in the 20th century.
(2) Analyze a selection of literary works central to Hispano-American cultural production in the 20th century, in the most relevant genres (essay, novel, short story, poetry)
(3) Improve students' abilities in listening comprehension, reading, writing, and conversation in Spanish.
(4) Develop a capacity for critical reflection.
Lecture-3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 100 or 100S.

Textbooks: A course reader.

Spanish 172: Mexican Culture
Robert Irwin, Assoc. Professor (sec. 1, MW 12:10-1:30; 1:40-2:00) CRN 83467

Sexo y crimen en México (hacia 1901)
A finales del siglo XIX en México, después de un siglo en que las relaciones sexuales se trataban siempre con pudor y vergüenza, hubo de repente mucha curiosidad sobre cuestiones de sexo y sexualidad. La nueva ciencia de sexología definía por primera vez la sexualidad como componente íntegro de la identidad. La nueva conciencia y visibilidad de lo sexual en la cultura mexicana fascinaron y también inquietaron a los mexicanos, algunos de los que reaccionaron con pánico. La nueva energía sexual parecía ser ubicua y peligrosa. La nueva generación de científicos positivistas empezó a buscar - y encontrar en todos lados - el sexo, el que para ellos les resultó la médula de todo tipo de mal social. Los criminalistas descubrían que los asesinos eran también pervertidos sexuales. Los psiquiatras vinculaban la enfermedad mental con la desviación sexual. Los sociólogos creían que la inmoralidad sexual era la causa de una nueva degeneración social en las clases bajas. De igual manera, el periodismo y la literatura se obsesionaban con la sexualidad escandalosa. En este curso se estudiará este momento clave en la historia cultural mexicana, momento de crisis en la cual tales conceptos como la prostitución, la homosexualidad, el hermafroditismo, la pornografÍa y la perversiÓn sexual se volvieron parte integral y, al parecer, permanente de la cultura mexicana.
Lecture-3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 100 or 100S.

Textbooks: The Famous 41, (Irwin, McCaughan, Nasser, eds.) and a course reader.