Spain and 1898: from Disaster to Modernity
| Module title | Spain and 1898: from Disaster to Modernity |
|---|---|
| Module code | MLS3065 |
| Academic year | 2023/4 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Professor Katharine Murphy (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 32 |
|---|
Module description
On this module you will study three novels that reflect social and cultural changes in Spain at the turn of the twentieth century. You will begin by considering an example of Picasso’s Cubist paintings, before going on to study three works of fiction in the context of contemporary debates about gender, degeneration and social change in early-twentieth-century Spain. You will also look at the ways in which the novels reflect literary modes such as Naturalism and the development of Modernism in the early twentieth century. From best-sellers to canonical fiction, you will consider new research on how the novels were received at the time.
Dr Katharine Murphy is author of Re-reading Pío Baroja and English literature (Peter Lang, 2004) and Bodies of Disorder: Gender and Degeneration in Baroja and Blasco Ibáñez (Legenda / MHRA, 2017).
Students should have MLS2001 Spanish Language or equivalent to take this module.
Module aims - intentions of the module
This module aims to:
- Examine the ‘Disaster’ of 1898: the war with the United States and the loss of Spain’s New World Empire
- Consider the creation of new artistic forms and languages in the early-twentieth century
- Study one painting and three selected novels that reflect the social, cultural and artistic preoccupations of early-twentieth-century Spain that accompanied the process of modernity
- Consideration will be given to the ways in which fiction was affected by the emergence at the turn of the century of new ideas about reality and perception, and how these relate to developments in science, technology and psychology during the period
Particular attention will be given in any one year to a selection of the following areas:
- Identity and the figure of the Outsider in literature
- The femme fatale
- Gender and the New Woman
- Degeneration
- Artistic form and techniques
- Naturalism and Modernism
- Canonical and popular fiction
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the chosen works of early-twentieth-century Spain, and an understanding of their significance in the broader literary and cultural context in which they were produced
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 2. After initial input from the course tutor, apply and evaluate critical approaches to the material under analysis independently
- 3. Argue at length and in detail about an aspect of the topic, supporting the argument with evidence from the text and with opinions from secondary literature
- 4. Use a range of literary-critical terminology, applying it to independently researched material as well as to material introduced by the course tutor
- 5. Use available library and electronic resources to investigate a given aspect of the subject, and make recommendations for further study to the rest of the group
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 6. Negotiate individual assessment tasks and/or topics with course tutor, identifying own areas of strength and interest
- 7. Adopt a critical approach to the selection and organisation of a large body of material in order to produce, to a deadline, a written or oral argument of some complexity
- 8. Present information and arguments on a designated or negotiated topic to a group of listeners and respond to questions and responses from the group
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
- Introduction: El desastre and the ‘Generation of 1898’
- Picasso, Les Demoiselles D’Avignon (painting, 1906)
- Degeneracy and the Artist: Baroja, Camino de perfección (novel, 1902)
- Deadly women: Blasco Ibáñez, Cañas y barro (novel, 1902)
- Formative assignment mid-term
- The anti-novel: Unamuno, Niebla (novel 1914)
- Contexts: Naturalism and Modernism
- Student presentations
- Revision
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | 134 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 5 | Lectures. Lectures will provide background material and main areas of analysis for further study |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 10 | Seminars. Students are expected to prepare in advance for guided discussion in seminars, and all students will give a presentation in groups |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 1 | Conclusion |
| Guided Independent Study | 134 | Private study. Reading primary and secondary material, seminar preparation, planning and researching assessment and presentation. |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay plan | 750 words | 1-8 | Written feedback and discussion with course tutor |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 100 | 3000 words | 1-7 | Essay feedback sheet |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay | 1-7 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Primary Texts (to be purchased by the student):
Students are expected to read the novels before the start of the module.
- Baroja, Pío, Camino de perfección (Caro Raggio)
- Blasco Ibáñez, Vicente, Cañas y barro (Alianza)
- Unamuno, Miguel de, Niebla (Cátedra)
Secondary Reading:
- Balfour, Sebastian, ‘The Loss of Empire, Regenerationism, and the Forging of a Myth of National Identity’, in Graham and Labanyi, eds., Spanish Cultural Studies: An Introduction (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1995), pp. 25-31.
- Harrison, Joseph and Alan Hoyle (eds.), Spain’s 1898 Crisis: Regenerationism, modernism, postcolonialism (Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 2000)
- Marshall, Gail, The Cambridge Companion to the Fin de Siècle (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007)
- Murphy, Katharine, Bodies of Disorder: Gender and Degeneration in Baroja and Blasco Ibáñez (Cambridge: Legenda / MHRA, 2017)
- Nelson, Brian (ed.) Naturalism in the European Novel: New Critical Perspectives (New York: Berg, 1992)
- Otis, Laura, Organic Memory: History and the Body in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994)
- Orringer, N. R. (ed), ‘Hispanic Modernisms’, Bulletin of Spanish Studies , Special Issue, 79 (2-3) 2002
- Shaw, Donald L., ‘More about abulia ’, Anales de la literatura española contemporánea , Vol. 23, No. 1/2 (1998), pp. 451-464
- Tsuchiya, Akiko, Marginal Subjects. Gender and Deviance in fin-de-siècle Spain (University of Toronto Press, 2011)
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | MLS2001 or equivalent |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 09/01/2017 |
| Last revision date | 18/08/2020 |
