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Federico Garcia Lorca: Theatre and Poetry

Module description

Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) isSpain’s most universal poet and playwright. Very much liked by Anglo-American audiences and widely taught in UK schools and universities, interest in Lorca’s life and work never fades. You will examine some of his most famous plays and poems, using music and art to gain a deep understanding of the universality of his work. You will establish links between his works and popular culture, queer studies and gender studies and you will be able to discuss at length pertinent aspects of his life and work in relation to Spanish history and culture.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to:

• Establish links between Lorca's work as a playwright and his work as a poet
• Use music, image and text to discuss dramatic and poetic form and content
• Examine the influence of psychoanalytical concepts such as homosexual panic on Lorca
• Investigate artistic tendencies such as cubism in the work of Spain's greatest modern playwright and poet
• Discuss is the way in which Lorca dealt with character and the self
• Discuss central themes such as the ignorance/repression of the body and the silence and discourse generated around it
• Analyse works including Lorca's tragedies La casa de Bernarda Alba, Yerma and Bodas de Sangre as well as poems from Romancero gitano and Poeta en Nueva York

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a sound general understanding of the texts above, including reference to their place in the historical / literary / cultural context of their time

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 2. With some guidance from the course tutor(s), evaluate and apply a range of critical approaches to the material covered
• 3. Mount a detailed argument in the appropriate register of English, mustering a range of textual or other evidence in its support
• 4. Understand and use, in written and oral contexts, a range of literary critical terms
• 5. Access and use critically printed and, where appropriate, electronic learning resources identified as useful by the course tutor, and, to a limited extent, discover other useful materials independently
• 6. Analyse selected Spanish texts, relating them to significant elements in their cultural / historical / generic context
• 7. Use recommended reference works to compile a bibliography, within given parameters (chronological, thematic, etc) on the author and texts studied in the course

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 8. Undertake defined learning activities with a measure of autonomy, asking for guidance where necessary
• 9. Adopt a critical approach to the selection and organisation of material in order to produce, to a deadline, a written argument
• 10. Present information and arguments on a defined topic to a group of listeners
• 11. Using course material provided, research, plan and write an essay on a chosen aspect of the subject, to a specified length and deadline

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
• "Romance sonmbulo" and "Romance de la pena negra"
• "La aurora de Nueva York", "Norma y paraso de los negros" and "Nia ahogada en el pozo"
• "Pequeo vals vien's", "Vals en las ramas" and "Son de negros en Cuba"
• "Oda a Walt Whitman"
• Student Centred Learning Week
• A selection from Sonetos del amor oscuro
• Lorca's theatre (Bodas de sangre, Yerma & La casa de Bernarda Alba)

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

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

• Garca Lorca, Federico: Poeta en Nueva York. La casa de Bernarda Alba. Yerma. Bodas de sangre Arango. Manuel Antonio (1995): Smbolo y simbologa en la obra de Federico Garca Lorca. Fundamentos.
• Dempsey, Andrew (1997): A life of Lorca : drawings, photographs, words. University of East Anglia.
• Edwards, Gwynne (1980): Lorca : the theatre beneath the sand. Boyars.
• Feal Deibe, Carlos (1989): Lorca : tragedia y mito. Dovehouse.
• Gibson, Ian (1974): The death of Lorca. Paladin.
• (1989): Federico Garca Lorca : a life. Faber.
• (1992): Garca Lorca, Biografa esencial. Pennsula.
• (1998): Vida, pasin y muerte de Federico Garca Lorca, 1898-1936.
• Plaza & Jan's. Greenfield, Sumner (1996): Lorca, Valle-Incln y las estticas de la disidencia: ensayos sobre literatura hispnica. Society of Spanish and Spanish-American Studies.
• Guerrero Ruz, Pedro & Dean-Thacker, Vernica (1998): Federico Garca Lorca : el color de la poesa. Universidad de Murcia.
• Harretche, Maria Estela (2000): Federico Garca Lorca : anlisis de una revolucin teatral. Gredos.
• Harris, Derek (1998): Metal butterflies and poisonous lights : the language of Surrealism in Lorca, Alberti, Cernuda and Aleixandre. La Sirena.
• Johnston, David (1998): Federico Garca Lorca. Outlines.
• Klibbe, Lawrence (1983): Lorca's Impresiones y paisajes : the young artist. Turanzas.
• Kosofsky Sedgwick, Eve (1990): Epistemology of the Closet. Penguin.
• Marinello, Juan (1965): Garca Lorca en Cuba. Cuba: Ediciones Belic.
• Martnez Nadal, Rafael (1980): Cuatro lecciones sobre Federico Garca Lorca. Fundacin Juan March.
• Morris, Cyril Brian (1997): Son of Andalusia: the lyrical landscapes of Federico Garca Lorca. Liverpool U.P.
• Pirraglia, Elvira (1995): Tres ensayos sobre la condicion de la mujer en la literatura Espaola. Azorn, Benito Prez Gald's, Federico Garca Lorca. Latina.
• Ramos Espejo, Antonio (1998): Garca Lorca en los dramas del pueblo. Centro Andaluz del Libro.
• Rojas, Carlos (1980): El ingenio hidalgo y poeta : Federico Garca Lorca asciende a los infiernos. Destino.
• Sahuquillo, Angel (1986): Garca Lorca y la cultura de la homosexualidad. Lorca, Dal, Cernuda, Gil-Albert, y la voz silenciada del amor homosexual. A. Sahuquillo Vzquez.
• Smith, Paul Julian (1998): The Theatre of Garca Lorca. Text, Performance, Pyschoanalysis. C.U.P.
• (1998): Yerma and the doctors: Garca Lorca, Maran and the anxiety of bisexuality. Univ of Bristol.
• Soria Olmedo, Andr's (ed.) (1989): Treinta entrevistas a Federico Garca Lorca. El libro Aguilar.
• Stanton, Leslie (1998): Lorca. A Dream of Life. Bloomsbury.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1430