Analysis of Literary and Cultural Hispanic Texts

The aim of this course is to develop students’ literary competence by introducing them into the critical reading, analytical strategies and interpretation of cultural and literary works in Spanish. We will work with a wide selection of texts covering a variety of topics and authors from Spain and Latin America, and from a range of time periods. The readings will be organized on the basis of literary genre (narrative, theater, and poetry), with a portion of the summer program dedicated to each. On the one hand, we will contextualize the literary works and discuss how the historical circumstances of each of them can be read from the text itself. On the other hand, we will reflect on the rhetorical tools used and on the reactions that they intend to provoke with their reading. (1 unit)

Required texts: Carmen Laforet, Nada. Barcelona: Destinolibro. ISBN: 978-8423334803 / Camilo José Cela, La familia de Pascual Duarte. Barcelona: Destinolibro. ISBN: 978-8423307326.