Annually since its foundation, the Nobel Prize in literature has awarded the contributions of men and women from many different languages and cultures. However, its history is one of controversy: major authors have been ignored by the Swedish Academy. The study will be carried out from a critical and comparative perspective within a historical and literary context. The Generation of 1927, Post-Spanish Civil War narrative or Magical Realism among other great literary tendencies will be included.

 

The aim of this course is to read and analyze the life and the works of the Spanish and Latin American Literature Nobel Prize Winners and the Academy’s reasons for its choices and the image of Spain and the Latin American countries conveyed in these literary works.

The methodology of the course is called flipped learning and will be based on the presentations carried out by the students, debate and theoretical practical components. On the one hand, the instructor will give a set of lectures. On the other hand, students are expected to introduce the authors, carried out previous research, read the texts and participate in in-class debates and activities.

 

Through this course, students will:

• Be able to develop and carry out research projects, to articulate them within appropriate conceptual and methodological frameworks, and to locate, evaluate, organize, and incorporate information.

• Acquire familiarity with a wide range of literary terms and categories relating to literary history, theory, and criticism, including figurative language and prosody.

• Demonstrate an ability to grasp and synthesize ideas in literary form and use literary terms in historical contexts.

• Appreciate cultural differences as they are mirrored in social, artistic and literary artifacts originating in different national and geographical traditions.

• Be able to recognize and appreciate the importance of major literary genres, subgenres, and periods in different traditions.

•Acquire familiarity with the nature of the canon and of canon-formation, including issues of culture, history, race, ethnicity, and gender.

 

Your final grade will be calculated as follows:

• Participation and short in-class essays (25%)

• Oral Presentations (25%)

• Mid-term Exam (25%)

• Final Exam (25%) 

 

Required Texts  

All materials will be provided by the professor during the course (selections of texts, theory, videos, power points, websites etc.).

 

• Links and recommended sources on the official website: www.nobelprize.org

 

• Aleixandre, Vicente. A Longing for the Light. Ed. Lewis Hyde. Copper Canyon Press, Washington: 1978.

• Cobb, Carl. “Vicente Aleixandre and Solidarity of the Cosmos”. In Studies in 20th  Century Literature. Vol 2, I, 1997.

• De la Cruz, Sor Juana. Answer by the poet to the most illustrious Sister Filotea de la Cruz (1691). Translated by William Little (2008).  

• Domke, Joan. Education, Fascism and the Catholic Church in Francos’s Spain. Loyola University, Chicago: 2011.  

• Dunn, Peter N. Spanish Picaresque Fiction: A New Literary History. Cornell UP, Ithaca: 1994.

• Fallon, A.: “Culture in the Mirror. Sociocultural determinants of body image”. In Crash, T.F. and Pruzinsky, T. (ed.) Body images. Development, deviance and change. Guilford: New York 1994, pp. 80-109.

• Flores, Angel. Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction. Duke UP, 1995.

• Graham, Helen. A Look Back. The Spanish Civil War. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford UP, New York:1995.  

• Magill, Frank. The Nobel Prize Winners: Literature 1901-1926 (Volume 1) 1988.

• Pérez-Samaniego, Víctor and Carmen Santamaría-García. Education, Curriculum and Masculinity in Spain. Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá:1995.

• Predmore, Michael. The Structure of “Platero y Yo”. In MLA, Vol 85, No 1 (Jan., 1970), pp 56-64. 

 

 

1. The Nobel Prize: The Institution.

2. Nobel Prizes in Spanish Literature in Context. Centro Universitario Internacional

3. The Spanish Theatre and Novel in Context.

4. Image of Spanish culture and society in the USA.

5. Nobel Prizes in Latin American Literature.

6. The Latin American poetry, essay and novel in Context.

7. Image of Latin American culture and society in the USA