Spanish and Latin American Studies

Understanding Spanish and Latin American Culture

This course examines the literature and film of modern Spain and modern Spanish-speaking Latin America. In each semester, three cultural products from one of these two areas are studied: poetry, film and narrative fiction. We will build up a picture of the cultural history of Spain and Latin America, as well as looking at key themes to emerge from their literary and filmic outputs. By focusing on three different genres in each semester, you will be able to explore different types of cultural product and to build up analytical skills gradually by moving from shorter or visual pieces to a larger body of writing. The knowledge and skills acquired here will underpin the optional modules at level 2 and beyond.

More about this course

* If you are studying one or two languages students must choose at least this module or the module entitled Social and Political History of Iberia and Latin America. Note that if you have extra credits both modules can be studied.
If you are studying three languages this module is optional.

Social and Political History of Iberia and Latin America

This module examines the historical trajectory of Spain and Portugal, their emergence as states in the Iberian Peninsula, their imperial expansion overseas into Africa, Latin America and beyond, the eventual independence of the colonies and their development and consolidation into the various modern-day states we know today. The module will explore the social, political, linguistic and cultural characteristics of these states and its peoples and highlight the importance of understanding their complex history in the formation of their identities, their languages and their cultural and political values.

More about this course

*If you are studying one or two languages students must choose at least this module or the module entitled Understanding Spanish and Latin American Culture as their core Spanish module. Note that if you have extra credits both modules can be studied.
If you are studying three languages and cultures this module is optional.

Core/Optional

Activism and Social Change

This modules examines how people, individually and collectively, attempt to enact social and political change in society through a number of case studies which will focus on the countries which historically belonged to the Spanish and Portuguese Empires. The module will introduce students to theories of social movements and social change and will critically assess the different strategies which people adopted at different historical moments and in different geographical locations and the success and failure of their activism. Case studies may differ each year but topics may include the following: activism and social change movements in Brazil, climate activism, women’s rights and indigenous people's movements in Latin America, the role of literature/film/music in social activism movements and/or the use of symbols, slogans, the media and new technologies/the internet in order to inspire followers and maintain activist momentum;  the concept of ‘fake news’, the growing belief that the general public no longer give credit to facts or expert opinions and the role of academic research in social change.

Understanding Spanish and Latin American Culture

This course examines the literature and film of modern Spain and modern Spanish-speaking Latin America. In each semester, three cultural products from one of these two areas are studied: poetry, film and narrative fiction. We will build up a picture of the cultural history of Spain and Latin America, as well as looking at key themes to emerge from their literary and filmic outputs. By focussing on three different genres in each semester, you will be able to explore different types of cultural product and to build up analytical skills gradually by moving from shorter or visual pieces to a larger body of writing. The knowledge and skills acquired here will underpin the optional modules at level 2 and beyond.

More about this course

* If you are studying one or two languages students must choose at least this module or the module entitled Social and Political History of Iberia and Latin America. Note that if you have extra credits both modules can be studied.
If you are studying three languages this module is optional.

Social and Political History of Iberia and Latin America

This module examines the historical trajectory of Spain and Portugal, their emergence as states in the Iberian Peninsula, their imperial expansion overseas into Africa, Latin America and beyond, the eventual independence of the colonies and their development and consolidation into the various modern-day states we know today. The module will explore the social, political, linguistic and cultural characteristics of these states and its peoples and highlight the importance of understanding their complex history in the formation of their identities, their languages and their cultural and political values.

More about this course

* If you are studying one or two languages students must choose at least this module or the module entitled Understanding Spanish and Latin American Culture as their core Spanish module. Note that if you have extra credits both modules can be studied.
If you are studying three languages and cultures this module is optional

Core/Optional

Activism and Social Change

This modules examines how people, individually and collectively, attempt to enact social and political change in society through a number of case studies which will focus on the countries which historically belonged to the Spanish and Portuguese Empires. The module will introduce students to theories of social movements and social change and will critically assess the different strategies which people adopted at different historical moments and in different geographical locations and the success and failure of their activism. Case studies may differ each year but topics may include the following: activism and social change movements in Brazil, climate activism, women’s rights and indigenous people's movements in Latin America, the role of literature/film/music in social activism movements and/or the use of symbols, slogans, the media and new technologies/the internet in order to inspire followers and maintain activist momentum;  the concept of ‘fake news’, the growing belief that the general public no longer give credit to facts or expert opinions and the role of academic research in social change.

Tradition, Transition and Modernity

The focus will be on the development of ‘modern’ approaches to literature and culture in Spain and Latin America in reaction to perceptions of ‘tradition’. The classes will consist principally of the analysis of texts studied in advance of the class by the students. These will usually include narrative and film.

Nation and Transformation in Latin America

An examination of the various means by which national identities are constructed and expressed in modern Latin America. In order to consider these issues, we will study a range of modes of cultural expression, which may include literature, film, and music. It is anticipated that the course will focus on Peru and Argentina to offer a representative sample of the region’s nations. The course will combine lectures and seminars led by staff with student-led seminars, which will be assessed
as an integral part of the module for all students. All students will work in a small group to give an assessed presentation.

Dictatorship, Revolution and Resistance

Students will examine the continuities and transformations in the political development of Latin America by looking at a series of case studies. They will analyse and account for the rise of diverse forms of political organisation and explore their social and cultural ramifications. In so doing, they will gain an enhanced understanding of the complexities of Latin American politics and resistance and revolutionary movements. The course will combine lectures by staff with student-led seminars, which will be assessed as an integral part of the module for all students. All students will work in a small group to give a presentation.

Hispanic Film

The course comprises a series of lectures and seminars. In one semester we will look at Latin American Cinema. The other semester covers Spanish film around the theme of the transition to democracy.

Nation and Identities in Hispanic World

This course will examine the various means by which national identities are constructed and expressed in the Lusophone World. In order to consider these issues, we will study a range of modes of cultural expression, including literature and film. The course will focus on three selected countries from across the Lusophone world (namely Brazil, Portugal and Mozambique), to offer a representative cross-section of Lusophone nations.

The Spanish Language: Structure and Use

This module aims to introduce students to Linguistics, the scientific study of language, within the context of the Hispanic languages. The module introduces basic notions of linguistic analysis and makes students aware of the key differences between (a) Spanish and English and (b) Spanish, Portuguese, Galician and Catalan. The module will consolidate and extend active knowledge of Spanish and/or Portuguese as it is used by different speakers and in different contexts both in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America. This module also aims to highlight how language can be related to people and societies and how language varies and changes over space and time.

Barcelona: Culture of the City

A novel, play and films are studied as different modes for ‘representing’ the city and as starting points for a discussion of contemporary cultural and theoretical approaches to the city. We analyse the particular protagonism of the city of Barcelona within the life experiences portrayed in the primary texts, and establish the particular differential character of Barcelona within modern Spain, as well as in the wider context of cities at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Teaching comprises seminars, smaller group work and informal presentations. Work for independent study will be set. Specific themes addressed may include:
● identity and difference (individual and collective, through language, sport, sexuality and
transgression);
● relationship between Madrid and Barcelona;
● immigration;
● profile-raising events (Word Fairs, Olympics etc.) ● literary approaches to history.

Civilisation and Barbarism

Students will examine a range of Latin American works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which deal with the notion of Civilisation and Barbarism. This concept, which developed out of nineteenth-century Argentine nation-building, has relevance beyond its initial geographical and temporal context. In Semester 1 students will read key nineteenth-century Argentine texts written in opposition to the regime of Juan Manuel de Rosas and which formed the basis of Argentina’s ‘official’ history into the twentieth century. Through close reading and analysis of these literary works, students will explore how literature can shape historical discourses. Students will also explore how these discourses are contested and will consider their relevance to contemporary Argentine politics. In Semester 2 the focus will shift to the theme of civilisation and barbarism in other Latin American contexts.

Political Culture in the Hispanic World

This module considers the ways in which politics and culture have converged in various Hispanic contexts, with a focus on Latin America, and studies the means by which these two areas have impacted on each other at key moments in the development of different nations. This module explores these issues through an analysis of cultural policies in the nations covered and the detailed study of a range of cultural products, including literature, cinema, music, art and sport.

Gender and Sexuality in the Hispanic World

The principal aim of this module is to provide students with the critical tools to discuss gender and sexuality in nineteenth and twentieth century Spain. The students will engage with the work of five writers – Emilia Pardo Bazán, Rosalía de Castro, Ana María Matute, Dulce Chacón, and Marta Sanz. They will explore questions of gender and sexuality in terms, themes and key concepts that will include modernity, masculinities, maternity, the city, violence, trauma, and representation. The module will also enable students to acquire historical knowledge of Spain as well as wide-ranging skills in literary analysis.

Questioning Spain

Students will examine specific moments or periods in Spanish cultural history from the late nineteenth century to the present day in which a questioning of the status quo is foregrounded. They will examine a range of key texts, primary and secondary sources, and explore the issues raised. In so doing, they will acquire sophisticated techniques in interpreting the discourse of cultural expression on such subjects as the nature of social and gender roles, “race” and ethnicity.

Popular Music in the Hispanic World

The course will combine lectures by staff with student-led seminars, which will be assessed as an integral part of the module for all students. All students will work in a small group to give weekly non-assessed presentations:

- To familiarise students with important movements in Latin-American and Iberian music;
- To familiarise students with relevant examples of links between musical movements in the Hispanic world and socio-political contexts;
- To introduce students to methodological tools enabling them to analyse musical traditions, culture, society, literary texts and how they relate to each other;
- To enhance the linguistic resources of students by requiring them to acquire relevant vocabulary and discursive techniques in Spanish
- To enable students to develop organisational and artistic skills though the organisation of a musical event.
- To analyse experiences of dictatorship in the Hispanic world
- To analyse and account for the rise of diverse forms of political organisation and explore their social and cultural ramifications.
- To understand the complexities of Latin-American politics and resistance and revolutionary movements.
- the production of a CD / digital album of Latin music performed and produced by students

Adaptations and transformations