26021 - Spanish Women's Literature

Learning outcomes

The student acquires in-depth knowledges of Spanish women's literature and is able to use practical methodologies for the analysis and the interpretation of the literary text.

Course contents

 

Module 1 (Prof.ssa Nider)

Module 1 – Prof. Nider

The module aims to examine and highlight the critical and feminist perspective found in the literary writings (short stories) and journalistic accounts of war (namely the Carlist Wars, colonial wars, and the First World War) in the works of several women writers, including Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851–1921), Carmen de Burgos (1867–1932), and Matilde Ras (1881–1969).

Module 2 (prof. Maggi)

This module will take the Spanish Democratic Transition as a case study, examined here from the perspective of feminist, homosexual, and transgender demands. To understand the contradictory and incomplete evolution of early post-Franco Spain, literary, essay, and cinematic materials will be examined.

Readings/Bibliography

 Module 1 -

Primary Bibliography:

Module 1 – Primary Sources

A) Emilia Pardo Bazán

The course will focus on a selection of Emilia Pardo Bazán's short stories drawn from her extensive corpus of over 600 stories. The reading list will be made available on the Virtual Learning Environment (Virtuale). Some of these stories can also be found in the anthologies El encaje roto. Antología de cuentos de violencia contra las mujeres, edited and introduced by Cristina Patiño Eirín (Zaragoza: Editorial Contraseña, 2018), and Il pizzo strappato. Racconti sulla violenza contro le donne, edited by Valentina Nider (with the original Spanish text facing the Italian translation) (Venice: Marsilio, 2021; bilingual edition).

All the stories are available for consultation and free download at:
https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/portales/pardo_bazan/obra_cuentos/

Ensayo: Emilia Pardo Bazán, La mujer española y otros escritos, edited by Guadalupe Gómez-Ferrer Morant (Madrid: Cátedra, 2018). The Italian translation, La donna spagnola, translated by Francesca Peretto, is freely available at:
https://amsacta.unibo.it/id/eprint/8251/
[A selection of passages will be indicated on Virtuale.]

Periodismo: Emilia Pardo Bazán, La vida contemporánea and De siglo a siglo.
[A selection of articles will be indicated on Virtuale.]

B) Carmen de Burgos

Carmen de Burgos, En la guerra. Episodios de Melilla (1909).
https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra/en-la-guerra-episodios-de-melilla-1053849/
[A selection of texts will be indicated on Virtuale.]

C) Matilde Ras, Cuentos de la Gran Guerra (1915; Madrid: Renacimiento, 2016).
[A selection of texts will be indicated on Virtuale.]

Secondary Bibliography

Gómez-Ferrer Morant, Guadalupe, Historia de las mujeres en España: siglos XIX y XX (Madrid: Arco Libros, 2011), Chapters 1–5.

A selection of critical essays on each of the authors will be made available to students on Virtuale.

Students must select one critical article for each of the three authors, for a total of three critical articles.

Recommended films and lectures:

Emilia Pardo Bazán inclasificable
https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/imprescindibles/emilia-pardo-bazan-inclasificable/6253722/
(Free registration on RTVE Play is required.)

Carmen de Burgos, Colombine (1867–1932), la modernización de España
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlEmZEz7UJQ

Lecture by Lola Fontecha on Matilde Ras, part of the Voces Femeninas del 98 lecture series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_6we4UF6Lc

 

Module 2

For the exam, one of the following novels must be studied in depth:

Esther Tusquets, El mismo mar de todos los veranos (1978) (Italian translation by Paola Fanseco: Lo stesso mare di ogni estate, La Tartaruga, 1979, available at the Biblioteca Italiana delle Donne)

Rosa Montero, Crónica del desamor (1979) (Barcelona, Debolsillo, 2015 or subsequent reprints. Available at the Lilec library)

Alana S. Portero, La mala costumbre (2023) (Italian translation by Giulia Zavagna: La cattiva abitudine, Mondadori 2024; English translation by Mara Faye Lethem: Bad Habit, Fourth Estate, 2024).

Studying the following chapters of the history textbook is also mandatory:

Gómez-Ferrer Morant, Guadalupe, Historia de las mujeres en España: siglos XIX y XX, Madrid, Arco Libros, 2011 (chapters 7-10).

Filmography:

José Luis Garci, Asignatura pendiente (1977)

Jordi Feliu, Alicia en la España de las maravillas (1978)

Pedro Almodóvar, Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón (1980)

Pilar Miró, Gary Cooper, que estás en los cielos (1980)

Alejandro Marín, Te estoy amando locamente (2023)

 

Teaching methods

The course includes, in addition to the lectures in Spanish, the seminar in-depth study of some topics relating to the sources studied, as well as the theoretical and methodological tools relevant to their study.

Assessment methods

The exam consists of an oral presentation in Spanish on course topics, which may include a subject previously agreed with the instructor.
For the Modulo 1 students must prepare the exam using the core reading list indicated in the syllabus (primary texts, prologues, and selected chapters from the historical manual), along with materials uploaded on Virtuale. 

For both modules, active participation will be assessed.
Any oral or written presentations on texts and films may exempt students from corresponding bibliography, subject to case-by-case evaluation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) will not be used for assessment, and the use of AI is not permitted during the examination.

The final exam consists of an oral test in Spanish which aims to evaluate the critical and methodological skills matured by the student, who will be invited to compare himself with the texts in the program. The student will have to demonstrate ability 1) to orient himself in Spanish cultural and literary history 2) to adequately master the contents of the program and the related bibliography, 3) to establish links between the topics of the course, 4) to be able to analyze the rhetorical and linguistic characteristics and literary works of the works examined and treated during the lessons.The ability to offer a critical synthesis of the topics addressed in class will be assessed with marks of excellence, using a specific language and demonstrating mastery in the analysis of the texts.The mostly mnemonic knowledge of the subject, the ability to synthesize and analysis not in depth and a correct but not always appropriate language will lead to discrete evaluations.Rough knowledge, superficial understanding, poor analytical skills and not always appropriate expression will correspond to just sufficient evaluations. Training gaps, inappropriate language, difficulties in orienting oneself within the contents and bibliographic materials in the program will be evaluated negatively.

Teaching tools

During the lessons, slides, video and film fragments, images of printed texts and illustrations will be projected, some of which will subsequently be deposited on the course platform. These materials made available are obviously intended as an INTEGRAL and NECESSARY (but not sufficient) part of the exam program.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Valentina Nider

See the website of Eugenio Maggi