49059 - History of Spanish Culture

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student knows the issues and historical contexts, social aspects of Spanish culture. He can explain socio-cultural issues related to the culture studied and knows the critical tools most appropriate to contextualize, analyze and comment on texts and documents of various kinds, and to relate them with the most significant transformations related to the areas of language reference.

Course contents

PART 1 (Luigi Contadini)

TRAUMA AND ITS REWORKINGS, FROM FRANCOISM TO CONTEMPORANEITY
Literary, visual and conceptual reworkings of the traumas of Francoism and the emergencies of our times will be considered; the ways in which violence is represented; the relationship between victim and perpetrator. Examples of the public debate on memory and current forms of repression will also be offered.
In particular, debates on ethical issues will be addressed: forgetting and recognition, reparation and postmemory, individual rights and mass formation.
Images, sound documents, fragments of historical and philosophical essays, newspapers, and documentaries will also be considered.

PART 2 (Ivan Lo Giudice)

The 2nd module of the course will focus on multilingualism and multiculturalism within the Spanish State, starting from the very definitions of the 1978 Spanish Constitution.To this end, some of the main artistic and cultural movements, literature and cinema of the 20th and 21st centuries will be considered.

Readings/Bibliography

PART 1 (Luigi Contadini)

- Dulce Chacón, La voz dormida, Madrid, 2002

- Alberto Méndez, Los girasoles ciegos, 2004

Filmography:
Raza, dir. José Luis Sáenz de Heredia (1941)
La voz dormida, dir. Benito Zambrano (2011)

For NOT-ATTENDING students, the program must be supplemented by:
- online material dedicated to not-attending students and which will be made available by the end of the course;
- Luigi Contadini, La causa di Soledad Luque Delgado. Il furto dei bambini nella Spagna franchista, Roma, Castelvecchi, 2021
- Film: Los girasoles ciegos, dir. José Luis Cuerda (2008)

 

PART 2 (Ivan Lo Giudice)

- Juan Pablo Fusi, Francisco Calvo Serraller (2009) El espejo del tiempo. La historia y el arte de España

Filmography:

- Lucía y el sexo, dir. Julio Medem (2001)

- L'auberge espagnole, dir. Cédric Klapisch (2002)

- Ocho apellidos vascos, dir. Emilio Martínez-Lázaro (2014)

- Ocho apellidos catalanes, dir. Emilio Martínez-Lázaro (2015)

 

For NOT-ATTENDING students, the program must be supplemented by:

- Ivan Lo Giudice, Joan Estelrich entre la vida y los libros, Alessandria, Edizioni dell'Orso, 2024

 

Teaching methods

Lectures and seminars.

Assessment methods

The examination consists of an oral interview in Spanish. The critical and methodological skills developed by the student will be tested, and the student will be invited to engage with the themes, texts and documents addressed during the course.
Particularly assessed will be the student's ability to move cross-culturally and interdisciplinarily through historical periods, conceptual elaborations and methodological tools.
Primarily four types of questions will be formulated around which the student will be invited to respond by arranging in-depth studies and connections: historical type question; literary type question; hermeneutical type question; methodological type question.
The student's attainment of an organic view of the topics addressed in class jointly with their critical use, the demonstration of possession of a mastery of expression and specific language will be evaluated with marks of excellence. Mostly mechanical and/or mnemonic knowledge of the subject matter, unarticulated synthesis and analytical skills and/or correct but not always appropriate language will lead to fair grades; formative gaps and/or inappropriate language - albeit in the context of minimal knowledge of the examination material - will lead to grades that do not exceed sufficiency. Formative gaps, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the materials offered during the course will be negatively graded.

Teaching tools

Will be projected images and video.

Will be made available on-line teaching materials, the study of which is obligatory, some of the main themes of the program.

Office hours

See the website of Luigi Contadini

See the website of Ivan Lo Giudice