29893 - Spanish Literature 1 (LM)

Learning outcomes

The student has in-depth knowledge of the history of modern Spanish literature, with particular attention to the relationship between literary texts and their historical, artistic, and linguistic contexts. They are familiar with and capable of using practical methodologies for the analysis and interpretation of literary texts.

Course contents

Women’s work, emancipation, and gender violence in journalism, literature, and film.

The course is divided into two modules of 10 and 13 lessons, respectively, each dedicated to a different period in Spanish history:

1) Literature and journalism between the 19th and 20th centuries: the case of Emilia Pardo Bazán

The author’s feminism and her commitment against gender-based violence and discrimination are explored through her short stories, journalistic articles, the novel La Tribuna, literary essays, and feminist-themed writings.

2) “España. Democracy 50 Years”

Through the poetry collections of Erika Martínez—who expresses protest and unease regarding social crises from a feminist perspective (she will be a guest in the course on November 20)—two novels and their film adaptations (screened at the DamsLab Auditorium on November 20 and December 3, 7–9:30 pm) will be used to explore the economic, social, and psychological dynamics of public life in recent decades of Spanish democracy, particularly focusing on gender violence and discrimination.

Readings/Bibliography

Reading List

Module 1

Primary Texts

• Fiction:
  Emilia Pardo Bazán, La Tribuna, ed. B. Varela Jacome, Madrid, Cátedra.
  A non-annotated edition: https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/la-tribuna--0/html/
  Supporting translations:
  • Fabia Del Giudice, with commentary and postface by Diego Símini, Neviano, Musicaos, 2023
  • Daniela Sento and Alessandro Gianetti, Cagliari, Arkadia, 2024
• Short Stories:
  El encaje roto. Antología de cuentos de violencia contra las mujeres, ed. Cristina Patiño Eirín, Zaragoza, Contraseña, 2018
  OR
  Il pizzo strappato. Racconti sulla violenza contro le donne, ed. Valentina Nider (with facing Italian text), Venice, Marsilio, 2021
  Available online: https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/portales/pardo_bazan/
• Journalistic Articles:
  Como en las cavernas; Sobre Ascuas: Elisa y Marcela (uploaded on Virtuale)
• Essays:
  La mujer española y otros escritos, ed. Guadalupe Gómez-Ferrer Morant, Madrid, Cátedra, 2018
  [Selected excerpts to be indicated on Virtuale]
  Italian translation by Francesca Peretto (free download): https://amsacta.unibo.it/id/eprint/8251/

Secondary Bibliography

A) Short Stories: Bibliography and Podcasts

• Podcast: Olivia Rodríguez González, Los cuentos de Pardo Bazán: https://www.rtve.es/play/audios/los-lunes-de-pardo-bazan/
• M.E. McKenna, “Recalcitrant Endings in the Short Stories of Emilia Pardo Bazán,” Letras Peninsulares 11 (1998): 637–656
• Mario Santana, “An Essay in Feminist Rhetoric: Emilia Pardo Bazán's ‘El indulto,’” MLN, 116.2 (2001): 250–265
• Beatriz Trigo, “El Espacio Fantástico en Tres Cuentos de Emilia Pardo Bazán o la Reafirmación de la Sociedad Patriarcal,” La cúpula, 2002
• María Elena Ojea Fernández, Narrativa feminista en los cuentos de la Condesa de Pardo Bazán (online)

B) Journalism: Bibliography and Podcasts

• Ana María Freire López, La obra periodística de Emilia Pardo Bazán:
  https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/la-obra-periodistica-de-emilia-pardo-bazan/html/32de54f0-69e9-11e1-b1fb-00163ebf5e63_4.html
• Podcast: Ana Mª Freire, Emilia Pardo Bazán periodista: https://www.rtve.es/play/audios/los-lunes-de-pardo-bazan/
• Emilia Pérez Romero, El periodismo de Emilia Pardo Bazán, Vigo, Academia del Hispanismo, 2016 (chapters 2 or 4)

C) La Tribuna and Feminism: Bibliography and Podcasts

• María del Carmen Porrúa, “A Feminist Reading of La Tribuna by Pardo Bazán,” Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica, 37.1 (1989): 203–219
  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319053232_Una_lectura_feminista_de_La_tribuna_de_Pardo_Bazan
• Cristina Enríquez de Salamanca, on Faustina Sáez de Melgar’s Rosa la cigarrera de Madrid (1872) as a model for Pardo Bazán’s La Tribuna (1883):
  https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra/rosa-la-cigarrera-de-madrid-1872-de-faustina-saez-de-melgar-como-modelo-literario-de-la-tribuna-1883-de-emilia-pardo-bazan-1032414/
• J.M. González Herrán, D. Thion Soriano-Mollá, eds., Nueve lecciones sobre «La Tribuna» de Emilia Pardo Bazán:
  https://neolatines.com/slnl/wp-content/uploads/Nueve-lecciones-sobre-La-Tribuna.pdf
• Podcast: Cristina Patiño Eirín, El feminismo de Emilia Pardo Bazán
  https://www.rtve.es/play/audios/los-lunes-de-pardo-bazan/

Recommended Films and Videos

• Marcela y Elisa (Isabel Coixet, 2019) – Netflix and other platforms
• El indulto (José Luis Sánchez de Heredia, 1960): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A95qtnS6RNs
• Emilia Pardo Bazán, inclasificable (RTVE): https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/imprescindibles/emilia-pardo-bazan-inclasificable/6253722/
  (free registration required on RTVE Play)

Module 2

Primary Texts

A) Isaac Rosa, La mano invisible (2011)
B) Juan José Millás, Hay algo que no es como me dicen. El caso de Nevenka (2004)
C) Erika Martínez, Il falso tetto, trans. M. Lefèvre, Rome, Ensemble, 2018 (with facing Spanish text); La bestia ideal, Pre-Textos, 2022

Reference Bibliography

• Juan Pablo Fusi, Historia mínima de España, Madrid, Turner
  [Only the chapters on the Transition and Democracy] Optional reading

A) On Isaac Rosa

• Augusto Guarino, “Metanarrativity and Interdiscursivity in La mano invisible (2011) and La habitación oscura (2013)”
  https://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/media/pdf/article/rassegna-iberistica/2018/109/art-10.14277-2037-6588-Ri-41-109-18-3_mPkuR8q.pdf
• M.S. Rodríguez, from novel to film adaptation: https://historia-actual.org/Publicaciones/index.php/hao/article/view/2492
• Manuelle Peloille: https://journals.openedition.org/hispanismes/5819?lang=en
• Łukasz Smuga: Studia Romanica Posnaniensia, 49(1), 2022: 67–82

B) On Juan José Millás

• Luigi Contadini, “Story of a Metamorphosis,” in Ogni onda si rinnova
• Milica Lilic, Revista Letral, 30 (2023): 95–106: https://revistaseug.ugr.es/index.php/letral/article/view/26675
• Lilic, on Nevenka Fernández case, in Aparicio Molina & González García, Peter Lang, 2024 (ask the instructor)
• DoxaComunicación, 34: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358320937_La_construccion_de_la_identidad_en_el_periodismo_literario_de_Juan_Jose_Millas_el_caso_Nevenka_Fernandez

C) On Erika Martínez

• Rafael Morales Barba, Tropelías, 39 (2023): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/368226578
• Erika Martínez, La causa de la poesía, Boletín de la Academia de Buenas Letras de Granada, No. 22 (2024):
  https://academiadebuenasletrasdegranada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Boleti%CC%81n-n%C3%BAmero-22-Enero-Junio-2024.pdf

Films and TV Series

• La mano invisible (David Macián, 2016) – Screening at DamsLab Auditorium, Dec 3, 2025 (free)
• Yo soy Nevenka (Icíar Bollaín, 2023) – Screening at DamsLab Auditorium, Nov 20, 2025 (free)
• Nevenka (Maribel Sánchez-Maroto, 2021) – Netflix miniseries

Teaching methods

The course will combine theoretical and practical lessons (analysis of narrative literary texts). In the practical sessions, students will actively participate by discussing literary analyses carried out according to the instructor’s guidelines and based on their own specific interests. A seminar component is also planned, involving commentary and the exchange of materials analyzed by students, as well as their participation in the initiatives “España: 50 Years of Democracy”. In particular, students will be expected to participate with readings and discussions in the seminar with Erika Martínez on November 20,  to attend the lecture by Prof. Contadini 19 november  (h. 11 a.m.) aula D Filippo Re); Prof. Tedoldi on The Crisis of Spanish Democracy, scheduled for November 24 at 3:00 p.m. and to publicly introduce the film La mano invisible on December 3 at 19h..

 

Assessment methods

The exam consists of an oral presentation on the topics of the course, which may include a topic previously agreed with the teacher.

The exam consists of an oral presentation on course topics, possibly including a subject agreed upon with the instructor. Active participation is also assessed.

It is possible to be examined mid-term on Module 1 after the first 10 lessons.

Students must prepare for the exam using the core reading list (primary texts and films) and materials uploaded on Virtuale.
For the secondary bibliography (discussed during the lectures), students are required to report on one critical article or podcast for each of the sections A, B, and C of Module 1—three in total.

For Module 2, a critical article must be prepared for each of points A, B, and C—that is, a total of three articles. Participation in the working groups preparing the public introduction to the film La mano invisible. As well Students who take part in the seminar activities on the poetry of Erika Martínez will be exempt from the exam section covering her work 

For both modules, the ability to critically summarize the reference bibliography will be assessed, along with expressive competence in terms of accuracy and appropriateness of language. A comprehensive understanding of the cultural, literary, and artistic phenomenon, and the ability to effectively use reference texts to support this understanding, will be considered excellent. On the other hand, a purely manual-like competence lacking interpretative support will receive a positive but not high grade. Finally, a proven and repeated difficulty in establishing logical and descriptive connections between literary texts and the theoretical context will result in a failing evaluation.

In both cases, the critical synthesis capacity of the reference bibliography will be evaluated, in addition to the expressive properties, in terms of accuracy and appropriateness of language. The global knowledge of the cultural, literary and artistic phenomenon, and the ease in the use of the reference texts to support this vision, will be evaluated as excellence, while a manual competence without interpretative support will be considered with a positive but not high grade. Finally, the proven and repeated difficulty in creating logical and descriptive links between literary texts and the theoretical context will make the evaluation insufficient.

Teaching tools

Educational materials will be available on the virtuale platform.

 

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