Module Information

This module explores some of the contradictions and anxieties of late nineteenth-century Spanish literature. The students will analyze essays, articles and letters from the period that responded to a particular inquietude caused by social changes, political instability and the last vestiges of the Spanish Empire. The texts studied will present some of the most famous characters and places in Spanish culture, which are representative of developments in Spanish literature of the time. Students will be made aware of the importance of both immanent and transcendent analysis. Some of the authors read in this module are Caballero, Alarcon, Valera, Pereda, Galdos, Clarin, Bazan, Valdes, Blasco Ibanez.

It provides an understanding of key texts in their historical context and of their impact on the development of literature. It introduces students to the study of language and stylistic features in late nineteenth-century literature and the specific skills associated with it. It also allows students to map Spanish Literature within European cultural movements, such as the rise of the social problem novel, the relationship between religion, philosophy and realism, and the ways in which the novel responded to the problem of God and Woman towards the end of the century.