Module Information

Module Identifier
SP10610
Module Title
Hispanic Civilization
Academic Year
2025/2026
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Reading List
Other Staff

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Essay  (The best of the two essays will be 75% and the worst 25% of the final mark) 1500 Words  50%
Semester Assessment Essay  1500 Words  50%
Supplementary Assessment Essay  (The best of the two essays will be 75% and the worst 25% of the final mark) 1500 Words  50%
Supplementary Assessment Essay  1500 Words  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Knowledge of the ways culture and history intersect in the Hispanic world;

Familiarity with key texts that are representative of various movements and historical periods in the Hispanic world;

A transatlantic understanding of the movements of Hispanic culture from the 19th to the 21st centuries.

Brief description

As an introductory module, this programme of study seeks to expose students to a transatlantic understanding of the flows and contours of Spanish language, history and arts during the period 1800-2000. It allows students to view this cultural and historical interconnection through a series of literary and cinematic counterpoints, which reconsiders Spanish and Latin American relations, past and present. This module provides a survey of the key movements and authors in Spanish and Spanish American history and literature. Students will be exposed to selected readings and cinematic texts ranging from Jose Marti's accounts of the relationship of Spain with the Americas, to critical Spanish texts of the period, to films from both Spain and Spanish America.

Films and Literature to be studied:

Spanish America

1. Marti, Jose (1892) 'Nuestra America', in La Revista Ilustrada de Nueva York, 10 de enero de
1891 and El Partido Liberal, Mexico, 30 de enero de 1891 (photocopied handout)

2. Rulfo, Juan (1953), Pedro Paramo, Catedra, Letras Hispanicas, ISBN 978-84-376-0418-3

3. La historia oficial (Dir: Luis Puenzo's, 1982, Argentina)

Spain

1. Key text from 19th century newspapers and text from Unamuno, Valera, Azorin, Maeztu, Machado. (photocopied handout)

2. Jose Luis Garci's Historia de un beso (2002)
This film is digitized in the LRC. The film has to be seen in the LRC premises (Hugh
Owen building) http://www.aber.ac.uk/language-centre/euro_lang/spanish/sp_3.shtml also available at the Library: classmark DVD PN1997.2.H57

3. Historical and cultural documents. (photocopied handout)

Content

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Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Co-ordinating with others Discussions in seminars
Creative Problem Solving Selection of reading material; answering questions posed by written assessment; seminar work.
Critical and analytical thinking Students will develop critical and analytical skills
Professional communication Oral communication developed in seminars written communication developed in assessments and exam.
Reflection Students will be able to assess their own progress week by week through their increased understanding of the issues raised and the skills developed.
Subject Specific Skills Acquisition of Spanish language and cultural skills.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4