Fall 2007

SPN 362K • 20th Century Spanish Drama and Poetry

Course Description

This course will explore aesthetic developments in two genres, poetry and theater, in the context sweeping changes in the twentieth-century Spanish society. Rural Spain, urbanization and political instability through the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) are represented in plays and poetry by Fernando García Lorca, Ramón del Valle-Incán, Fernando Arrabal, Miguel Hernández and Fernando Fernán Gómez. The postwar, dictatorial period, with abiding tensions between victors and vanquished is reflected in La doble historia del Dr. Valmy, and Alberti's, Hierros, Gónzalezs and Janés poetry.

Contemporary, democratic Spain resonates in the play by Pedrero, and in poetry by Rossetti and Janés more recent poems. Avant-garde aesthetics inform the artistic works of most of the pre-war writers (Vallé-Inclán, Gracía Lorca, Alberti) while postwar literature affirms social commitment and resistence initially via realist expression. In contrast, some of the most contemporary works studied (Pedrero, Rossetti) evoke problems and possibilities associated with the present, democratic, capitalist and consumerist-determined conditions of Spain.

Grading Policy

3 exams, 60% Two 3-5 page essays, 30% Participation, 10%

Texts

1. Bodas de sangre, Federico García Lorca 2. Luces de bohemia, Ramón del Valle-Inclán 3. Las bicicletas son para el verano, Fernando Fernán Gómez 4. Guernica, Fernando Arrabal 5. La doble historia del doctor Valmy, Antonio Buero Vallejo 6. Cachorros de negro mirar, Paloma Pedrero

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