Spanish

This course explores the characteristics and problems of Mexican literature of the period between the Restored Republic and the military rule of Porfirio Díaz, and relates literary discourse of the period with the political events and cultural landscape. The course covers the results of a search for a national expression that began in the early period covered by this course as well as contributions of Modernism to Mexican culture. Special focus is placed on the development of the short story. Authors covered in class include Manuel Payno, Vincente Riva Palacio, Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, Guillermo Prieto, Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera, and Ignacio Rodriguez Galván. In depth reading and critical analysis of the required texts is a required component of the course.

This course examines foundations of Latin-American literature, from pre-Columbian texts to modernist authors and their works. It covers: pre-Columbian literature; chronicles of the Indies; the baroque era in Latin America; the Enlightenment and Romanticism; Modernism, poetry and prose.

This course discusses the practical application of linguistic, grammatical, and discursive knowledge of Spanish directly related to the needs of academic communication. 

This course explores literature and thought in the Spanish enlightenment. Topics include: conditions and limits of the enlightenment as a form of critical regerationism in 18th century Spain; aesthetics of the enlightenment and the role of neoclassicism; enlightenment reformism in the Spain of Charles III and Charles IV; reformism theater; evolution of narrative forms throughout the 18th century.

This course is designed to develop the written and oral language skills for students at the B1.2 level (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). The course has four specific objectives and employs a variety of assignments to meet them. The first objective is to develop the students' capacity to reflect on their language use, improving and personalizing the learning process. The second is to increase the ability to report on events in a clear and detailed manner while widening their knowledge of contemporary culture and geography. The third is to enhance the students' ability to extract information from news sources and to formulate hypotheses based on their reading. The fourth objective is to strengthen the students' ability to compose complex arguments of a political nature and to debate these items in open discussions.

This course focuses on common and useful Spanish vocabulary to follow the development of classes at Complutense. It discusses uncertainties students have about Spanish with an emphasis on achieving a better degree of fluency in the spoken language and the ability to produce texts written in Spanish.

This course provides a study of twentieth-century Latin American literature. Topics include: modernism and post-modernism (José Martí, Rubén Darío, Delmira Agustini y Leopoldo Lugones); avant-garde literature (Vicente Huidobro, Cesar Vallejo, Pablo Neruda, Oliverio Girondo, Alejandra Pizarnik); thought, creation, and criticism (Jorge Luis Borges); Simon Bolivar in literature; novels of the Mexican Revolution; the Latin American Boom; post-modern fiction (Rosario Ferré, Elena Poniatowska, Rosario Castellanos, Juan José Saer, Fernando Vallejo).

This course is divided into two parts. Part one examines Spanish narrative prose of the 19th and 20th centuries, taking as thematic reference the city of Barcelona and its writers. Part two explores Latin American culture through representative artistic works (music, writing, painting, and film) and their socio-cultural and artistic framework.