The Great Spanish Literary Myths from the Middle Ages to the Spanish Golden Age [ LROM1531 ]

Prerequisite : Spanish language courses I, II, and III

After a theoretical introduction about the notion of  "literary myth", the course will focus on five works of the Spanish Middle Ages and of Golden Century, which stage  in a genial way the five selected literary myths: El Cid, La Celestina, El Pícaro, Don Quijote and Don Juan; Cantar de mio Cid ; Fernando de Rojas, La Celestina. Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea ; Lazarillo de Tormes ; Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quijote de la Mancha ; Tirso de Molina, El burlador de Sevilla y convivado de piedra.

The course means to offer an introduction to some of the main figures handed down by  Spanish literature  to western culture and which have become literary myths.
At the  end of this course,   the students will be able to
-analyze and comment the key works  related to the studied mythic figures
-analyze and  re-semantize   these figures in modern and contemporary works of art
 

A final written exam, combined with continuous assessment during the exercises.

Magistral and practical sessions

The contextual elements will be reduced to a maximum to focus on the reading and on the understanding of the works.  The analyses of texts will alternate with more encyclopedic conferences.  During  the exercise sessions, the students will deepen some aspects (for instance the study of more recent works, not only literary but also pictorial or cinematographic) in order to develop at the same time their speaking and above all writing skills.

The full bibliography is available in the LROM1531 syllabus

Resources: A syllabus, an anthology of texts, and the Hisp@cultura platform.