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2020/2021

Western Literary Tradition II

Code: 100252 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500243 Classics OT 3 0
2500243 Classics OT 4 0
2500245 English Studies OT 3 0
2500245 English Studies OT 4 0
2500247 Catalan Language and Literature OT 4 0
2500248 Spanish Language and Literature OT 3 0
2500248 Spanish Language and Literature OT 4 0
2501801 Catalan and Spanish OT 3 0
2501801 Catalan and Spanish OT 4 0
2501902 English and Catalan OT 3 0
2501902 English and Catalan OT 4 0
2501907 English and Classics OT 3 0
2501907 English and Classics OT 4 0
2501910 English and Spanish OT 3 0
2501910 English and Spanish OT 4 0
2501913 English and French OT 3 0
2501913 English and French OT 4 0
2503998 Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics OT 4 0
2504012 Spanish and Chinese Studies: Language, Literature and Culture OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Sara Torres Rodriguez de Castro
Email:
Sara.Torres@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Prerequisites

By obtaining the minimum of credits in basic training subjects, students have demonstrated to have acquired the basic competences and they will be able to express themselves orally and in writing. For this reason, any spelling and expression errors that may be committed will lead to a score decrease in the final grade.

Activities, practical sessions and papers submitted in the course must be original and under no circumstances will the total or partial plagiarism of third-party materials published on any medium be admitted. Any submission of non-original material without properly indicating its origin will automatically result in a failure rating (0).

 

It is also expected that students know the general rules of submission of an academic work. However, students could apply the specific rules that the teacher of the subject may indicate to them, if they deem it necessary.

Objectives and Contextualisation

The course is an approach to the debate around literary modernity and postmodernity. The texts chosen to reflect about these themes hold an eminent place in the current canon, they have been studied from different methodologies and they have received some of the most celebrated practical achievements of literary criticism. 

In conversation with the previous ones, we will study texts that, due to their poetic capacity and critical force, appear as vanishing points to the Western canon, and have shown to be capable of generating their own genealogies. The objective of this module is that the selected readings constitute the starting point for a critical reflection on the Western literary tradition.

We will work on the development of a critical perspective informed by feminisms and cultural studies.

Competences

    Classics
  • Analysing the formal, thematic, cultural and historical characteristics of the works of literary creation and reflection on literature of different languages and countries.
  • Demonstrating they know the basic theoretical foundations of the main methods and currents of literature and criticism.
  • Identifying the specific concepts and methods of each of the fields of comparatism.
  • Interpreting and assessing literary texts and explaining the results of the process.
  • Relating literary works from different countries, languages, periods and authors according to genres, topics, modalities and forms.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    English Studies
  • Analysing the formal, thematic, cultural and historical characteristics of the works of literary creation and reflection on literature of different languages and countries.
  • Demonstrating they know the basic theoretical foundations of the main methods and currents of literature and criticism.
  • Identifying the specific concepts and methods of each of the fields of comparatism.
  • Interpreting and assessing literary texts and explaining the process results.
  • Relating literary works from different countries, languages, periods and authors according to genres, topics, modalities and forms.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    Catalan Language and Literature
  • Analysing the formal, thematic, cultural and historical characteristics of the literary works and works of reflection on literature of different languages and countries.
  • Demonstrating they know the basic theoretical foundations of the main methods and currents of literature and criticism.
  • Identifying the specific concepts and methods of each of the fields of comparatism.
  • Interpreting and assessing literary texts and explaining the process results.
  • Relating literary works from different countries, languages, periods and authors according to genres, topics, modalities and forms.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    Spanish Language and Literature
  • Analysing the formal, thematic, cultural and historical characteristics of the literary works and works of reflection on literature of different languages and countries.
  • Demonstrating they know the basic theoretical foundations of the main methods and currents of literature and criticism.
  • Identifying the specific concepts and methods of each of the fields of comparatism.
  • Interpreting and assessing literary texts and explaining the process results.
  • Relating literary works from different countries, languages, periods and authors according to genres, topics, modalities and forms.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    Catalan and Spanish
  • Analysing the formal, thematic, cultural and historical characteristics of the works of literary creation and reflection on literature of different languages and countries.
  • Demonstrating they know the basic theoretical foundations of the main methods and currents of literature and criticism.
  • Identifying the specific concepts and methods of each of the fields of comparatism.
  • Interpreting and assessing literary texts and explaining the process results.
  • Relating literary works from different countries, languages, periods and authors according to genres, topics, modalities and forms.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    English and Catalan
  • Analysing the formal, thematic, cultural and historical characteristics of the works of literary creation and reflection on literature of different languages and countries.
  • Demonstrating they know the basic theoretical foundations of the main methods and currents of literature and criticism.
  • Identifying the specific concepts and methods of each of the fields of comparatism.
  • Interpreting and assessing literary texts and explaining the process results.
  • Relating literary works from different countries, languages, periods and authors according to genres, topics, modalities and forms.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    English and Classics
  • Analysing the formal, thematic, cultural and historical characteristics of the works of literary creation and reflection on literature of different languages and countries.
  • Demonstrating they know the basic theoretical foundations of the main methods and currents of literature and criticism.
  • Identifying the specific concepts and methods of each of the fields of comparatism.
  • Interpreting and assessing literary texts and explaining the process results.
  • Relating literary works from different countries, languages, periods and authors according to genres, topics, modalities and forms.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    English and Spanish
  • Analysing the formal, thematic, cultural and historical characteristics of the works of literary creation and reflection on literature of different languages and countries.
  • Demonstrating they know the basic theoretical foundations of the main methods and currents of literature and criticism.
  • Identifying the specific concepts and methods of each of the fields of comparatism.
  • Interpreting and assessing literary texts and explaining the process results.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    English and French
  • Analysing the formal, thematic, cultural and historical characteristics of the works of literary creation and reflection on literature of different languages and countries.
  • Demonstrating they know the basic theoretical foundations of the main methods and currents of literature and criticism.
  • Identifying the specific concepts and methods of each of the fields of comparatism.
  • Interpreting and assessing literary texts and explaining the process results.
  • Relating literary works from different countries, languages, periods and authors according to genres, topics, modalities and forms.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics
  • Critically read and interpret texts.
  • Interpret literary texts from a philological and comparative viewpoint.
  • Interpret the thematic and symbolic content of narrative, poetic and theatrical texts in accordance with the main analytical methodologies and according to their textual and pragmatic strategies.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    Spanish and Chinese Studies: Language, Literature and Culture
  • Apply knowledge of Spanish and Latin American literature to the identification of genes, movements, tendencies and styles.
  • Comment on literary texts in Spanish and in Chinese, situate them historically and relate them to the literary trends to which they belong.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse literary texts using the different concepts and methods of comparative literature.
  2. Analysing literary texts using different concepts and methods of comparative literature.
  3. Apply different instruments of analysis to different kinds of literary works.
  4. Argue a case regarding several literary topics and problems arising from different works and evaluate the results.
  5. Argue about several issues and literary problems for the purpose of different works and the assessment of the results.
  6. Arguing about several issues and literary problems for the purpose of different works and the assessment of the results.
  7. Arguing on various subjects and literary works about different problems and evaluate the results.
  8. Carry out a play for the development of a subject-related work.
  9. Carrying out a planning for the development of a subject-related work.
  10. Critically interpret literary works considering the relationships between different fields of literature and its relation to human, artistic and social areas.
  11. Critically interpret literary works take into account the relationships between different areas of literature and its relationships with human, artistic and social areas.
  12. Critically interpret literary works, taking into account the relationships between the different areas within literature and their relationship to humanistic, artistic and social areas.
  13. Critically interpreting literary works taking into account the relationships between different areas of literature and its relationships with human, artistic and social areas.
  14. Critically interpreting literary works taking into account the relationships between the different areas of literature and its relationships with human, artistic and social areas.
  15. Evaluate the result with the argumentation on different topics and literary problems with regard to different works.
  16. Explain the basic characteristics of comparative literary texts.
  17. Explain the basic characteristics of the compared literary texts.
  18. Explaining the basic characteristics of comparative literary texts.
  19. Identify and explain the basic characteristics of literary texts.
  20. Identify and explain the basic characteristics of the interpretation process.
  21. Identify and explain the basic structures of literary works.
  22. Identify and explaining the basic structures of literary works.
  23. Identify different literary elements and their insertion in different texts and styles of discourse.
  24. Identify the different literary elements and their insertion in different texts and discursive styles.
  25. Identify the key elements in the Western cultural tradition from the nineteenth century to the current day.
  26. Identify the relationship between literature and history, art and other cultural movements.
  27. Identifying and explaining the basic structures of literary works.
  28. Identifying various literary elements and inserting them into different texts and discursive styles.
  29. Interpret literary works critically taking into account the relations between the different areas of literature and its relation to human, artistic and social areas.
  30. Match literary texts to their corresponding genres.
  31. Offer argument on different topics and literary problems about different works and evaluate all the results.
  32. Present work in formats adapted to demands and personal styles, both individual and in small groups.
  33. Present works in formats tailored to the needs and personal styles, both individual and small group.
  34. Resolve tasks about authors, methods and trends in comparative literature, relating to it knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
  35. Resolve tasks on authors, methods and trends in comparative literature by drawing on knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
  36. Solve problems about writers, methods and currents of comparative literature, connecting them with knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
  37. Solve problems related to the methods of studying different literatures.
  38. Solve problems related to the study of different literatures.
  39. Solving problems about authors and currents of comparative literature, connecting them with knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
  40. Solving problems about writers, methods and currents of comparative literature, and connecting them with knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
  41. Solving problems related to the study of different literatures.
  42. Solving tasks on authors, and current methods of comparative literature, relating knowledge from other human disciplines.
  43. Submit assignments in formats tailored to requirements and personal styles, whether carried out individually or in a small group.
  44. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
  45. Summarise the knowledge acquired about the origin and changes experienced by the different fields of study in the discipline.
  46. Summarise the knowledge acquired about the origin of the various fields within the discipline and the transformations they have undergone.
  47. Summarising acquired knowledge about the origin and transformations experienced in its several fields of study.
  48. Use the adequate terminology in the construction of an academic text.
  49. Write text commentaries from a critical standpoint.

Content

Contents 

1. Modernity and Postmodernity. History, meaning and discussion of two concepts

La razón estética, Chantal Maillard. The Posthuman, Rosi Braidotti

2. Charles Baudelaire, Les fleurs du mal

3. Lewis Carroll,Trough the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

4. Virginia Woolf, The Waves. Hélène Cixous "Sorties". 

5. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness vs. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color

6. Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones - The Death of the Author, Roland Barthes

7. Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

 

Methodology

The learning of this subject by the students is distributed as follows:

- Directed activities (35%). These activities are divided into master classes and seminars and classroom practices led by the faculty, in which theoretical explanation is combined with discussion of all types of texts.

- Supervised activities (15%). These tutorials are programmed by the teacher, dedicated to correcting and commenting on problems both related to the syllabus of the subject and, above all, to the written papers that the student must present.

- Autonomous activities. These activities include both time devoted to individual study and production of written papers.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Master classes 55 2.2 6, 39, 47
Type: Supervised      
Programmed tutorials 20 0.8 9, 28, 44
Type: Autonomous      
written papers 75 3 6, 9, 44

Assessment

The evaluation will be carried through two mandatory written assignments to be submitted in December and January, together with a presentation consisting in a brief commentary of one of the mandatory readings of the course. Students can only apply for re-evaluation if they have submitted all the papers and have been suspended for failing to achieve the required grade point average.

In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
1 written work to be submitted in December 40% 0 0 2, 1, 3, 6, 7, 5, 4, 31, 15, 30, 9, 8, 18, 17, 16, 48, 28, 23, 24, 25, 20, 19, 27, 22, 21, 26, 14, 10, 13, 11, 12, 29, 44, 33, 43, 32, 49, 38, 41, 37, 39, 34, 40, 42, 36, 35, 47, 46, 45
1 written work to be submitted in January 40% 40% 0 0 2, 1, 3, 6, 7, 5, 4, 31, 15, 30, 9, 8, 18, 17, 16, 48, 28, 23, 24, 25, 20, 19, 27, 22, 21, 26, 14, 10, 13, 11, 12, 29, 44, 33, 43, 32, 49, 38, 41, 37, 39, 34, 40, 42, 36, 35, 47, 46, 45
Brief presentation on one of the mandatory readings of the course 20% 0 0 2, 1, 3, 6, 7, 5, 4, 31, 15, 30, 9, 8, 18, 17, 16, 48, 28, 23, 24, 25, 20, 19, 27, 22, 21, 26, 14, 10, 13, 11, 12, 29, 44, 33, 43, 32, 49, 38, 41, 37, 39, 34, 40, 42, 36, 35, 47, 46, 45

Bibliography

Mandatory readings

Mandatory readings are indicated in the syllabus of the course. Other secundary readings may be shared online over the academic course.

 

Bibliography

This list contains the basic bibliographic references for the theoretical framework of the subject (definition and study of modernity and postmodernity).

The specific bibliography for each author will be shared during the course.





AA.VV., La polémica de la postmodernidad, monográfico de Revista de Occidente, núm. 66 (noviembre de 1986).

Barth, John, «Literatura postmoderna», Quimera, 46/47 (1984-1985), pp. 13-21.

Calinescu, Matei, Cinco caras de la modernidad, Tecnos, Madrid, 1991.

Calvino, Italo, Seis propuestas para el próximo milenio, Ediciones Siruela, Madrid, 1989.

Feher, Ferenc, “Comentario sobre el intermezzo postmodernista”, Revista de Occidente, núm. 66 (noviembre de 1986), pp. 57-74.

Foster, Hal (ed.), La posmodernidad, Kairós, Barcelona, 1985.

Gay, Peter, Modernidad. La atracción de la herejía de Baudelaire a Beckett, Paidós, Barcelona, 2007.

Habermas, Jurgen, El discurso filosófico de la modernidad, Taurus, Madrid, 1989.

Hart, J., “Comparative Poetics, Postmodernism and the Canon: An Introduction”, Canadian Canadian Review of Comparative Literature / Revue Canadienne de Littérature Comparée, 20:1-2 (1993), pp. 1-8.

Hutcheon, Linda, A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory and Fiction, Routledge, Londres, 1988.

Jameson, Fredric, Teoría de la postmodernidad, Trotta, Madrid, 1996.

Jauss, Hans-Robert, «Italo Calvino: Si una noche de invierno un viajero. Informe sobre una estética postmoderna», en Las transformaciones de lo moderno, Visor, Madrid, 1995, pp. 223-251.

Lipovetski, Gilles, La era del vacío. Ensayos sobre el individualismo contemporáneo, Anagrama, Barcelona, 1993.

Lipovetski, Gilles, y Sébastien Charles, Los tiempos hipermodernos, Anagrama, Barcelona, 2006.

Llovet, Jordi, “Vigencia de la modernidad”, La Página, núm. 3 (junio de 1990), pp. 8-15.

Lyon, David, Postmodernidad, Alianza Edtorial, Madrid, 1996.

Lyotard, Jean-François, La condición postmoderna, Cátedra, Madrid, 1986.

Lyotard, Jean-François, «Reescribir la modernidad», Revista de Occidente, 66 (noviembre de 1986), pp. 23-33.

Marchán Fiz, Simón, «Le bateau ivre: para una genealogía de la sensibilidad postmoderna», Revista de Occidente, 42 (noviembre de 1984), pp. 7-28.

Navajas, Gonzalo, «Retórica de la novela postmoderna española», en Teoría y práctica de la novela española posmoderna, Edicions del Mall, Barcelona, 1987, pp. 13-40.

Navajas, Gonzalo, Más allá de la posmodernidad, EUB, Barcelona, 1996.

Pardo, José Luis, «Filosofía y clausura de la modernidad», Revista de Occidente, 66 (noviembre de 1986), pp. 35-47.

Perloff, Marjorie, «Modernist Studies», en S. Greenblatt-G. Gunn, Redrawing the Boundaries, Modern Language Association, Nueva York, 1992, pp. 154-178.

Picó, Josep (comp.), Modernidad y postmodernidad, Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1988.

Roas, David, Tras los límites de lo real. Una definición de lo fantástico, Páginas de Espuma, Madrid, 2011.

Rowe, John Carlos, «Postmodernist Studies», en S. Greenblatt-G. Gunn, Redrawing the Boundaries, Modern Language Association, Nueva York, 1992, pp. 179-208.

Saldaña, Alfredo, “Postmodernidad: Todo vale, aunque de nada sirva”, Tropelías, núm. 5-6 (1994-1995), pp. 349-369.

Santiáñez, Nil, Investigaciones literarias. Modernidad, historia de la literatura y modernismo, Crítica, Barcelona, 2002.

Vattimo, Gianni, et al., En torno a la posmodernidad, Anthropos, Barcelona, 1990.

Wellmer, Albrecht, Sobre la dialéctica de modernidad y postmodernidad, Visor, Madrid, 1993.