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2020/2021

Catalan Literature and Contemporary Culture (19th and 20th centuries)

Code: 42496 ECTS Credits: 10
Degree Type Year Semester
4313382 Advanced Studies in Catalan Language and Literature OT 0 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:
Francesc Xavier Vall Solaz
Email:
Francesc.Vall@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)

Teachers

Enric Cassany Cels

External teachers

Josep Maria Domingo Clua

Prerequisites

None.

Objectives and Contextualisation

The interpretation of a significant corpus of texts to establish relationships between Catalan literature and contemporary culture.

Competences

  • Apply the research methods of linguistics and literary studies.
  • Construct a well-argued critical evaluation of a linguistic or literary analysis.
  • Produce reports on linguistic or literary activities or works.
  • Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse literary texts of the 19th and 20th centuries.
  2. Display a broad vision of 19th- and 20th-century culture.
  3. Identify the literary function of 19th- and 20th-century texts.
  4. Interrelate local and universal literary currents and techniques.
  5. Produce critical reports on literature.
  6. Read works critically.
  7. Relate literature to other artistic activities.
  8. Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.
  9. Use current literary theories to analyse contemporary literary production.

Content

Analysis of the mechanisms that regulate literary and cultural relationship applied to the reception of foreign trends, and, especially, to their contribution to the own cultural and literary tradition 

1. Jacint Verdaguer and the Modernist Crisis, 1893-1902 (Josep M. Domingo, UB, 12 sessions)
An inquiry into the last Verdaguer's literary work in relation to the modernist crisis of literature: his interaction with the discourses of modernism and, in particular, his testimonies on the crisis of literature and the authorial condition.

2. The Diary in 20th Catalan Literature (Enric Cassany, UAB, 6 sessions)
Reflections on this genre from the commentary of various writers: Josep Pla, Marià Manent, Feliu Formosa and Guillem Simó.

3. Catalan Literature and Existentialism (Xavier Vall, UAB, 6 sessions)
A study of the he reception of this movement in Catalan literature and other fields, illustrated with various authors, not necessarily supporters of this trend, particularly with Manuel de Pedrolo and Maria Aurèlia Capmany.

 

Methodology

The subject will be performed mainly as a seminar. Therefore, some theoretical sessions will be combined with practical activities (texts commentaries,  presentations or collective debates).

During the course, the syllabus, the assessment activities and the specific bibliography will be communicated to students. In case of change of the modality for health reasons, the teachers will inform them of the modifications in the programming and the methodology.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures and debates 50 2 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9
Type: Supervised      
Tutorial on written assignments 70 2.8 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9
Type: Autonomous      
Personal study and written assignments 120 4.8 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9

Assessment

Grades will be communicated, and they may be reviewed.

To pass the module, you must get at least a 5 (out of 10) weighted average. The grade of «not assessable» will be applicable if a student fails the module overall but has not failed any of the constituent assessment activities.
 
In accordance with UAB regulations, «In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity [copying, plagiarism, impersonation...], 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».

In order to be eligible for re-assessment, students must have completed 2/3 of the assessment activities and have obtained a subject grade between 3.5 and 4.9. The maximum overall grade awarded in re-assessment is 5.

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.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Active intervention 20%+10%+10% 4 0.16 1, 2, 3, 6, 5, 4, 7, 8, 9
Essays 30%+15%+15% 6 0.24 1, 2, 3, 6, 5, 4, 7, 8, 9

Bibliography

1. Jacint Verdaguer and the Modernist Crisis, 1893-1902

Works
VERDAGUER, Jacint, Dietari d'un pelegrí a Terra Santa [1889], Ramon Pinyol i Torrents (ed.), Barcelona: Proa, 1999 / in íd., Prosa, Joaquim Molas; Isidor Cònsul (ed.), Barcelona: Proa («Totes les Obres» 1), 2003, p.163-266 .
-, Jesús Infant [1894], in íd., Poemes llargs. Teatre, Joaquim Molas; Isidor Cònsul (ed.), Barcelona: Proa («Totes les Obres» 2), 2003, p. 565-778.
-, Roser de tot l'any [1894], in íd., Poesia, 1, Joaquim Molas; Isidor Cònsul (ed.), Barcelona: Proa («Totes les Obres» 3), 2003, p. 831-1004.
-, Sant Francesc [1895], Isidor Cònsul (ed.), Vic: Eumo - Societat Verdaguer - Universitat de Vic («Obra Completa» 15), 2001.
-, En defensa pròpia [1895-1897], Lluïsa Plans i Girabal (ed.), Vic: Eumo - Societat Verdaguer - Universitat de Vic («Obra Completa» 17), 2012.
-, La Pomerola. Primavera [1896], Ricard Torrents; M. Àngels Verdaguer (ed.), Folgueroles: Verdaguer Edicions - Societat Verdaguer («Obra Completa» 30), 2013.
-, Perles del «Llibre d’Amic e Amat» [1896], in íd., Poesia, 2, Joaquim Molas; Isidor Cònsul (ed.), Barcelona: Proa («Totes les Obres» 4), 2006, p. 385-455. / Íd., Perles. L’amic i l’amat. Càntics de Ramon Llull posats en vers, Enric Casasses; Agnès Prats (ed.), Barcelona, Edicions 62, 2007.
-, Aires del Montseny [1901], Llorenç Soldevila i Balart (ed.), Folgueroles: Verdaguer Edicions - Societat Verdaguer («Obra Completa»19), 2020.
-, Al Cel [1903], in íd., Poesia, 2, Joaquim Molas; Isidor  Cònsul (ed.), Barcelona: Proa («Totes les Obres» 4), 2006, p. 457-529.

Verdaguer 
TORRENTS, Ricard, Verdaguer. Un poeta per a un poble, Vic: Eumo Editorial - Universitat de Vic, 20022 [revised edition].   
VERDAGUER Jacint, Autobiografia literària, Ricard Torrents (ed.), Vic: Eumo Editorial - Universitat de Vic, 2002.

Modernity
BERMAN, Marshall, Todo lo sólido se desvanece en el aire. La experiencia de la modernidad [All that is solid melts into air. The experience of modernity, 1982], Andrea Morales Vidal (trad.), México-Barcelona: Siglo XXI - Anthropos, 2013. 
CALINESCU, Matei, Cinco caras de la modernidad. Modernismo, vanguardia, decadencia, kitsch, posmodernismo, Maria Teresa Beguiristain (trad.), Madrid: Tecnos, 1991.
FRISBY, David, Fragmentos de la modernidad. Teorías de la modernidad en la obra de Simmel, Krakauer y Benjamin [1985], Carlos Manzano (trad.), Madrid: Visor, 1992.
GAY, Peter, Modernidad. La atracción de la herejía de Baudelaire a Beckett [Modernism. The Lure of Heresy], Marta Pino; Antón Corriente; Carmen Artime; Eva Almazán (trad.), Barcelona: Paidós, 2007.
RANCIÈRE, Jacques, Politique de la littérature, Paris: Galilée, 2007.

Modernity and Catalan Literature
HORTA, Gerard, Cos i revolució. L'espiritisme català o les paradoxes de la modernitat, Manuel Delgado (pr.), Barcelona: Edicions de 1984, 2004.
PANYELLA, Ramon (ed.), Concepcions i discursos sobre la modernitat en la literatura catalana dels segles XIX i XX, Lleida: Punctum - GELCC, 2010.

 

2. The Diary in 20th Catalan Literature

Works
PLA, Josep, El quadern gris.       
MANENT, Marià, El vel de Maia. 
FORMOSA, Feliu, El present vulnerable.     
SIMÓ, Guillem, En aquesta part del món. Dietaris 1974-2003.      

Autobiographic Literature
BLANCHOT, Maurice, «Le journal intime et le récit», in Le livre à venir, Paris: Gallimard, 1959, p. 252-262.
BOU, Enric, Papers privats. Assaig sobre les formes autobiogràfiques, Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1993.
BALAGUER, Enric; BORJA, Joan; ESPINÓS, Joaquim; FRANCÉS, Maria Àngels (ed.), Literatura autobiogràfica: Història, memòria i construcció del subjecte. Simposi de Literatura Autobiogràfica, Paiporta: Denes, 2001.
CASSANY,  Enric, «De dietaris i d’un dietari», Els Marges, No. 82  (2007), p. 47-55.
[DIVERSOS AUTORS], «La autobiografía y sus problemas teóricos», Anthropos. Suplementos, No. 29 (1991).
SOLDEVILA, Llorenç, «Aproximació a una bibliografia de la literatura memorialística catalana», in íd., Un temps, un país. Antologia de textos memorialístics (1888-1939), Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1993, p. 27-45.
WEINTRAUB, Karl Joachim, The Value of Individual, The University of Chicago Press, 1978. / Íd., La formación de la individualidad, Miguel Martínez-Lage (trad.), Madrid: Megazul-Endymion, 1993.

 

3. Catalan Literature and Existentialism

Works
Dossier of texts (L'Existentialisme est un humanisme, de Jean-Paul Sartre, excerpts from other essays by foreign authors and various samples of the impact of this trend in Catalan culture, particularly in Catalan literature and, especially, in Pedrolo and Capmany).
SARTRE, Jean-Paul, Huis clos (A porta tancada).
CAMUS, Albert, L'Étranger (L'estrany).
PEDROLO, Manuel de, «Les finestres s'obren de nit», in Novel·les curtes. II. 1956-1958, Barcelona: Edicions 62, 19882, p. 5-120.
-, «La mà contra l'horitzó», in bíd., p. 237-346.
-, Homes i No. Cruma, Antoni Carbonell (ed.), Barcelona: Edicions 62, 2011, p. 77-144, which correspond to the first of these works, which can be watched performed at https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/teatre-a-larxiu/arxiu-tve-catalunya-lletres-catalanes-homes-no/2699759
CAPMANY, Maria Aurèlia, «El temps passa sobre un mirall», in Obra completa 4. Narrativa breu, Guillem-Jordi Graells (ed.), Barcelona: Columna, 1996, p. 77-82.
-, «El desert dels dies», in Obra completa 5. Teatre, Guillem-Jordi Graells (ed.), Barcelona: Columna, 1998, p. 89-130.

The Reception of Existentialism
GALLÉN, Enric, «Notes sobre la introducció de l'existencialisme. Sartre i el teatre  aBarcelona (1948-1950)», Els Marges, No. 26, 1982, p. 120-126. http://www.raco.cat/index.php/Marges/article/view/108229/157838.
VALL, Xavier, «L'existencialisme en la literatura catalana durant el franquisme», Catalonia, No. 7, 2010, p. 1-7. http://www.crimic.paris-sorbonne.fr/Catalonia-7.