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2022/2023

Western Literary Tradition II

Code: 100252 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500245 English Studies OT 3 2
2500245 English Studies OT 4 2
2500248 Spanish Language and Literature OT 3 2
2500248 Spanish Language and Literature OT 4 2
2501801 Catalan and Spanish Studies OT 3 2
2501801 Catalan and Spanish Studies OT 4 2
2501902 English and Catalan Studies OT 3 2
2501902 English and Catalan Studies OT 4 2
2501907 English and Classics Studies OT 3 2
2501907 English and Classics Studies OT 4 2
2501910 English and Spanish Studies OT 3 2
2501910 English and Spanish Studies OT 4 2
2501913 English and French Studies OT 3 2
2501913 English and French Studies OT 4 2
2503998 Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics OT 4 2

Contact

Name:
Andrea Pereira Rueda
Email:
andrea.pereira@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Teachers

Alessandra Massoni Campillo

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

    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.
    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 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.
    English and Catalan 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.
    English and Classics 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.
    English and Spanish 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.
    English and French 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 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.

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. Argue a case regarding several literary topics and problems arising from different works and evaluate the results.
  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. Carry out a play for the development of a subject-related work.
  8. Carrying out a planning for the development of a subject-related work.
  9. Critically interpret literary works take into account the relationships between different areas of literature and its relationships with human, artistic and social areas.
  10. Critically interpret literary works, taking into account the relationships between the different areas within literature and their relationship to humanistic, artistic and social areas.
  11. Critically interpreting literary works taking into account the relationships between the different areas of literature and its relationships with human, artistic and social areas.
  12. Detect the degree of cohesion and coherence of the different genres and identify the factors that contribute to these and to their suitability in different contexts.
  13. Explain the basic characteristics of the compared literary texts.
  14. Explaining the basic characteristics of comparative literary texts.
  15. Express ideas effectively in formal academic texts by adopting argumentative and textual procedures.
  16. Identify and explain the basic characteristics of literary texts and the interpretation process.
  17. Identify and explain the fundamentals of the literary communication process in each genre and those of the interpretation process based on questions and theoretical and/or practical activities.
  18. Identify and explaining the basic structures of literary works.
  19. Identify different literary elements and their insertion in different texts and styles of discourse.
  20. Identify the ancient Greco-Latin sources that have inspired artists and literati of the Western cultural tradition.
  21. Identifying and explaining the basic structures of literary works.
  22. Identifying various literary elements and inserting them into different texts and discursive styles.
  23. Match literary texts to their corresponding formal and cultural contexts.
  24. Match literary texts to their corresponding genres.
  25. Present works in formats tailored to the needs and personal styles, both individual and small group.
  26. Recognise the influence of the Greco-Latin literary genres and works in texts of the post-classical European literary tradition.
  27. Resolve tasks on authors, methods and trends in comparative literature by drawing on knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
  28. Seek out, choose and manage information independently, both from structured sources (databases, bibliographies, or specialist journals) and from internet searches.
  29. Set a plan for working on an assignment on the subject area.
  30. Solve problems about writers, methods and currents of comparative literature, connecting them with knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
  31. Solve problems related to methods of study of different literatures.
  32. Solve problems related to the historical placement of literary texts.
  33. Solve problems related to the study of different literatures.
  34. Solve problems related to the theoretical foundations and the main concepts in the study of literary criticism.
  35. Solving problems about authors and currents of comparative literature, connecting them with knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
  36. Solving problems about writers, methods and currents of comparative literature, and connecting them with knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
  37. Solving problems related to the study of different literatures.
  38. Submit assignments in formats tailored to requirements and personal styles, whether carried out individually or in a small group.
  39. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
  40. Summarise the knowledge acquired about the origin of the various fields within the discipline and the transformations they have undergone.
  41. Summarising acquired knowledge about the origin and transformations experienced in its several fields of study.
  42. Write text commentaries from a critical standpoint.

Content

Contents 

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

2. Modern Poetry Anthology [Campus Virtual]

3. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

4. Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

5. Franz Kafka, The Castle

6. Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones [Selection of stories]

7. Italo Calvino, If on a winter's night traveler [Selection of chapters]

8. Alison Bechdel, Fun Home

 

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.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Master classes 55 2.2 6, 35, 41
Type: Supervised      
Programmed tutorials 20 0.8 8, 22, 39
Type: Autonomous      
written papers 75 3 6, 8, 39

Assessment

The evaluation will be carried through two mandatory written assignments to be submitted in May and June, together with a critical review. 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
Critical review to be submitted in March 20% 0 0 2, 6, 5, 3, 24, 8, 7, 14, 13, 22, 19, 21, 18, 11, 9, 10, 39, 25, 38, 42, 33, 37, 36, 35, 30, 27, 41, 40
Essay on one of the mandatory readings of the course (block Alessandra Massoni: Conrad, Kafka and Borges) 40% 0 0 2, 6, 5, 3, 24, 8, 7, 14, 13, 22, 19, 21, 18, 11, 9, 10, 39, 25, 38, 42, 33, 37, 36, 35, 30, 27, 41, 40
Essay on one of the mandatory readings of the course (block Andrea Pereira: modern poetry, Virginia Woolf, Italo Calvino and Alison Bechdel) 40% 0 0 2, 1, 6, 5, 3, 4, 28, 12, 23, 24, 8, 7, 29, 14, 13, 15, 22, 19, 17, 16, 21, 18, 20, 11, 9, 10, 39, 25, 38, 26, 42, 34, 33, 37, 31, 32, 36, 35, 30, 27, 41, 40

Bibliography

Mandatory readings

Bechdel, Alison, Fun home. Una familia tragicómica, Reservoir Books, Barcelona, 2008.

Borges, Jorge Luis, Ficciones, Debolsillo, Barcelona, 2011.

Calvino, Italo, Si una nit d’hivern un viatger, Labutxaca, Barcelona, 2010.

Conrad, Joseph, El cor de les tenebres, Sembra Llibres, València, 2017.

Kafka, Franz, El castell, Club Editor, Barcelona, 2009.

Woolf, Virginia, La senyora Dalloway, La Magrana, Barcelona, 2021.

 

The anthology of modern poetry can be found on the Virtual Campus. Each reading will be accompanied by a set of complementary texts.

 

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.

Software

No