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Spanish Current literature

Code: 100085 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Humanities OT 3
Humanities OT 4

Contact

Name:
Francisca Montiel Rayo
Email:
francisca.montiel@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

Students must be able to express themselves correctly both orally and in writing. Therefore, errors made in assessment activities will be deducted by 0.25 points each.


Objectives and Contextualisation

 

This course aims to provide an overview of the development of Spanish literature from the beginning of the democratic transition to the present day. To achieve this, after reviewing the evolution of Spanish literature during the 20th century (from the Silver Age to the end of the postwar period), the course will examine the trends and major authors and aesthetic movements cultivated in democratic Spain from 1975 to the present.

The course also aims to introduce students to the means of disseminating contemporary Spanish literature (literary prizes, cultural supplements of the press, and literary magazines), the methods of analysis and evaluation of contemporary literature, such as text commentary and critical reviews, and the importance of their integration into the literary, social, and political history of the period.


Competences

    Humanities
  • Critically analysing today's culture and its historical conditions.
  • Designing, producing, disseminating and commercializing a cultural product.
  • Interpreting social and cultural diversity.
  • Properly using the resources and methodologies of the study of contemporary culture.
  • 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.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analysing literary texts using different concepts and methods of comparative literature.
  2. Describing the characteristics of a literary text and the characteristic methods of analysis of the discipline.
  3. Explaining the basic characteristics of literary texts.
  4. Identifying and explaining the basic structures of literary works.
  5. Identifying various literary elements and inserting them into different texts and discursive styles.
  6. Interpreting the regulatory information that is located in the web pages of regulatory institutions.
  7. Preparing a summary from a given text.
  8. Solving problems related to the study of different literatures.
  9. Solving tasks about authors, methods and currents of the comparative literature.
  10. Using suitable terminology when drawing up an academic text.

Content

TOPICS

  1.  Introduction: Spanish Literature from the Silver Age to the End of Franco's Regime.
  2.  Contemporary Spanish Literature: Definition, Contextualization and Demarcations
  3.  Main Poetic Trends: The Poetry of Luis García Montero
  4.  From the Bradomín Generation to the Theater of Memory: The Dramatic Work of Juan Mayorga

        5. Narrative Genres

            5.1. Short Stories: The Short Stories of Cristina Fernández Cubas

            5.2. The Novel: Trends and Significant Authors

 

REQUIRED READINGS

GARCÍA MONTERO, Luis. Completamente viernes (1998).

MAYORGA, Juan. Himmelweg (2004).

FERNÁNDEZ CUBAS, Cristina. Mi hermana Elba y Los altillos de Brumal (1988).

CHIRBES, Rafael. La buena letra (1992).

LLAMAZARES, Julio. Distintas formas de mirar el agua (2015).

Choose one novel from the following:

QUINTO, Raúl. Martinete del rey sombra (2023).

ARAMBURU, Fernando. El niño (2024).

MESA, Sara. Oposición (2025).

 

 


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Master classes and practices 60 2.4 2, 7, 3, 10, 5
Type: Supervised      
Scheduled tutorials 12 0.48 2, 7, 3, 10, 5
Type: Autonomous      
Personal study and preparation of papers, analytical comments and exhibitions 60 2.4 2, 7, 3, 10, 5

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


· Directed activities. These activities are divided into lectures and seminars and practices led by the teacher, in which the theoretical explanation will be combined with the discussion of the texts.

· Supervised activities. These are tutorials programmed by the professor, dedicated to the correction and comment of problems in the different levels of literary analysis.

· Autonomous activities. These activities include both the time devoted to personal study and the performance of analytical papers and commentaries, as well as the preparation of oral presentations.

· Evaluation activities. The evaluation of the subject will be carried out through written tests and taking into account the student's contribution to the best development of the classes.
 
Note: "15 minutes of a class will be reserved, within the timetable established by the centre/title, for the complementation by the students of the assessment surveys of the teaching staff's performance and the assessment of the subject".

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.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
critical review 20% 6 0.24 1, 2, 7, 3, 10, 5, 4, 6, 8, 9
written test 1 35% 6 0.24 1, 2, 7, 3, 10, 5, 4, 6, 8, 9
written test 2 35% 6 0.24 1, 2, 7, 3, 10, 5, 6, 8, 9

Continuous Assessment

- Midterm Exam 1 (35%): Topics 1-4 and required readings by Luis García Montero and Juan Mayorga.

- Midterm Exam 2 (35%): Topic 5 and required readings by Cristina Fernández Cubas, Rafael Chirbes, and Julio Llamazares.

- Critical Review (20%): The student must write a critical review of one of the three novels proposed (Raúl Quinto, Fernando Aramburu, or Sara Mesa) in class.

- Attendance and Participation (10%): Class attendance and oral participation in the discussion of the required readings will be assessed, as well as the completion of short written activities related to the course syllabus.

At the beginning of the course, the dates for the various assessment activities will be announced.

At the time of each assessment activity, the professor will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedure and date for grade review.

To pass the course, the student must obtain a minimum grade of 5, after applying the weighted average of the different assessment activities.

The student will receive a grade of "Not Assessable" provided they have not submitted more than 30% of the assessment activities.

Retake: Students who have completed two-thirds of the assessment activities and obtained a minimum weighted average of 3.5 may take the course. Retake consists of retaking all the failed assessment activities (midterm exam 1, midterm exam 2, critical review). The grade obtained will replace the initial grade for the purpose of calculating the final weighted average.

Exchange students who request to advance an exam must submit a written document from their home university to the instructor justifying their request.

 

Single Assessment

- Midterm Exam 1 (35%): Topics 1 to 4 and required readings by Luis García Montero andJuan Mayorga.

- Midterm Exam 2 (35%): Topic 5 and required readings by Cristina Fernández Cubas, Rafael Chirbes, and Julio Llamazares.

- Critical Review (30%): The student must write a critical review in class of one of the three novels proposed (Raúl Quinto, Fernando Aramburu, or Sara Mesa).

At the beginning of the course, the student will be informed of the date for the single assessment activities, which will coincide with the final continuous assessment test.

At the time of the single assessment, the professor will inform students (Moodle) of the procedure and date for grade review.

To pass the course, the student must obtain a minimum grade of 5 after applying the weighted average of the different assessment activities.

Resit assignments follow the same criteria as continuous assessment.

 

If the student commits any type of irregularity that could lead to a significant change in the grade for an assessment, the assignment will be graded 0, regardless of any resulting disciplinary process. If multiple irregularities are found in the assessment activities for the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.

 

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is not permitted in any phase of this subject. Any work that includes AI-generated fragments will be considered a breach of academic dishonesty and will result in the assignment being graded 0 and not being retaken, or in the event of greater sanctions in serious cases.


Bibliography

*** Additional bibliography will be provided throughout the course.

 

Alberca, Manuel (2007). El pacto ambiguo. De la novela autobiográfica a la autoficción. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva.

Alonso, Santos (2003). La novela española en el fin de siglo (1975-2001). Madrid: Marenostrum.

Andres-Suárez, Irene (2010). El microrrelato español. Una estética de la elipsis. Palencia:  Menoscuarto, Palencia, 2010.

Calvo Carilla, José Luis e Isabel Carabantes de las Heras (eds.( (2011). Estéticas de la crisis. De la caída del Muro de Berlín al 11-S. Zaragoza: Institución Fernando El Católico.

Champeau, Geneviève; Jean-Francois Carcelen; Georges Tyras y Fernando Valls (eds.) (2011). Nuevos derroteros de la narrativa actual. Veinte años de creación. Zarazoga: Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza.

Gracia, Jordi (ed.) (2000). Historia y crítica de la literatura española. 9/1. Los nuevos nombres: 1975-2000. Barcelona: Crítica.

Gracia, Jordi y Domingo Ródenas (2011). Historia de la literatura española. Vol. 7. Derrota y restitución de la modernidad, 1939-2010. Dirigida por José-Carlos Mainer. Barcelona: Crítica.

López de Abiada, José Manuel y Hans-Jörg Neuschäfer (eds.) (2004). Entre el ocio y el negocio: industria editorial y literatura en la España de los 90. Madrid: Verbum.

Lyotard, Jean-François (1987). La condición posmoderna. Madrid: Cátedra.

Mainer, José-Carlos, y Santos Juliá, El aprendizaje de la libertad. 1973-1986. La cultura de la transición. Madrid: Alianza.

Oliva, César (2004). La última escena (teatro español de 1975 a nuestros días). Madrid: Cátedra.

Pozuelo Yvancos, José María (2004). Ventanas de la ficción. Narrativa hispánica, siglos XX y XXI. Barcelona: Península.

___ (2009). Figuraciones del yo en la narrativa: Javier Marías y Enrique Vila-Matas, Valladolid: Cátedra Miguel Delibes, Universidad de Valladolid.

___ (2010). 100 narradores españoles de hoy. Palencia: Menoscuarto.

Prieto de Paula, Ángel Luis (2007). Manual de literatura española actual: de la transición al tercer milenio. Madrid: Castalia.

___ (2010). Las moradas del verbo: Poetas españoles de la democracia (Antología). Madrid: Calambur.

___ (2012). Poesía. Textos y contextos. Alicante: Aguaclara.

Ragué Arias, Maria Josep (1996). El teatro de fin de milenio en España: de 1975 hasta hoy. Barcelona: Ariel.

Sobejano, Gonzalo (2003). Novela española contemporánea 1940-1995. Madrid: Marenostrum.

Valls, Fernando (2003). La realidad inventada. Análisis crítico de la novela española actual. Barcelona: Crítica.

___ (2008). Soplando vidrio y otros estudios sobre el microrrelatoespañol. Madrid: Páginas de Espuma.

Vargas Llosa, Mario (2012). La civilización del espectáculo. Madrid: Alfaguara.

 

Required readings

ARAMBURU, Fernando (2024). El niño. Barcelona: Tusquets.

CHIRBES, Rafael (2025). La buena letra. Barcelona: Anagrama.

FERNÁNDEZ CUBAS, Cristina (2024). Mi hermana Elba. Los altillos de Brumal. Barcelona: Tusquets.

GARCÍA MONTERO, Luis (1998). Completamente viernes. Barcelona: Tusquets.

LLAMAZARES, Julio (2016). Distintas formas de mirar el agua. Barcelona: Debolsillo.

MAYORGA, Juan (2024). Himmelweg. El jardín quemado. Madrid: Cátedra.

MESA, Sara (2025). Oposición. Barcelona: Anagrama.

QUINTO, Raúl (2023). Martinete del rey sombra. Zaragoza: Jekyll & Jill.


Software

No special software is required.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed