Literary Journalism
Code: 104992 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Journalism | OT | 3 |
| Journalism | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- David Vidal Castell
- Email:
- david.vidal@uab.cat
Teachers
- Alberto Cabello Hernandez
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
Administratively, they are those established by the institution, in terms of credits passed and enrollment.
In terms of content, the course is aimed at students interested in improving the look, method and writing of journalism in a context of transformation of the press industry and the social and political need for a quality and transformative journalism, as it has always been since the muck-rakers to the New Journalism and the new Latin American or European journalism, literary journalism.
Objectives and Contextualisation
Introduction to the historiological, genological, morphological and thematic foundations of Journalistic-Literary Comparatism.
Presentation of the tradition of literary journalism. Critical reflection on the possibilities offered by this type of journalism in the current context.
Students should incorporate, at the end of the semester, the resources of composition and style, as well as ethnographic methods, in their knowledge of journalistic praxis.
Competences
- Journalism
- Abide by ethics and the canons of journalism, as well as the regulatory framework governing information.
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Be familiar with and apply the theoretical and practical foundations of journalistic writing and narrative and its applications in the different genres, media and formats.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Differentiate the discipline's main theories, its fields, conceptual developments, theoretical frameworks and approaches that underpin knowledge of the subject and its different areas and sub-areas, and acquire systematic knowledge of the media's structure.
- Identify modern journalistic traditions in Catalonia, Spain and worldwide and their specific forms of expression, as well as their historic development and the theories and concepts that study them.
- Introduce changes in the methods and processes of the field of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and demands of society.
- Relay journalistic information in the language characteristic of each communication medium, in its combined modern forms or on digital media, and apply the genres and different journalistic procedures.
- Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
- 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 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.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Value diversity and multiculturalism as a foundation for teamwork.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
- Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
- Compare the different traditions in handling specialised information.
- Conceptualise the theories and techniques of specialised journalism.
- Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate practical knowledge of specialised journalism.
- Distinguish theories of journalistic writing and narrative to apply them to the different theme-based information specialisms.
- Explain the explicit or implicit code of practice of one's own area of knowledge.
- Identify situations in which a change or improvement is needed.
- Incorporate the principles of professional ethics in developing narrative journalism specialised in cultural information and critique.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Relay in the language specific to each communication medium narrative journalism specialised in cultural information and critique.
- Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
- 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 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.
- Use interactive communication resources to process, produce and relay information in the production of specialised information.
- Value diversity and multiculturalism as a foundation for teamwork.
- Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
Content
1. Journalism and literature: a tradition of promiscuous relations. What we understand by journalism. What we understand by literature. Canon, criticism, horizon of expectations.
2. Fiction and faction in journalistic expression.
3. The ‘linguistic turn’ and its incidence in journalistic studies. Rhetorical condition of journalistic expression.
4. Milestones of modern and contemporary literary journalism, from Daniel Defoe to New Journalism and the new contemporary journalisms, passing through the muck-rackers, the lost generation, the Latin American chronicle and the non-fiction novel.
5. The imprint of fictional literature in journalism: novels, short stories, playwriting.
6. The imprint of factitious literature in journalism: memoir and biographical prose (memoirs, autobiographies, biographies, diaries, letters); documentary prose (personal documents and oral history).
7. Genres and styles of journalistic-literary writing of narrative tenor: novel-reportage, novelistic reportage, chronicle and its hybridizations.
8. Genres and styles of journalistic-literary writing of argumentative tenor: essay and prose of ideas, column, portrait and resemblance.
9. Genres and styles of journalistic-literary writing of dialogic tenor: the literary interview and the interview-report.
10. The compositional and stylistic resources of narratology applied to journalism: point of view, character, scene, dialogue, plot, motifs and themes.
11. The look and method of literary journalism, among etnography and the gonzo.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Close reading and discussion seminars | 30 | 1.2 | 6, 1, 15, 3, 14, 2, 4, 8, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 18, 16, 17, 20, 5, 21, 22 |
| Explanations in the classroom | 20 | 0.8 | 6, 1, 15, 3, 14, 2, 4, 8, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 18, 16, 17, 20, 5, 21, 22 |
The course will combine explanations on the syllabus with seminars on works, authors and procedures, based on careful reading and collective deliberation.
In the seminar work, the teacher will assign weekly assignments that will be corrected or commented on in subsequent sessions, always with the final writing of a novel report.
The detailed calendar with the content of the different sessions will be displayed on the day of presentation of the course and will also be available on the Virtual Campus of the course, where students can find the various teaching materials and all the information necessary for the proper monitoring of the course. In case of change of teaching modality for reasons of force majeure according to the competent authorities, the faculty will inform of the changes that will occur in the programming of the subject and in the teaching methodologies.
The faculty will use weekly the CV, usual space of interaction, to return corrections, to contribute complementary or fundamental readings, to share the presentations projected and explained in class, etc.
Likewise, the most relevant corrections of the theory papers (reviews or essays) and of the propaedeutic and instrumental works of the seminars for the final writing of the report will have personalized feedback in tutorials in the office.
Note: The content of the course will be sensitive to aspects related to the gender perspective and the use of inclusive language.
15 minutes of a class will be reserved, within the calendar established by the center/title, for the completion by the students of the evaluation surveys of the teacher's performance and the evaluation of the subject/module.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assistence, tutorials and participation in seminars | 20% | 20 | 0.8 | 6, 1, 15, 3, 14, 2, 4, 8, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 18, 16, 17, 20, 5, 21, 22 |
| Final examination | 40% | 50 | 2 | 6, 3, 4, 7, 9, 13, 18, 17 |
| Novelled report or other literary genre | 40% | 30 | 1.2 | 6, 1, 15, 3, 14, 2, 4, 8, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 18, 16, 17, 20, 5, 21, 22 |
The evaluation activities are:
- Activity A: Attendance and active participation in classes, classroom activities (reviews, voluntary notebook assignments), seminars and tutorials (20% of the final grade).
- Activity B: Novel report or other literary genre (40% of the final grade).
- Activity C: Partial exams in the theory classroom, at least three (40% of the final grade).
Passing the course requires obtaining a minimum grade of 5 in each of the three scheduled activities.
The detailed calendar with the content of the different sessions will be displayed on the day of the presentation of the course. It will also be posted in the Virtual Campus, where the students will be able to find the detailed description of the exercises and practices, the different teaching materials and any other information necessary for the adequate follow-up of the course.
The student will have the right to the recovery of the course if he/she has been evaluated in the three activities, the weight of which is a minimum of 2/3 of the total grade of the course.
In order to be able to take the recovery of the subject, it will be necessary to have obtained an average grade of 3.5. The activities that are excluded from the recovery process are tutorials, attendance and participation in seminars.
Students will not be evaluated if they do not submit the writing test (final report) and if they have not completed two of the three (at least, if there are more than three, the proportion must remain 2/3) partial exams on conceptual contents of theory. In any case, students will have the right to recover the subject if they have been evaluated on all the activities.
In case of second enrollment, students may take a single synthesis test that will consist of the development of a reasoned and documented memory about the subject matter, in personal essay format, plus the delivery of a literary report of the same length of those required in the regular operation of the subject. The grade of the course will correspond to the grade of the memory/essay (50%) and the report (50%).
In the event that the student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation of an act of evaluation, such as plagiarism, this act of evaluation will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that could be instituted. If this attitude is repeated or is sufficiently serious (if it occurs in the final report in a very significant way), the final grade for this subject will be a fail.
The teachers will take care to observe the gender perspective, whenever possible.
SINGLE EVALUATION
This course foresees the single evaluation system, with the following conditions, which follow the protocols established by the coordination of the degree:
THEORY (WEIGHT OF 50% IN THE FINAL GRADE OF THE COURSE): Elaboration of a critical review on one of the fundamental books of the bibliography (preferably by Truman Capote or Tom Wolfe) (20% FINAL NOTE) and attendance to the final exam of the subject, together with the rest of students of continuous evaluation (30% FINAL NOTE OF THE COURSE); an initial tutorial will be offered for the elaboration if the students wish. An initial tutorial will be offered to students who opt for AVE. The review must be submitted at the time of the final exam.
PRACTICAL (50% final grade): Delivery of the literary report in the same deadlines and conditions as the students of continuous assessment.
Recovery of the single evaluation: a) According to regulations, in order to participate in the recovery process, students must have been previously evaluated at least 2/3 of the total of evaluable activities of the subject. b) The theory test (essay) can only be recovered if the student has obtained a grade lower than 4.9 and higher than 3.5. The recovery test will consist of a written test to evaluate theoretical knowledge. The recovery of the practice, with the same grade parameters, will be carried out through the rewriting of the literary report in the same terms as the continuous evaluation students.
Bibliography
Albert Chillón: -La palabra facticia. Literatura, periodismo y comunicación, Barcelona-Valencia, Aldea Global, 2014
- La literatura de fets. Els nous periodismes i l'art del reportatge, Barcelona, Llibres de l'Índex, 1993
Norman Sims: The Literary Journalists, Ballantine Books, 1984
David Vidal Castell: El malson de Chandos, Barcelona-Valencia, Aldea Global, 2002
Robert Herscherr: Periodismo narrativo, Universidad de Barcelona, 2014
Truman Capote: A sangre fría, Barcelona, Anagrama, 2003
Tom Wolfe: El nuevo periodismo, Barcelona, Anagrama, 1981
Ryszard Kapuscinski: - El Sha o la desmesura del poder, Barcelona, Anagrama, 2007
- El emperador, Barcelona, Anagrama, 2007
Oriana Fallaci: - Un hombre, Barcelona, Noguer y Caralt, 1984
- Entrevista con la historia, Barcelona, Noguer y Caralt, 1986
Montserrat Roig: - Els catalans als camps nazis, 1977
- Retrats paral·lels. Barcelona: Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, 1975-1978, 3 volums
Duch, Ll. & Chillón, A. (2012) Un ser de mediaciones. Herder.
Software
Word
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 11 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 12 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |