Western Literary Tradition. The Construction of European Literature
Code: 106338 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish and Chinese Studies: Language, Literature and Culture | OT | 4 |
| Spanish Language and Literature | OT | 3 |
| Spanish Language and Literature | OT | 4 |
| English Studies | OT | 3 |
| English Studies | OT | 4 |
| English and Catalan Studies | OT | 3 |
| English and Catalan Studies | OT | 4 |
| English and Spanish Studies | OT | 3 |
| English and Spanish Studies | OT | 4 |
| Catalan and Spanish Studies | OT | 3 |
| Catalan and Spanish Studies | OT | 4 |
| English and French Studies | OT | 0 |
| English and French Studies | OT | 3 |
| English and French Studies | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Miriam Ruiz-Ruano Risquez
- Email:
- miriam.ruizruano@uab.cat
Teachers
- Maria Jose Vega Ramos
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
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 expression error 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. Artificial Intelligence is forbidden. 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 subject intends:
1) to familiarize students with the notion of literary tradition and with the historical, geographical, cultural and ideological criteria that define the western, ancient and modern tradition (until 1800);
2) familiarize the students with the theoretical models and the practices that constitute the literary tradition;
3) familiarize students with a selection of works, authors and genres of some of the most representative traditions of ancient, medieval and modern Western literature through case studies;
4) improve the analytical and critical capacity of the students.
Competences
- Spanish Language and Literature
- Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams in order to achieve the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
- Develop arguments applicable to the fields of Hispanic literature, literary theory, Spanish language and linguistics, and evaluate their academic relevance.
- 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.
- Use the methodology and concepts of literary analysis taking into account sources and contexts.
- English Studies
- Apply the methodology of analysis and critical concepts to analysing the literature, culture and history of English-speaking countries.
- Demonstrate skills to work autonomously and in teams to fulfil the planned objectives.
- Develop arguments applicable to the fields of literature, culture and linguistics and evaluate their academic relevance.
- Produce effective written work or oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in distinct languages (except English).
- 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.
- English and Catalan Studies
- Carry out effective written work or oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in different languages.
- Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams with the aim of attaining the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
- Identify and interpret literary texts in different languages, analysing the generic, formal, thematic and cultural characteristics in accordance with the concepts and methods of comparative literature and literary theory.
- 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 digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
- English and Spanish Studies
- Carry out effective written work or oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in different languages.
- Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams in order to achieve the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
- Identify the foundations of human language and the principles, methods and results of structural analysis of languages.
- 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 digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
- Catalan and Spanish Studies
- Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams with the aim of attaining the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
- Identify and interpret literary texts in Catalan and Spanish, analysing the generic, formal, thematic and cultural traits in accordance with the concepts and methods of comparative and literary theory.
- 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.
- Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
- English and French Studies
- Carry out effective written work or oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in different languages.
- Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams with the aim of attaining the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
- Identify and interpret literary texts of different languages (English and French), analysing generic, formal, thematic and cultural features according to concepts and methods proper to comparative literature and literary theory.
- 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.
- Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse literary texts using the different concepts and methods of comparative literature.
- Analysing literary texts using different concepts and methods of comparative literature.
- Argue a case regarding several literary topics and problems arising from different works and evaluate the results.
- Argue about several issues and literary problems for the purpose of different works and the assessment of the results.
- Argue on various literary themes and problems in relation to different works and evaluate the results.
- Arguing about several issues and literary problems for the purpose of different works and the assessment of the results.
- Autonomously search, select and process information both from structured sources (databases, bibliographies, specialized magazines) and from across the network.
- Carry out tasks on authors, methods and trends in comparative literature, relating knowledge of other disciplines in the humanities.
- Critically interpret literary works take into account the relationships between different areas of literature and its relationships with human, artistic and social areas.
- Critically interpreting literary works taking into account the relationships between the different areas of literature and its relationships with human, artistic and social areas.
- Effectively communicate and apply the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
- Effectively communicating and applying the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
- Explain the basic characteristics of the compared literary texts.
- Explaining the basic characteristics of comparative literary texts.
- Express oneself effectively by applying argumentative and textual procedures in formal and scientific texts.
- Identify and explain the basic characteristics of literary texts and the process of interpretation.
- Identifying and explaining the basic characteristics of literary texts and the interpretation process.
- Present written work or oral presentations on the main concepts of literary theory.
- Resolve tasks on authors, methods and trends in comparative literature by drawing on knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
- Solve problems about writers, methods and currents of comparative literature, connecting them with knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
- Solve problems related to the study of different literatures.
- Solve problems related to the theoretical foundations and the main concepts in the study of literary criticism.
- Solving problems about writers, methods and currents of comparative literature, and connecting them with knowledge of other humanistic disciplines.
- Solving problems related to the study of different literatures.
- Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
- Use digital tools to obtain, classify, interpret and analyse relevant data related to the study of literary theory.
- Use the skills acquired with autonomy.
- Use traditional sources to collect, classify, interpret and analyse relevant data related to the study of literary theory.
- Write text commentaries from a critical standpoint.
Content
TOPICS
I. The study of literary tradition: approach to the notions of “tradition”, ‘canon’ and “rewriting”.
II. Lyric poetry
1. The first renaissance: the recovery of Ovid in the Latin poetry of the 12th century
2. From the troubadours to the urban lyric of the Dolce stil nuovo: Guinizelli, Dante, Cavalcanti
3. The book of lyric poetry: Petrarch's Canzoniere and modern subjectivity
4. Petrarch in the tradition, a case study: Ausiàs March the Spanish poetry of the 16th century
III. Epic and narrative
5. The evolution of medieval narrative and its genres: from the cantar de gesta to the novelle of Decameron
6. Medieval narrative and themes. Case study: the catabasis, tales of journeys to the Other World
7. The hagiographic pattern: the Flos sanctorum and its narrative and cultural influence
8. Towards the modern European novel: satire, dialogism and photographic realism
READINGS
ANÓNIMO, Cançoner de Ripoll.
Martí de RIQUER, The troubadours: literaryhistory and texts.
Dante ALIGHIERI, New Life
Francesco PETRARCA, Canzoniere
Ausiàs MARCH, Poems
Giovanni BOCCACCIO, Decameron
Dante ALIGHIERI, Divine Comedy
Santiago de la VORÁGINE, The golden legend
Pedro de RIBADENEIRA & Alonso de VILLEGAS, Flos sanctorum
Francisco DELICADO, La lozana andaluza
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures | 80 | 3.2 | |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Presentations | 30 | 1.2 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Essay | 40 | 1.6 |
The course is divided into several units.
Each unit will last approximately two or three sessions. With the exception of the first one, a general introduction to the study of European literary tradition, each unit will study a major theme or genre of the Western literary and artistic tradition.Each block will count on a group of texts (or selection) of mandatory readings that the students must have read before attending the respective classes. The readings of each block will be analyzed by the teachers during the sessions in a generic framework that could allow the student to understand the particularity of a discourse or case within its tradition.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exam 1-2 | 20% (exam 1), 20% (exam 2) | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 3, 13, 14, 15, 12, 11, 17, 16, 9, 10, 29, 22, 24, 21, 27 |
| Short essay 1 (10%) and 2 (10%) | 10% - 10% | 0 | 0 | 2, 1, 4, 6, 5, 3, 7, 14, 13, 15, 12, 11, 26, 28, 16, 17, 10, 9, 25, 18, 29, 22, 21, 24, 8, 23, 19, 20, 27 |
| Tests 1 and 2 | 20% - 20% | 0 | 0 | 7, 10, 9, 24 |
The aim is to make a global evaluation that allows to determine the competences of the students at different levels (assimilation of the contents seen in class, written expression, argumentative capacity, etc.).
The course will be evaluated on the basis of exams, comments and practicals. The latter may consist of a short essay, a text commentary or a review.
1) Exams 1 and 2: a partial exam of the first part of the course and an exam of the second part are foreseen. The tests will include: a) a text commentary on one of the compulsory readings b) a test with questions of synthesis and interpretation of the contents seen in class. In the correction, the ability to respond in a clear, orderly and relevant way to the question asked will be valued.
2) Tests 1 and 2: They will consist of short tests carried out in the classroom and will deal with (a) lectures related to the contents of the subject and accessible in written or digital format and (b) critical texts from the bibliography. In the correction of the practices, students' writing will be evaluated on a formal level (syntax, expression, vocabulary, etc.) and content (ideas, arguments, etc.).
3) Critical reviews 1 and 2: the student will submit an eminently theoretical review on the notion of “tradition”, ‘canon’ or “rewriting”. Students who so wish may arrange as many tutorials with the teacher as necessary to outline the approach to the topic of “tradition”, ‘canon’ or “rewriting”.
In case the student makes any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be instituted. In case of several irregularities in the evaluation acts of the samesubject, the final grade of this subject will be 0. That is to say, in no case will plagiarism (total or partial) or the use of Artificial Intelligence be admitted in any of the evaluation exercises.
The student will receive the grade of Not evaluable as long as he/she has not completed more than 30% of the evaluation activities.
At the time of each evaluation activity, the teacher will inform the student of the procedure and the date of review of the grades. In the case of a non-positive evaluation, the student may make new deliveries (work, commentary) and extraordinary tests that will have the same level of difficulty and the same typology as the ordinary tests. Only those students who have submitted at least one of the two final exams will be eligible for the re-evaluation of the subject, and only those exams that have been previously evaluated may be re-evaluated, provided that a minimum grade of 3 points in the average of the subject.
Single evaluation
Students who so wish may take a single evaluation, which will consist of (1) an exam with theoretical questions and text commentary (40%), (2) a test demonstrating the reading of critical texts dealt with in class (40%) and (3) a review of critical texts (40%), and (4) a review of the text of the text (40%). In case of not achieving the competencies of any of the two blocks, the student will have to take the ordinary recovery exam if there are no circumstances that prevent him/her from doing so. If this is the case, the student will have to communicate it at least two weeks in advance so that the teacher can find an alternative date.
Bibliography
Bibliografía
Lecturas obligatorias:
Acuña, Hernando de. Varias poesías. Ed. de Luis F. Díaz Larios. Madrid: Cátedra, 1982. (Selección de fragmentos)
Boscán, Juan. Obra completa. Ed. de Carlos Clavería. Madrid: Cátedra, 1999. (Selección de fragmentos)
Cançoner de Ripoll. Trad. de Jordi Raventós. Martorell: Adesiaria, 2010.
Boccaccio, Decameró. Trad. de Francesc Vallverdú. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 2014. (Selección de fragmentos)
Dante, Comedia, ed. y trad. de José María Micó, Barcelona, Acantilado, 2018. (Selección de fragmentos)
Dante. Vida nova. Traducció de Rossend Arqués. Martorell: Adesiara, 2021. (Selección de fragmentos)
Dolce stil nuovo. Ed. de Ramon Masoliver. Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1983. (Selección de fragmentos)
March, Ausiàs. Poesies. Ed. de Pere Bohigas. Barcelona: Barcino, 2000. (Selección de fragmentos)
Moro, Tomás, Utopía, ed. y trad. de Pedro Rodríguez Santidrián, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2012. (Selección de fragmentos)
Ovidio. Amors. Trad. de Jordi Pérez Durà & Miquel Dolç. Barcelona: Bernat Metge, 1971.
Pérez de Oliva, Fernán, Diálogo de la dignidad del hombre, Razonamientos, Ejercicios, ed. de María Luisa Cerrón Puga, Madrid, Cátedra, 1995. (Selección de fragmentos)
Petrarca, Canzoniere. Ed. de Marco Santagata. Milà: Mondadori, 2000. (Selección de fragmentos)
Troyes, Chrétien de. El cuento del Graal. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1999.
Virgilio, Eneida, ed. de José Carlos Fernández Corte; trad. de Aurelio Espinosa, Madrid, Cátedra, 2006. (Libro VI)
Vega, Garcilaso de la. Obra poética y textos en prosa. Ed. de Bienvenido Morros. Barcelona, Crítica, 1995. (Selección de fragmentos)
Lecturas recomendadas:
Alfano, Giancarlo. Introduzione alle lettura del Decameron. Bari: Laterza, 2014.
Barbero, Alessandro, Dante, trad. de Marilena de Chiara, Barcelona, Acantilado, 2021.
Cappelli, Guido, El humanismo italiano: un capítulo de la cultura europea entre Petrarca y Valla, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2007.
Kraye, Jill (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Humanism, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Lida de Malkiel, María Rosa, Dido en la literatura española: su retrato y defensa, Londres, Tamesis books, 1974.
Petrarca, Francesco, Mi secreto. Epístolas, ed. bilingüe de Rossend Arqués Corominas, trad. de Rossend Arqués Corominas y Anna Saurí, Madrid, Cátedra, 2011.
Rico, Francisco. El sueño del humanismo: De Petrarca a Erasmo, Barcelona, Crítica, 2014.
Rico, Francisco. El pequeño mundo del hombre: varia fortuna de una idea en la cultura española, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 1986.
Ruiz-Ruano, Míriam. “Hernando de Acuña, casos de ‘imitatio’ de Ausiàs March en el petrarquismo hispánico del quinientos”, Caliope: journal of the Society for Renaissance and Baroque Hispanic Society, vol. 24 (1), 2019, p. 1-28.
Riquer, Martí de & José María Valverde. Historia de la literatura universal 1: desde los inicios hasta el Barroco. Barcelona: Austral, 2018.
Santagata, Marco, Dante. La novela de su vida, Madrid, Cátedra, Colección Biografías, 2018.
Skinner, Quentin, Los fundamentos del pensamiento político moderno, trad. de Juan José Utrilla, México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1985.
Tonelli, Natascia. Leggere il Canzoniere. Milà: Mondadori, 2017.
Vian Herrero, Ana; Vega, María José; Friedlein, Roger (eds.), Diálogo y censura en el siglo XVI (España y Portugal), Madrid, Iberoamericana Vervuert, 2016.
Virgilio, Bucólicas. Geórgicas. Apéndice virgiliano, introducción general, José Luis Vidal; trad., introd. y notas, Tomás de la Ascensión Recio García y Arturo Soler Ruiz, Madrid, Gredos, 1990.
V.V.A.A. Manifiestos del humanismo, trad. de María Morrás, Barcelona, Ediciones Península, 2000.
V.V.A.A. Diálogos españoles del Renacimiento, ed. e introd. Ana Vian Herrero, Madrid, Almuzara, Biblioteca de Literatura Universal, 2011.
Software
None
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 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |