This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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Nineteenth Century Spanish Narrative

Code: 106361 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Spanish Language and Literature OT 3
Spanish Language and Literature OT 4

Contact

Name:
Montserrat Amores Garcia
Email:
montserrat.amores@uab.cat

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.

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

“Texts of Modern Spanish Narrative” is integrated into the subject of Contemporary Spanish Literature, and is part of the 54 optional credits which the student must attend during the fourth year of the Degree in Spanish Language and Literature. It's one of the subjects offered within the Spanish and Hispanic-American Literature category, acknowledgement that students receive if they attend at least 30 of the 54 optional credits among the subjects assigned specifically to the said category.

It is intended to offer an overview of the development of Spanish novel from the Revolution of 1868 to the end of the century. One of the basic specific objectives of the subject is that students know some novels of Benito Pérez Galdós and Emilia Pardo Bazán, as well as its main works, and is able to comment appropriately on any narrative text of the period. The course also includes the use of the methods and tools of textual criticism and related disciplines, as well as the annotated edition of texts and auxiliary instruments.


Competences

    Spanish Language and Literature
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • 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.
  • Identify the most significant periods, traditions, trends, authors and works in Spanish-language literature in their historical and social context.
  • Recognise the main theories, themes and genres of literature in the different Spanish-speaking countries.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
  • Use the methodology and concepts of literary analysis taking into account sources and contexts.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse the features of 19th-century Spanish narrative.
  2. Assess, through the analysis of literary productions, the prejudices and discriminations that may be included in actions or projects, in the short or long term, in relation to certain people or groups.
  3. Comment on a text taking into account the figures of thought and expression.
  4. Contextualise historically, socially and ideologically the literary production of 19th century Spanish narrative.
  5. Critically interpret bibliography.
  6. Critically interpret literary works taking into account their historical and social context.
  7. Elaborate summaries or reviews of academic works.
  8. Justify the characteristics of the texts and literary periods under study in different types of academic writing (written exams, academic papers, summaries and reviews).
  9. Recognise the principles of the discipline of study and its main sources.
  10. Use appropriate terminology in the construction of an academic text.
  11. Use digital tools to obtain, classify, interpret and analyse relevant data related to the study of Spanish language and literature.
  12. Use the appropriate terminology in the construction of an academic text and in the transmission of their knowledge.
  13. Use traditional sources to obtain, classify, interpret and analyse relevant data related to the study of Spanish language and literature.
  14. Write and present academic works.

Content

After the initial presentation session of the course, the students will select, by mutual agreement, four of the eight novels proposed in the syllabus. These will be subject to analysis and evaluation throughout the course.

1. La Fontana de Oro and realistic novel. a novela realista.        

2. The ideological novel.

1. Pérez Galdós, Benito, Doña Perfecta
Ed. de Ignacio Javier López, Madrid, Cátedra (Letras Hispánicas, 425), 2019.

2. Pérez Galdós, Benito, La familia de León Roch
Ed. de Íñigo Sánchez Llama, Madrid (Letras Hispánica, 546), 2003.

3. Spanish realism and naturalism novel.

3. Pardo Bazán, Emilia, La Tribuna
Ed. de Benito Varela Jácome, Madrid, Cátedra, 1989.

4. Pardo Bazán, Emilia, Los Pazos de Ulloa
Ed. de Mª de los Ángeles Ayala, Madrid, Cátedra (Letras Hispánicas, 425), 1997.
Ed. de Ermitas Penas, Barcelona, Crítica (Biblioteca Clásica, 111), 2000.
Ed. de Montserrat Amores, Teresa Barjau y Rebeca Martín, Vicens Vives (Clásicos Hispánicos, 35), 2015.

5. Antología de cuentos seleccionados por la profesora.

4. The crisis of the realist model in the 1990s.

6. Pardo Bazán, Emilia, Insolación
Ed. de Ermitas Penas Varela, Madrid, Cátedra (Letras Hispánicas, 520), 2001.

7. Pérez Galdós, Benito, Tristana
Ed. de Montserrat Amores y Agustín Sánchez Aguilar, Barcelona, Vicens Vives, 2003.

8. Pérez Galdós,Benito, Misericordia
Ed. de José Carlos Mainer, Barcelona,Vicens Vives, 2007.
Ed. de Gregorio Torres Nebrera, Barcelona, Debolsillo, 2002.
Ed. de Luciano García Lorenzo, Madrid, Cátedra (Letras Hispánicas, 170), 1995.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Master classes, seminars and classroom practices 52.5 2.1 1, 4, 12, 11, 13, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 2
Type: Supervised      
Programmed tutorials. Preparations and presentatio of works 9.5 0.38 3, 14, 7, 11, 13, 5, 10, 2
Type: Autonomous      
Autonomous work 75 3 1, 4, 12, 11, 13, 5, 9, 10

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

- Directed activities. 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. These tutorials are programmed by the teacher, dedicated to correcting and commenting on problems at different levels of literary analysis.

- Autonomous activities. These activities include both time devoted to individual study and production of papers and analytical comments written, as well as oral presentations.

- Evaluation activities. The evaluation of the subject will be carried out through written tests.

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
Attendance and active participation in class 10% 10 0.4 1, 3, 7, 12, 11, 13, 10
First written text 40% 1.5 0.06 1, 3, 4, 12, 11, 13, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 2
Philological annotations exercice 10% 0 0 1, 4, 14, 12, 13, 5, 6, 10, 2
Second written text 40% 1.5 0.06 1, 3, 4, 12, 11, 13, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 2

CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT
To be eligible for a pass, students must complete all the required readings for the course and obtain a final weighted average mark of 5 or higher across the assessed activities.
Assessment will be based on the following components:
1. A philological annotation of a passage from one of the novels studied (10%).
2. A mid-semester written exam on the first two set texts (first partial exam) (40%).
3. A final written exam on the last two set texts (second partial exam) (40%).
4. Optional activity: class participation (10%). This may take the form of one of the following, subject to prior agreement with the lecturer:
.- A brief oral commentary on a relevant aspect of the novels analysed in class;
.- A summary and critical evaluation of a bibliographic source related to the course content;
.- A comparative analysis of a theme explored in the novels under study;
.- A group activity using the jigsaw technique, exploring a specific dimension of one of the texts analysed.
If this optional activity is not completed, the corresponding 10% will be evenly redistributed between the two written exams, each of which will then account for 45% of the final mark.
Erasmus students wishing to take an exam early must submit a written request from their home university justifying their application.
Written expression in the exams must be appropriate: students are expected to produce well-structured commentary, with coherent and fully developed paragraphs. Errors—whether in spelling, punctuation, syntax, lexical accuracy, etc.—will result in a deduction of 0.25 points per mistake. Exams with more than ten such errors will be graded as a Fail.
All coursework and assignments submitted for this subject must be original. Partial or complete plagiarism of materials published in any format will not be accepted under any circumstances. Students must properly acknowledge the authorship of all quotations and use of external sources, following standard bibliographic referencing conventions. If requested by the lecturer, students must be able to present the sources used (annotated articles and books, outlines, notes, etc.).
Submission of non-original material without appropriate citation or incorrect/inadequate use of bibliographic references will result in an automatic Fail (mark of 0), with no possibility of resit.
If a student commits any form of misconduct that could significantly alter the result of an assessment activity, the affected work will be given a mark of 0, regardless of any disciplinary proceedings that may follow. If multiple irregularities are confirmed in the assessment activities for a single course, the final mark for that course will be 0.
This course allows the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies exclusively in the preparation of the philological annotation exercise. The use of AI tools to generate text is not permitted. If such tools are used, the student must: (i) identify the sections generated using AI; (ii) specify the tools employed; and (iii) include a critical reflection on how these tools influenced both the process and the final outcome. Lack of transparency in the use of AI in this assessed task will be considered a breach of academic integrity and will result in the task being graded with 0 and declared non-recoverable, or may lead to more severe sanctions in serious cases.
At the time of each assessment activity, the lecturer will inform students (via Moodle) of the procedure and date for reviewing marks.
Students may resit the course provided they meet the following conditions:
1. They have completed at least two-thirds of the assessment components, i.e., the two written exams (first and second partial).
2. They have obtained an average mark of at least 3.5 in the continuous assessment.
3. The philologicalannotation task is non-recoverable; nor are the class participation activities. If the student did not complete the philological annotation, this component will be awarded a mark of zero for the purpose of calculating the weighted average.
The mark obtained in the resit will replace the failed component for the purpose of calculating the final mark for the course.
The classification “Not assessed” will be given if the student has submitted less than 30% of the assessment activities.
 
SINGLE ASSESSMENT
The date of the single assessment will be announced during the first week of the course on the Virtual Campus.
To be eligible for a pass, students must have completed all the required readings and carry out the following assessment tasks:
1. A text commentary or development of a topic related to the course content (20%).
2. A written exam on the first two set texts (first partial exam) (40%).
3. A written exam on the last two set texts (second partial exam) (40%).
The same resit procedure applies as in continuous assessment.
All other provisions concerning written expression, plagiarism, use of AI, review of assessed work and the “Not assessed” classification shall follow the regulations governing continuous assessment.
 

Bibliography

SPANISH REALISM AND NATURALISM

 

The teacher will provide students with a specific bibliography (articles, book chapters, books, etc.) for each block. Most of these resources will be published on the Virtual Campus.

Aldaraca, B. (1992), El ángel del hogar: Galdós y la ideología de la domesticidad en España. traducción de Vivián Ramos, Madrid, Visor.

Alonso, Cecilio (2010), Historia de la literatura española. 5: Hacia una literatura nacional. 1800-1900, Barcelona, Crítica.

Arencibia, Yolanda, Galdós. Una biografía, Barcelona, Tusquets.

Armstrong, Nancy (1991), Deseo y ficción doméstica. Una historia política de la novela, Madrid, Ediciones Cátedra-Universitat de Valencia-Instituto de la Mujer.

Ayo, Álvaro A., Conquistando la leyenda negra: imperio, fraternidad universal uy el individuo moderno en Pardo Bazán y Blasco Ibáñez (1898-1914), New Jersey, Juan de la Cuesta.

Baquero Goyanes, M. (1986), La novela naturalista española. Emilia Pardo Bazán, Universidad de Murcia.

Blanco, Alda (2001), Escritoras virtuosas: narradoras de la domesticidad en la España isabelina, Granada, Universidad.

Botrel, Jean François (2024), Libros e impresos sin fronteras: Estudios sobre historia de la edición y la lectura en España (1833-1936), Gijón, Ediciones Trea.

Burdiel, Isabel (2019), Emilia Pardo Bazán, Madrid, Taurus.

Burrow, John W. (2001), La crisis de la razón. El pensamiento europeo, 1848-1914, Barcelona, Crítica.

Clark, Linda L. (2008), Women and Achievement in Nineteenth-Century Europe, New York, Cambridge University Press.

Casalduero, Joaquín (1970), Vida y obra de Galdós (1843-1920), Madrid, Gredos.

Caudet, Francisco (1995), Galdós, Clarín. El Naturalismo en Francia y España, Madrid, Ediciones de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Caudet, Francisco, y J.M. Martínez Cachero (1993), Pérez Galdós y Clarín, Madrid, Júcar.

Caudet, Francisco (2002), El parto de la modernidad: la novela española de los siglos XIX y XX, Madrid, Ediciones de la Torre.

Clémessy, Nelly (1981), Emilia Pardo Bazán como novelista, Madrid, Fundación Universidad Española, 2 vols.

Charle, Christophe (2000), Los intelectuales en el siglo XIX. Precursores del pensamiento moderno, Madrid, Siglo Veintiuno de España Editores.

Chevrel, Yves (1982), Le naturalisme, Paris, PUF.

Correa, Gustavo (1977), Realidad, ficción y símbolo en Galdós, Madrid, Gredos.

Díaz Lage, Santiago (2020), Escritores y lectores de un día para todos. Literaturas periódicas en la España del siglo XIX, Zaragoza, Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza.

Dorca, Toni (2002), Volverás a la región. El cronotopo idílico en la novela española del siglo XIX, Madrid, Iberoamericana.

Dubois, Jacques (2000), Les romanciers du réel. De Balzac à Simenon, Paris, Éditions du Seuil.

Faus, Pilar (2003), Emilia Pardo Bazán. Su época, su vida, su obra, Fundación Pedro Barrié de la Maza.

Frau, Juan (2028), Poética del folletín. La fórmula del relato inacabable, Sevilla: Editorial Universidad de Sevilla.

Fuentes, Víctor (2019), Galdós, 100 años después, y en el presente. Ensayos actualizadores, Madrid, Visor.

Gilman, Stephen (1985), Galdós y el arte de lanovela europea, 1867-1887), Madrid, Taurus.

Gullón, Germán (1976), El narrador en la novela del siglo XIX, Madrid, Taurus, 1976

Gullón, Germán (1983), La novela como acto imaginativo, Madrid, Taurus, 1983.

Gullón, Germán (1990), La novela del XIX: estudio sobre su evolución formal, Ámsterdam-Atlanta, Rodopi, 1990.

Gullón, Germán (1992), La novela moderna en España (1885-1902), Madrid, Taurus, 1992.

Jagoe, Catherine, Alda Blanco y Cristina Enríquez de Salamanca, (1998) La mujer en los discursos de género. Texto y contextos en el siglo XIX, Barcelona, Icaria-Antrazyt.

Jiménez Asensio, Rafael (2023), El legado de Galdós. Los mimbres de la política y su ‘cuarto oscuro’ en España, Madrid: Catarata.

Labanyi, Jo (2011), Género y modernización en la novela realista española, trad. de Jacqueline Cruz, Madrid, Cátedra, pp. 205-255.

Lissorgues, Yvan, ed. (1988), Realismo y naturalismo en España en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, Barcelona, Anthropos.

Lissorgues, Yvan y Gonzalo Sobejano (1998), Pensamiento y literatura en España en el siglo XIX. Idealismo, positivismo, espiritualismo, Toulouse, Presses Universitaires du Mirail.

López, Ignacio Javier (2014), La novela ideológica (1875-1880). La literatura de ideas en la España de la Restauración, Madrid, Ediciones de la Torre.

López-Sanz, M. (1985), Naturalismo y espiritualismo en la novelística de Galdós y Pardo Bazán, Madrid, Pliegos.

Mainer, José-Carlos (2012), La escritura desatada. El mundo de las novelas, Madrid, Temas de Hoy, 2000; ed. muy ampliada en Palencia, Menoscuarto.

Martínez Arancón, Ana (2006), La ciudadanía imaginada. Modelos de conducta cívica en la novela popular de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, Madrid, Ediciones de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Mitterand, Henry (1986), Zola et le naturalisme, Paris, PUF, 1986.

Montesinos, J.F. (1968, 1969, 1972), Galdós I, II, III, Madrid, Castalia.

Nash, Mary (ed.) (2014), Feminidades y masculinidades. Arquetipos y prácticas de género, Madrid, Alianza editorial.

Núñez Ruiz, D. (1975), La mentalidad positiva en España: desarrollo y crisis, Madrid, Tucar Ediciones.

Oleza, Joan (1984), La novela del XIX. Del parto a la crisis de una ideología, Valencia, Ed. Bello, 1972; Barcelona, Laia.

Ortiz Armengol (1995), Pedro, Vida de Galdós, Barcelona, Crítica.

Pavel, Thomas (2005), Representar la existencia. El pensamiento de la novela, Barcelona, Crítica.

Petit, Marie-Claire (1972), Les personnages féminins dans les romans de Benito Pérez Galdós, París, Les Belles Lettres.

Ramos, María Dolores (coord.) (2014), Tejedoras de ciudadanía. Culturas políticas, feminismos y luchas democráticas en España, Málaga, Atenea. Estudios de Mujer, Universidad de Málaga.

Ramos, María Dolores y Mª Teresa Vera (coords.) (2002), Discursos, realidades, utopías. La construcción del sujeto femenino en los siglos XIX y XX, Barcelona, Anthropos.

Rogers, D., ed. (1973), Benito Pérez Galdós, Madrid, Taurus.

Romero Tobar, Leonardo,coord. (1998), Historia de la Literatura española. Siglo XIX (II), Madrid, Espasa.

Román Gutiérrez, Isabel (1988), Historia interna de la novela española del siglo XIX, Sevilla, Alfarediciones, 2 vols.

Rubio Cremades, Enrique, ed. (2001), Panorama crítico de la novela realista-naturalista española, Madrid, Castalia.

Sánchez Llama,Íñigo (2000), Galería de escritoras isabelinas. La prensa periódica entre 1833 y 1895, Madrid, Ediciones Cátedra-Universitat de València-Instituto de la Mujer.

Scanlon, Geraldine M. (1986), La polémica feminista en la España contemporánea (1868-1974), Madrid, Akal.

Smith, Alan E. (2005), Galdós y la imaginación mitológica, Madrid, Cátedra.

Sotelo Vázquez, Ignacio (2002), El Naturalismo en España: crítica y novela, Salamanca, Ediciones Almar.

Varela Olea, Mª Ángeles (ed.) (2021), Galdós. Cien años de actualidad, Berlin, Peter Lang.

White, Sarah L., “Liberty, Honor, Order: Gender and Political Discourse in Nineteenth-Century Spain”, en Victoria Lorée Enders y Pamela Beth Radcliff, Constructing Spanish Womenhood, State University of New York Press, 1999, pp. 233-258.

Zavala, Iris.M. (coord.) (1982), Romanticismo y Realismo, volumen V de Historia y Crítica de la Literatura Española, Barcelona, Crítica.

Zavala, Iris M., coord. (1994), Romanticismo y Realismo, suplemento al volumen V de Historia y Crítica de la Literatura española, Barcelona, Crítica.

Zubiaurre, María Teresa (2000), El espacio en la novela realista. Paisajes, miniaturas, perspectivas, México, FCE.


Software

Moodle, Teams


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