Skip to main content

Module

SPA4006 : Spectres of the Past: Memory in Contemporary Spanish Culture

  • Offered for Year: 2020/21
  • Module Leader(s): Dr Philippa Page
  • Owning School: Modern Languages
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Semester 1 Credit Value: 20
ECTS Credits: 10.0

Aims

In consonance with the overall aim of the degrees offered in the SML, this module aims to contribute
to students’ broad-based knowledge of contemporary Spanish culture. It will build on skills gained at
Stages 1 and 2 through studying a range of literary, dramatic and cinematic expressions of the memory of the Civil War and Francoism.

Outline Of Syllabus

This module draws on material in Spanish and explores how literature, theatre and film have contributed to and shaped debates addressing how the memory of the Civil War and Francoism should be expressed and represented. It will address questions of how to read and interpret literary, dramatic and filmic texts in the light of broader theoretical debates concerning the collective memory of dictatorship. Particular emphasis will be placed on transnational and multidirectional approaches to Memory Studies, whereby contemporary works attempt to establish productive dialogues with other memories of authoritarianism - most notably in this case the Holocaust. The module aims to provide an introduction to key conceptualisations of memory that have characterised the evolving interdisciplinary field of Memory Studies, as well as how approaches to memory have evolved in Spain since 1975. Understanding cultural memory as the way in which the past shapes and informs a society in the present, the module will evolve to remain up to date the most contemporary debates about the past. The module is comparative in spirit and assessed essays will be required to compare different literary genres/media. The module is taught in English, with certain activities in Spanish.

Teaching Methods

Module leaders are revising this content in light of the Covid 19 restrictions.
Revised and approved detail information will be available by 17 August.

Assessment Methods

Module leaders are revising this content in light of the Covid 19 restrictions.
Revised and approved detail information will be available by 17 August.

Reading Lists

Timetable