Module Description: By studying a variety of texts written in Spain in the period between 1948 and 2016 this module will provide an overview of ‘classical’ and contemporary theorizations of gender, and of the multiple ways in which gender is encountered in every aspect of our lives. The different ways of defining gender issues and shaping gender politics in Western and non-Western societies will be considered. We will study the historical and cultural contexts in which the main debates have arisen and analyze themes such as gender, identity, sexuality, motherhood, nationhood, ethnicity, ‘race’ and religion. 

The first five weeks will focus on Antonio Buero Vallejo and Ana María Matute, two major Spanish writers who started their careers under the Franco regime. Their novels will be studied in the context of the political, cultural and social circumstances of the post-war and transition periods. The second five weeks of the module will focus on Lucía Etxebarria and Trifonia Melibea Obone, whose works will be studied in the context of the last political, economic and cultural changes Spain has experienced, including globalisation, immigration, postcolonialism and the economic crisis. 

 

Aims and Learning Outcomes: 

This module seeks to study key Spanish literature texts by exploring gender as a social construct shaped by race, class, sexuality, disability, and nation; and to familiarise students with feminist theories of oppression, power, and resistance. The main objective of this module is to prepare students to understand how the study of gender contributes to the study of Spanish contemporary literature, essay and drama, and to equip them with the tools to critically analyze written texts that deal with gender. 

Upon successful completion of this module, students will:  

1) Be able to identify and explain the ways in which gender shapes our understanding, perception and experience of the world  

2) Develop a critical vocabulary that includes key theoretical debates in historical and contemporary Gender Studies and literary theory 

3) Be able to investigate issues and debates around gender in Spanish literary works, and to collectively develop arguments and negotiate solutions to gender-related problems  

4) Interpret texts with the lens of gender  

5) Develop their research techniques and skills and engage in critical debate. 

Suggested Reading: 

Texts 

Students are requested to read any edition of the following texts: 

Antonio Buero Vallejo, Historia de una escalera (1947) 

Ana Maria Matute, Primera memoria (1960) 

Lucia Etxebarria, Cosmofobia (2007) 

Trofonia Melibea Obono, La bastarda (2016) 

 

Recommended reading: 

 

Butler, Judith (1990) Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York, NY: Routledge, Chapman and Hall. 

Celaya Carrillo, Beatriz (2019) “Feminista y queer en Guinea Ecuatorial: la vulnerable persistencia de Melibea Obono.” Ámbitos Feministas, vol. 8, pp. 61-77. 

Durán, Victor M (2007) "El determinismo en Historia de una escalera de Antonio Buero-Vallejo," The Coastal Review: An Online Peer-reviewed Journal: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. 

Gray-Rosendale, Laura, and Gil Harootunian (2003) Fractured Feminisms: Rhetoric, Context, and Contestation. State University of New York Press. 

Jones, Margaret EW (1970) The Literary World of Ana María Matute. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. 

Lugones, Maria (2008) “Coloniality of Gender.” Worlds & Knowledges Otherwise, vol. 2, pp. 1-17 

Minsongui Dieudonné, Mendogo (1997). “Mujer y creación literaria en Guinea Ecuatorial.” Epos: Revista de filología, vol. 13, pp. 209-18 

Moi, Toril (2002) Sexual/Textual Politics: Feminist Literary Theory, NY: Routledge. 

------ (2006) "'I Am Not a Feminist, but …': How Feminism Became the F-Word." PMLA: Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 121.5: 1735-41. 

del Palmar Álvarez-Blanco, Maria (2011) ‘De etnomanías y otros terrores: Literatura e inmigración en la España del siglo XXIʼ, in Contornos de la narrativa española actual, ed. by M.P. Álvarez-Blanco, and T. Dorca. Madrid: Iberoamericana-Vervuert, pp. 55-65 

Ryle, Robyn (2011) Questioning Gender: A Sociological Exploration. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. 

Shaw, Susan M and Janet Lee (eds) (2015) Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2015. 

Shelnutt, William (1959) Symbolism in Buero's "Historia de una Escalera", Hispania, vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 61-65 
Solnit, Rebecca (2014). Men explain things to me. Chicago: Haymarket Books. 

Zimmerman, Tegan (2017) "#Intersectionality: The Fourth Wave Feminist Twitter Community" Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice/Études Critiques sur le Genre, la Culture, et la Justice 38.1. 

 