Undergraduate Course: The Rise and Emergence of the Novel in Golden-Age Spain (ELCH10050)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | European Languages and Cultures - Hispanic Studies |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | How and when the novel, as a new genre, appeared in the history of literature is still the object of many critical debates; however, a significant number of scholars agree that it was during the Golden Age of Spanish literature. This course will consider the main theories of the novel ? particularly Watt's rise of the novel, Bakhtin's novelisation and emergence of the novel, and Frye's distinction between novel and romance ? in order to consider how these theories apply to the most conspicuous Spanish novels of the 16th and the 17th centuries. In so doing, we will discover the first specimens of the novel in Spain, in the anonymous Lazarillo de Tormes and Mateo Aleman's Guzman de Alfarache. We will also discuss the nature of the picaresque novel and how it had a profound influence upon European literature, especially on the most important 18th-century British novelists. This course will also analyse the foil romance-novel in Cervantes's Novelas ejemplares, with references to Don Quixote (which does not have to be read). Finally, the two most important specimens of the picaresque novel, i.e. Quevedo's El Buscon and Lopez de Ubeda's La picara Justina, will be examined in class in order to understand the decline of the picaresque and the novel. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Entry to Spanish Hons required, unless taken as part of Spanish 3 |
| Additional Costs | Purchase of primary texts |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
The aim of this course is three-fold - it seeks:
(1) to provide an extensive analysis of the Golden-Age novel, specifically of the picaresque novel,
(2) to understand fully and comprehensively the nature of the novel as a literary genre,
(3) to show the relevance of the Spanish picaresque novel in the establishment of the novel as a new genre.
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Assessment Information
| one 3-hour exam |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | novel, picaresque novel |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof John Ardila
Tel: (0131 6)50 3679
Email: j.ardila@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Fiona Scanlon
Tel: (0131 6)50 3646
Email: Fiona.Scanlon@ed.ac.uk |
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