Aims

In consonance with the overall aim of the degrees offered in the SML, the main aim of this module is to contribute to students’ broad-based knowledge of aspects of the history, politics, society and culture in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America.

The aim of this module is to analyse artefacts of Iberian and Latin American cultural production linked to specific historical contexts, in the light of contemporary critical literature on cultural production, power and society. This module addresses the importance of cultural production from the 20th century to the present day, exploring how agents producing cultural representations (photographers, musicians, writers, poets, journalists, film makers, the media and state institutions) use cultural artefacts to impact on people’s relationships with power and society. The module is taught in Spanish and assessed in Spanish and English. An oral presentation in Spanish is set in semester 1 and one 2750-word essay in English is in place for semester 2. Analysis of the material, lectures, and class interactions during students’ presentations in Spanish provide useful preparation for the Year Abroad at Stage 3. Through a variety of study skills tasks, this module prepares students for more specialist study in Iberian and Latin American cultural and/or historical studies at Stage 4.

Outline Of Syllabus

- Cultural representations, authorship, and politics.
- Representations of political issues in popular culture in Spain during the Civil war, the Franco dictatorship, and memory in the transition to democracy.
- Cultural production around the idea of revolution, the military dictatorships and transition to democracy in Latin America 1959 - 2019
- Examples from Cuba, Nicaragua, Argentina, Chile and Brazil.
- Documentary photography, chronicles, poetry, theatre, graphic novels, film, music.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

All knowledge outcomes are addressed by the mix of lectures, seminar delivery and guided group discussion of cultural artefacts presented in context. This module is taught in SPANISH and assessed in Spanish (semester 1) and ENGLISH (semester 2).

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The oral presentation in Semester 1 allows for practice on commentary on the analysis of one expression, placing it in historical context, and using critical literature. The essay in Semester 2 demands a wider scope of sources for the analysis of cultural artefacts and a deeper discussion of historical circumstances and cultural studies theory.