HISP368

This course studies the emergence and evolution of the Realist novel in late-nineteenth-century Spain as an aesthetic response to the vast social, political and cultural changes wrought by the uneven processes of modernity. Special attention is given to how Spanish writers debated, embraced, and rejected the techniques of Realism and Naturalism cultivated elsewhere in Europe, and also how they sought to revive the Spanish Realist tradition by looking to works by Cervantes, Velázquez, and Goya. Readings include novels and essays by authors such as Emilia Pardo Bazán, Juan Valera, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Benito Pérez Galdós, and Caterina Albert, which are engaged in light of issues such as gender, class, nationalism, and religion. Prerequisite(s): one 200-level Hispanic studies course above HISP 211. Recommended background: HISP 231. Only open to juniors and seniors.