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Description: |
This course will study various literary, artistic, and historical representations to better understand how the discourses of religious and secular life shaped identity, politics, and cultural production in medieval and early modern Spain. We will explore the writing of those who would become saints (e.g., Teresa de Avila and Juan de la Cruz) as well as texts that examine either the morality or amorality of these periods through characters like go-betweens and pícaros. We will also investigate how various kings and queens (including The Catholic Monarchs, Carlos V, and Felipe II) are represented in portraits and how writers incorporated fictionalized versions of monarchs in their texts. Some themes which will help guide our discussion will include: gender, the saintly body, crime and punishment, the Spanish Inquisition, religious difference, and the burgeoning empire. A few short papers and/or exams, a longer research paper, and a presentation will be the basis for evaluation. In Spanish. |