The course aims to analyze the attempt made by Spanish narrators of the second half of the twentieth century to reconstruct a collective memory of the Civil War, seeking to highlight the complexity of a historical era full of contradictions. Since its inception, Spanish democracy has been characterized by a constant dialectical tension between the need to forget the horror of the war ("official policy of forgetting") and the desire to remember the most tragic and traumatic historical event in contemporary Spanish history. Considering some novels with a hybrid status, in which literary and mass literature merge to produce original outcomes, literary representations of the war,which oscillate between a mythical and a traumatic vision of the conflict, will be compared. Authors such as J. Sender, Delibes, Martín Gaite, Cercas, Chacón or Méndez induce reflection on the relationship between history and fiction and the limits between reality and imagination.

1. Brief overview of the Civil War and its repercussions on Spanish culture in the second half of the twentieth century.

2. The theme of war during Francoism between exile and censorship. Requiem por un campesino español by Sender.

3. The myth of the two Spains in Cinco horas con Mario by Delibes.

4. Spanish democratic transition and the "official policy of oblivion."

5. Postmodernism and the new historical novel in democratic Spain.

7. Trauma and myth in the fiction of Martín Gaite, Cercas, Méndez and Chacón.

-Knowledge and understanding (knowledge and understanding) of content and problems characteristic of the discipline (historiographical framework of literary genres under study, authors and issues concerning twentieth-century Spanish culture, etc.).
-Applied knowledge and understanding (applying knowledge and understanding) according to possible professional and work-related fields. Textual analysis activities will take into account the specificities related to the teaching of the subject.
-Autonomy of judgment (making judgements), fostering autonomy in making choices and organizing study, formulating hypotheses and solving problems, developing critical arguments and autonomous judgments.
-Communication skills (communication skills) in clearly conveying knowledge, ideas, problems and solutions to expert and non-expert interlocutors, with the use of appropriate language register.
-Learning skills (learning skills) honing previous study skills independently, with appropriate critical maturity.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Lectures.

Course books

‑ Cercas, Javier, Soldados de Salamina, Barcelona, Tusquets Editores 2001.

‑ Chacón, Dulce, La voz dormida (2002), Barcelona, Punto de Lectura 2015.

‑ Delibes, Miguel, Cinco horas con Mario (1966), Barcelona, Destino 2009.

‑ Martín Gaite, Carmen, El cuarto de atrás (1978), Barcelona, Destino 2006.

‑ Méndez, Alberto, Los girasoles ciegos, Barcelona, Anagrama 2004.

‑ Morelli, G., Manera, D., Letteratura spagnola del Novecento. Dal modernismo al postmoderno, Milano, Mondadori 2007, pp. 193-279.

‑ Sender, Ramón J., Réquiem por un campesino español (1960), Barcelona, Destino 2009.

Assessment

Oral examination.

students are asked to demonstrate:

-   to have a good knowledge of the course program (50% of the final evaluation).

-   their capacity to apply the acquired concepts to the analysis and the critical evaluation of didactic materials (30% of the final evaluation).

-   to understand and speak properly in the Spanish language (20% of the final evaluation).

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Course books

Non-attending students should also read:

‑ Comellas, José Luis, Historia de España contemporánea, Madrid, Rialp 2008, pp. 279-562.

‑ García de Cortázar, Fernando, Los mitos de la historia de España, Barcelona, Planeta 2006, pp. 193-367.

‑ Vattimo, Gianni, La società trasparente (1989), Milano, Garzanti 2011.

A detailed list of critical readings will be provided during the course.

Assessment

Oral examination.

students are asked to demonstrate:

-   to have a good knowledge of the course program (50% of the final evaluation).

-   their capacity to apply the acquired concepts to the analysis and the critical evaluation of didactic materials (30% of the final evaluation).

-   to understand and speak properly in the Spanish language (20% of the final evaluation).

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.