Undergraduate Course: Written Lives: Literature, Digressiveness, and the Real (Ordinary) (ELCH09006)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures | 
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences | 
 
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) | 
Availability | Available to all students | 
 
| SCQF Credits | 20 | 
ECTS Credits | 10 | 
 
 
| Summary | An introduction to the study of 20th- and 21st-century Spanish prose writings (peninsular prose narratives, in the main) that are concerned with recounting lives and "the real", representing the coherence of experience in narrative form, whilst engaging anew with history (Spain's recent historical past -- the Civil War and the Franco years in particular). An exploration of the ways in which these narratives normally partake of more than one genre of writing, such as autobiographical and biographical writing, memoir, essay, travelogue, or fiction, without necessarily always belonging to any one mode and not normally in the name of the novel. An exploration of generic questions, in particular an analysis of the range of writing extending from autobiography and biography to fiction, thematic ones (esp. the importance accorded to memory, representations of the multiplicity of relationships, the interconnectedness of the worlds represented, and the relationship of the creative imagination with writing), as well as formal ones, especially narrative form and structure, digressiveness or errancy (rhetorical and narrative). | 
 
| Course description | 
    
    Primary texts studied: 
Javier Marías, NEGRA ESPALDA DEL TIEMPO 
Javier Cercas, ANATOMÍA DE UN INSTANTE 
Antonio Muñoz Molina, SEFARAD 
Rosa Montero, LA LOCA DE LA CASA 
Vicente Molina Foix, EL ABRECARTAS 
Juan José Millás, EL MUNDO 
Enrique Vila-Matas, DIETARIO VOLUBLE 
    
    
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites | 
 | 
Co-requisites |  | 
 
| Prohibited Combinations |  | 
Other requirements |  Ordinary and Visiting Students only. | 
 
| Additional Costs |  Purchase of primary texts studied | 
 
 
Information for Visiting Students 
| Pre-requisites | In order to be eligible to take 4th Year Options, Visiting Students should have the equivalent of at least two years of study at University level of the appropriate language(s) and culture(s). | 
 
		| High Demand Course? | 
		Yes | 
     
 
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |   
Learning Outcomes 
    By the end of this course students will be expected to show the ability: 
- to demonstrate sound knowledge and understanding of the chosen specialism(s) 
- to recognise and acknowledge the complexity of the subject 
- to show an understanding of and apply competently relevant concepts and theories 
- to construct coherent arguments which demonstrate an awareness of the problems posed by the texts/ issues studied 
- to demonstrate a high level of expression in both written and oral presentations 
- to offer alternative perspectives and show an awareness of contrasting viewpoints 
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Reading List 
Primary texts studied: 
Javier Marías, NEGRA ESPALDA DEL TIEMPO 
Javier Cercas, ANATOMÍA DE UN INSTANTE 
Antonio Muñoz Molina, SEFARAD 
Rosa Montero, LA LOCA DE LA CASA 
Vicente Molina Foix, EL ABRECARTAS 
Juan José Millás, EL MUNDO 
Enrique Vila-Matas, DIETARIO VOLUBLE 
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills | 
Not entered | 
 
| Special Arrangements | 
N/A | 
 
| Study Abroad | 
N/A | 
 
| Keywords | Spain,prose narratives,genre,autobiography,digression,creative imagination | 
 
 
Contacts 
| Course organiser | Dr Alexis Grohmann 
Tel: (0131 6)50 3678 
Email:  | 
Course secretary | Miss Kat Zabecka 
Tel: (0131 6)50 4026 
Email:  | 
   
 
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