Travis C. Landry

Reading World Literature

CWL 333

Literature is world literature when it is read for its truly global significance. To read literature as world literature is to discover its diversity. It is to see how fundamental questions inspire very different forms of literary creativity across the globe — to seek intersections across time and space and thereby to appreciate the many ways literary texts represent their cultures. This course explores what it means to read world literature by focusing on a single theme or problem common to many cultures but different for each. For example, the course might focus on the problem of migrations to see how global literary forms have found different ways to represent what happens when people move from place to place. Or the course might focus on the world's different ways of representing coming of age, or how the environment is figured across cultures. The course studies these themes through focus on texts from nations and cultures not routinely featured together in literature classes. At the same time, the course explores the theory of world literature, as well as the reasons to study it, which include broadening our sense of literature's possible forms and uses, appreciating the world's diversity through its literature and developing one basis for a sense of global citizenship. Offered every other year.

Reading World Literature

INDS 333

Literature is world literature when it is read for its truly global significance. To read literature as world literature is to discover its diversity. It is to see how fundamental questions inspire very different forms of literary creativity across the globe--to seek intersections across time and space and thereby to appreciate the many ways literary texts represent their cultures. This course explores what it means to read world literature by focusing on a single theme or problem common to many cultures but different for each. For example, the course might focus on the problem of migrations to see how global literary forms have found different ways to represent what happens when people move from place to place. Or the course might focus on the world's different ways of representing coming of age, or how the environment is figured across cultures. The course studies these themes through focus on texts including poems, plays, novels, stories, and other literary forms from nations and cultures not routinely featured together in literature classes. At the same time, the course explores the theory of world literature, as well as the reasons to study it, which include broadening our sense of literature's possible forms and uses, appreciating the world's diversity through its literature, and developing one basis for a sense of global citizenship. Offered every other year.

Senior Honors

MLL 498

This course offers independent study for senior candidates for honors, under the direction of the honors supervisor. Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Normally offered in the spring semester, this course may be offered in the fall with the approval of the student's honors supervisor and the chair of modern languages and literature.

Self and Society: Intensive Introductory Spanish

SPAN 111Y

This first half of a yearlong course is focused on the self in a broader social context for students who are beginning the study of Spanish or who have had minimal exposure to the language. The course offers the equivalent of conventional beginning and intermediate language study. The first semester's work comprises an introduction to Spanish as a spoken and written language. The work includes practice — in both master teacher classes and scheduled sessions with an apprentice teacher — in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and reading materials serve to reinforce communicative skills, build vocabulary and enhance discussion of the individual and community. No prerequisite. Offered every year.

Self and Society: Intensive Introductory Spanish

SPAN 112Y

This second half of a yearlong course is a continuation of SPAN 111Y. The second semester consists of and continued study of the fundamentals of Spanish, while incorporating literary and cultural materials to develop techniques of reading, cultural awareness, and mastery of the spoken and written language. The work includes practice, in both master teacher classes and scheduled sessions with an apprentice teacher, in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and reading materials serve to reinforce communicative skills, build vocabulary and enhance discussion of the individual and community. Prerequisite: SPAN 111Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

Language and Culture: Intermediate Spanish

SPAN 213Y

This first half of the yearlong intermediate-level language course is focused on language and culture for students who are interested in developing their ability to speak, read, write and understand Spanish. In addition to a comprehensive grammar review, the primary texts chosen for the course serve as a general introduction to Hispanic culture and literature. Other materials include short essays, newspaper articles, films, television series and songs, which together will provide a point of departure for discussions on a range of issues. One additional 50-minute practice session per week, conducted by a language teaching assistant, will be required. Prerequisite: SPAN 111Y–112Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

Language and Culture: Intermediate Spanish

SPAN 214Y

This second half of the yearlong intermediate-level language course is focused on language and culture for students who are interested in developing their ability to speak, read, write and understand Spanish. In addition to a comprehensive grammar review, the primary texts chosen for the course serve as a general introduction to Hispanic culture and literature. Other materials include short essays, newspaper articles, films, television series and songs, which together will provide a point of departure for discussions on a range of issues. One additional 50-minute practice session per week, conducted by a language teaching assistant, will be required. Prerequisite: SPAN 213Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

Literature and Film: Advanced Writing in Spanish

SPAN 321

This course uses literature and film to give advanced students the opportunity to strengthen their ability to write analytically and creatively in Spanish. The course will also have strong emphasis on speaking and reading in Spanish. Works from various literary genres and selected Spanish-language films are among the materials on which class discussion and writing assignments will be centered. To deploy this content, we will use digital technology that supports the acquisition of advanced vocabulary, the development of reading comprehension and writing. A grammar review, focused mainly on typical areas of difficulty, may also be included. Prerequisite: SPAN 213Y–214 or equivalent. Offered every year.

Advanced Grammar, Conversation, and Composition

SPAN 321Y

This course is designed to give advanced students the opportunity to refine and increase their abilities to write, read, and speak Spanish. The course will have a strong emphasis on oral proficiency. Cultural and literary readings, writing software, and selected Spanish-language films are among the materials on which class discussion and assignments may be centered. A grammar review, focused mainly on typical areas of difficulty, will be included. Prerequisite: SPAN 213Y-214Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

Advanced Grammar, Conversation, and Composition

SPAN 322Y

This course is a continuation of Advanced Grammar, Conversation and Composition. Please see the description for SPAN 321Y. Prerequisite: SPAN 213Y-214Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

Introduction to Spanish Literature

SPAN 324

This foundational course explores the trajectory of Spanish literature 1) beginning with ballads that reflect the confluence of Christian, Jewish and Arab cultures of the Early Modern Period, 2) through the Golden Age short stories of Cervantes and the theater of Calderón de la Barca, 3) to the Romantics and their explorations of new forms of subjectivity in verse and deeply psychological prose, 4) to Realist depictions of social change in the late nineteenth century, 5) to Modernist poetry and works by Federico García Lorca, 6) concluding with post-Civil War and post-Franco writings, including a contemporary novel about a journalist who discovers the untold history of his father while researching a story on a leader of the Fascist regime. Among the films included is a documentary about the participation of American volunteers who defied the US government and joined the International Brigades to combat Franco during the Spanish Civil War, and in addition to the course anthology and shorter pieces, we will also read original editions of select primary texts. This is an excellent course for students who have taken SPAN 321 because it serves as a bridge course for more advanced literature classes. However, it is also ideal for students who have done more advanced courses, given that it provides an important understanding of Spanish literature (and its relationship to Latin American literature). Finally, it is a great opportunity for students with interest in theater, since we stage two of the plays we read. Other aims center on building skills for analytic writing in Spanish and building the vocabulary useful for interpretation and discussion of film and literary works in Spanish. Finally, SPAN 324 can satisfy a requirement for the MLL major in Spanish literature and should be taken early by students considering such a major track. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every other year.

Sex, Science and the Realist Novel in Spain

SPAN 347

Literature and science have enjoyed a fluid relationship for centuries, but in the particular case of the 19th century, the novel became a laboratory for understanding both the individual and society. In Spain, writers sought to capture and critique "reality" with new knowledge about the laws governing behavior, and in the process they came to reveal unanticipated truths about the nature of scientific discovery. In particular, sex was on the mind, and in this course we will attempt to understand how and why. Across Europe, groundbreaking, often disquieting schools of thought fueled the popular imagination, from evolutionism to criminology, experimental medicine and psychoanalysis. Together, in Spanish translation, these writings and related essays on sex will frame our discussions of novels from several of the greatest Spanish realists, including Benito Pérez Galdós, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Jacinto Octavio Picón, and Leopoldo Alas (Clarín). Their representations both disturb and entertain, feeling more like fun-house mirrors than objective reflections of reality and thus we will no doubt question the science of such reflections. Our last author will be Miguel de Unamuno, as we look at how this wayward realist and his later novel Niebla (1914) managed to turn the entire enterprise on its head. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Spanish Romanticism — Transgressions of Self in Romantic Spain

SPAN 363

From the historical shadows of birthright, religious oppression and absolutism emerge the makings of Promethean individualism in Spain at the dawn of the nineteenth century, with fire stolen through profanations, infidelities, perversions of desire, erotic sentiment, secret fellowships, unbound interiority and political censure. Indeed, in its various manifestations, transgression as a creative force drives new configurations of the self in opposition to established literary norms and cultural conservatism at this watershed moment in the nation's history. Structured around distinct, often mixed genres of the period (theater, poetry, prose), our discussions will address how to define Romanticism; what role specific writers of the period have had in shaping literary history in Spain and beyond; why cultural production, namely literature, and nation building occur in tandem; and where gender factors in the equation. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

The Legacy of Islam in Spanish Literature since the Enlightenment

SPAN 365

This course explores the representation of cultural exchange in Spanish literature from a perspective framed by the legacy of Islam in narratives of exile, travel, immigration, conflict, nationalism and spiritual awakening. Though attention will be given to important contextual issues and historical shifts across periods, much of the focus will be on the relationship between Spain and Morocco from the eighteenth century to the present. The Strait of Gibraltar will figure in our discussions as a symbolic point of crossing for the coexistence and challenges of neighboring cultures. In addition to several films and critical studies, the primary readings might include: (a) contemporary fiction from Juan Goytisolo, an iconic expatriate living in Marrakech, and Najat El-Hachmi, whose award-winning novel in Spanish translation "El ultimo patriarca" (2008), provides a singular account of the trials of assimilation for a young Moroccan girl; (b) depictions of the regional wars and colonial tensions, like Ramon J. Senders' "Iman" (1930), from the early 20th century; (c) the modernist Maghreb aesthetic of fin de siglo writers from Andalusia;(d) the journal of Domingo Badía (Ali Bey) whose undercover pilgrimage to Mecca from 1804 to 1807 disguised as a Muslim gives an unprecedented view of North Africa and the sacred site; and (e) the humanistic pluralism of the "Cartas marruecas" (1789) by Jose Cadalso. From these selections our discussions will address issues of religious difference, geography and identity. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Special Topics

SPAN 391

Individual Study

SPAN 493

This course offers an opportunity to study on an individual basis an area of special interest — literary, cultural or linguistic — under the regular supervision of a faculty member. It is offered primarily to candidates for honors, to majors and, under special circumstances, to potential majors and minors. Individual study is intended to supplement, not to take place of, regular courses in the curriculum of each language program. Staff limitations restrict this offering to a very few students. To enroll in an individual study, a student must identify a member of the MLL department willing to direct the project, and in consultation with them, write up a one page proposal for the IS which must be approved by the department chair before the individual study can go forward. The proposal should specify the schedule of reading and/or writing assignments and the schedule of meeting periods. The amount of work in an IS should approximate that required on average in regular courses of corresponding levels. It is suggested that students begin their planning of an IS well in advance, so that they can devise a proposal and seek departmental approval before the registrar's deadline. Typically, an IS will earn the student 0.25 or 0.50 units of credit. At a minimum, the department expects the student to meet with the instructor one hour per week. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study preferably the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval before the registrar’s deadline.