Rethinking the Baroque
SPAN 246
Spring 2017 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
COL 284 |
The baroque has been defined as the quintessential Hispanic (Spanish and Latin American) aesthetic, in literature and the visual arts. It has also been defined as an essentially conservative, orthodox, pessimistic, and world-denying aesthetic. Instead, this class will examine the aesthetic in terms of its embrace of the sensual, material world; its love of fragmentation, and its imagining of a new citizen-reader able to participate in civic debate. We will examine fundamental categories of the literary baroque, such as wit (agudeza) and desengaño (disenchantment), and the 17th-century equivalent of the nature-nurture debate (nature-art) and situate them in relation to scientific, political, and religious revolutions of the period. We will therefore explore ways in which 17th-century Spanish culture--far from being focused on decline and decay--optimistically embraced change and pioneered a proto-democratic aesthetic. We will look at diverse baroque literary phenomena, from poetry to satire, from theories of invention and wit (Gracián, Tesauro, Pallavicino) to picaresque narrative, and from New World baroque expressions ("barroco de indias") to political treatises. The democratic thrust of the Hispanic baroque will become apparent in the figure of the reader-citizen and in literary works that functioned as a civic space for public debate. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA RLAN |
| Course Format: Lecture | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (COL)(RMST) |
Major Readings:
Luis de Góngora, SOLEDADES and FABULA DE POLIFEMO Y GALATEA
Baltasar Gracián, ORACULO MANUAL Y ARTE DE PRUDENCIA and EL CRITICON
Saavedra Fajardo, IDEA DE UN PRINCIPE POLITICO CHRISTIANO
Francisco Quevedo, LA HORA DE TODOS
Bernardo de Balbuena, GRANDEZA MEXICANA
Calderón de la Barca, EL GRAN TEATRO DEL MUNDO
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly responses; one paper assignment (to devise your own theory of the Baroque) (10 pp.); final research paper (10 pp.); oral presentation; attendance and informed participation |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
SPAN 246 is intended for students who have completed SPAN 221 with a B- or better. Students who have not done so should consult with the professor before preregistering. Readings, written assignments, and class discussions will be in Spanish. Only COL students may take this course CR/U. Reading and writing are the best ways for adult learners to improve their spoken Spanish. You will therefore improve all of your language skills in this course. |
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