Spanish Women's Voices

Fall 2021

Strange Girls: Spanish Women’s Voices

Listed in: Sexuality, Women's and Gender Studies, as SWAG-320  |  Spanish, as SPAN-310

Faculty

Sara J. Brenneis (Section 01)

Description

(Offered as SPAN 310 and SWAG 320) Although at times derided as abnormal “chicas raras,” Spanish women have carved out a particular niche in the history of Spanish literature. These novelists, poets, essayists and short story authors have distinguished themselves by tackling issues of sexuality, subjectivity, marginalization, sexism, and feminism head-on. But how do we define an escritura femenina in Spain and what, if anything, differentiates it as a gendered space from canonical “masculine” writing? This course examines the social, historical and cultural transformations women have undergone in Spain from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century. We will explore a lively variety of texts and literary genres by well-known authors such as Emilia Pardo Bazán, Carmen Laforet, Carmen Martín Gaite, Ana Rossetti and Dulce Chacón, while also widening our focus to Afro-Spanish voices who have traditionally been excluded. Students will create their own canon by becoming the editors of an Anthology of Spanish Women’s Writing. Conducted in Spanish.

Prerequisite: Spanish 301 or permission of instructor. Fall Semester: Professor Brenneis.

Offerings