Medieval Spanish Literature

Code:

LLC081

Acronym:

LEIM

Instance: 2014/2015 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Portuguese and Romance Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LA	0	LA - Study Plan	3	-	6	52	162
LLC	31	Plano Oficial do ano letivo 2013_2014	2	-	6	52	162
			3

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The purpose of this course is to lead the students to a close contact with some of the most relevant texts of Castilian medieval literature of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and to make them apprehend the social, cultural and aesthetical environment in which those texts were produced. The understanding of the role played by the literary activity of this period in the construction of historical Spanish identity is also an important goal to be achieved.

Learning outcomes and competences

The current syllabus aims at providing students with the skills to perceive literary production as an important part of the cultural definition of Spain. Courtly and epic themes, here represented by the works «Razón de amor con los denuestos del agua e el vino», on the one hand, and «Poema de Fernán González» and «Mocedades de Rodrigo» on the other, will provide students with the textual background needed to ascertain how Spanish cultural milieu established links with the European literary culture. Comparative methodologies will be central to this inquiry. This point stated, it will be possible to understand subsequent cultural events, mainly in the late Middle Ages, that lead epics to become the basis of national identity, while courtly culture remained inconspicuous until the fifteenth and sixteenth century. The appropriation of epic themes by alphonsine and post-alphonsine historiography allows to understand the growing importance and diffusion of cidian matter as well as the contribution of historigraphy writting to the construction of literary Castilian language.

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. Introduction to Castilian medieval literature:

1.1 Castile in the european and iberian context;

1. 2 Geographical diversity and the question of the «reconquista»;

1.3 Social groups and monarchy:

1.4 Oral and written culture and its agents.

2. Castile and European courtly literature:

2.1 On Occitan «troubadors» in Iberia;

2.2 Galician-portuguese poetry in Castilian environment;

2.3 Troubadouresque roots of the Razón de amor con los denuestos del agua e el vino;

2.4 Alfonso X, «trovador» and patron.

3. From epic legends to the «cantar de gesta»:

3.1 The «Poema de Mio Cid» and its issues;

3.2 The cidian theme in latin and vernacular historiography;

3.3 Epic traditions, «cantar de gesta» and «romanceiro».

4. A castilian specificity: the «mester de clerecía»:

4.1 Epic traditions and the «mester de clerecía»: the «Poema de Fernán González»;

4.2 The poem «Mocedades de Rodrigo» and late «cantares de gesta».

Bibliography:

CATALÁN, Diego, La épica española. Nueva documentación y nueva evaluación, Madrid, Fundación Ramón Menéndez Pidal, 2001

CATALÁN, Diego, El Cid en la historia y sus inventores, Madrid, Fundación Ramón Menéndez Pidal, 2002

CLAVERO, Dolores, Romances viejos de temas épicos nacionales. Relaciones con gestas y crónicas, Madrid, Ediciones del Orto, 1994

CORREIA, Carla, «A Razón de Amor e a Poesia Galego-Portuguesa», in Seminário Medieval 2009-2011, ed. M. R. Ferreira, A. S. Laranjinha e J. C. Miranda, Porto, Estratégias Criativas, 2011, pp. 125-180

FERNÁNDEZ-ORDÓÑEZ, Inés (ed.) (2001): Alfonso X el Sabio y las Crónicas de España, Valladolid, Universidad de Valladolid

FRANCHINI, Enzo, El manuscrito, la lengua y el ser literario de la Razon de Amor, Madrid, C.S.I.C, 1993

MENÉNDEZ PIDAL, Ramón, La España del Cid, Madrid, Espasa-Calpe, 1969  

MÁRQUEZ VILLANUEVA, Francisco, El concepto cultural alfonsi, Barcelona, E. Bellaterra, 2004

MARTIN, Georges, Les juges de Castille, Paris, Klinksieck, 1992

SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio, España, un enigma historico, (2ª ed.) 2 voll., Barcelona, Edhasa, 2001

Mandatory literature

Menéndez Pidal, Ramón, 1869-1968; La Espana del Cid
Alvar, Manuel 340; Épica espanola medieval. ISBN: 84-276-0560-9
Martin, Georges; Les juges de Castille. ISBN: 2-902966-06-7
Smith, Colin 340; Poema de mio Cid. ISBN: 84-376-0060-X
Castro, Américo; Espana en su historia. ISBN: 84-7423-187-6

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theory-practical classes.

keywords

Humanities > Literature
Humanities

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	30,00
Trabalho escrito	70,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	54,00
Frequência das aulas	54,00
Trabalho de investigação	54,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Attending 75% of classes, unless established otherwise by law.

Calculation formula of final grade

Research assignment: 70%. Final exam or essay: 30%; 

Examinations or Special Assignments

In accordance with the Assessment Regulations in force.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

In accordance with the Assessment Regulations in force.

Classification improvement

In accordance with the Assessment Regulations in force.

Observations

Notes on the bibliography: In addition to the bibliographical references, most recommended editions have interpretative and contextual introductions that will help the first analysis of the works.