What is it that makes Spain "Spain"?  What images and/or stereotypes make up our imagined collage of this country?  How do we define its cultures and its cultural production?  This course takes a critical look at our own constructions of Spain and "Spanish", seeking to build a more complex understanding of its cultures, while providing tools to facilitate future explorations.  We will consider contemporary issues that define Spain, such as nationalisms and globalization, ETA, race and migrations, constructions of gypsy culture, notions of gender and  sexuality in the twentieth century, the cultural memory of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco Regime, and the Spanish Transition to democracy.

In analyzing Spanish culture, we will work primarily through Spanish films and literature.  "Literature" will be taken broadly to include fiction and poetry, newspapers and magazines, and critical articles.  Though less intensively, we will also use music, the visual arts, and architecture as we sketch a new picture of Spain.  You will be encouraged to bring in your own materials as well.

In addition to understanding the construction of contemporary Spain, one of the main goals of the course is to provide you with tools to analyze cultural materials and manifestations, to “read” culture critically, and to enable you to apply those tools in contexts beyond the classroom.

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