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Literature, Culture and Society

Code: 43020
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Spanish Language, Hispanic Literature and Spanish as a Foreign Language OP 0

Contact lecturer

Name :
Laura Pache Carballo
Email :
laura.pache@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Beatriz Martinez Lopez

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

This module is aimed at students holding a university degree in Philology and, more broadly, at graduates in Arts and Humanities disciplines who wish to deepen their knowledge of the Spanish language, literature, and Hispanic culture.

Students must be able to express themselves correctly, both orally and in writing, in Spanish. They should also have basic knowledge of twentieth-century Spanish literature, particularly the period of the historical avant-gardes and the so-called Silver Age (1898–1936). Elementary notions of art history or gender and cultural studies will be valued, although they are not required.

Objectives

This module offers the opportunity to discover and analyze women's cultural production in one of the most effervescent periods of Spanish modernity: the first third of the twentieth century (1920–1936). It does so through an interdisciplinary approach spanning literature, the visual arts, design, dance, and cultural journalism, placing works in dialogue with the spaces of sociability and the intellectual networks in which they emerged. In this way, students will engage with a rich and heterogeneous corpus: poetry, narrative fiction, painting, applied arts, body performance, and cultural magazines.

The course combines work with primary sources with the application of current theoretical frameworks: Bourdieu's sociology of the cultural field, the feminist criticism of Butler and Cixous, intersectionality theory, and hermeneutics as a tool of interpretation. Among the women creators to be read and studied are names well established in recent criticism, such as Ernestina de Champourcín, Concha Méndez, Maruja Mallo, and Luisa Carnés, alongside other still insufficiently studied figures: Lucía Sánchez Saornil, Victorina Durán, and Kati Horna. In addition to individual works, students will also engage with the institutions and spaces that made these trajectories possible: the Lyceum Club Femenino, the Residencia de Señoritas, and the cultural press of the period.

Learning outcomes

  1. Relacionar autors i textos literaris en l'àmbit d'un gènere o corrent literari.
  2. Identificar i localitzar les fonts crítiques que s'han de tenir presents en l'edició d'un text.
  3. Formular un pla d'acció per ampliar la informació sobre un tema lingüístic específic.
  4. Avaluar el grau de cohesió i coherència discursiva d'un text oral en funció del seu context de producció i interpretació.
  5. Constituir un text crític i elaborar un aparell crític de variants.
  6. Modificar un esquema d'idees preestablert mitjançant la introducció de noves aportacions.
  7. Introduir idees procedents de disciplines afins en el tractament d'un fenomen literari.
  8. Avaluar la pertinència dels propis judicis i dels aliens en relació amb el tema objecte d'estudi.
  9. Formular un pla d'acció per recollir informació nova sobre el tema seleccionat i planificar les etapes del seu desenvolupament.
  10. Establir la relació entre determinades obres literàries escrites en espanyol i altres expressions artístiques i culturals.
  11. Identificar l'emergència, a la producció literària en espanyol, de fenòmens socials i històrics que es troben en la base de l'escriptura dels textos considerats.
  12. Aplicar les tècniques i mètodes propis del comentari literari de textos
  13. Elaborar el guió d'una exposició oral clara i ordenada sobre els temes d'estudi del mòdul
  14. Elaborar el pla d'una exposició escrita clara i ordenada sobre els temes d'estudi del mòdul.
  15. Interpretar críticament la bibliografia, procedent de diferents perspectives d'anàlisi, sobre els temes d'estudi del mòdul.
  16. Predir les conseqüències teòriques que implicaria la introducció de noves idees en un esquema ja establert.
  17. Identificar trets estilístics i tècniques literàries comunes en diferents tradicions literàries i culturals de l'Amèrica Llatina.
  18. Relacionar els models explicatius elaborats amb idees procedents d'altres camps relacionats i modificar-los adequadament.
  19. Planificar una exposició escrita l'objectiu de la qual sigui defensar la pròpia posició respecte a un dels temes d'estudi del màster.
  20. Desenvolupar un pla d'acció sobre un problema determinat dissenyat en funció del temps que es disposa per fer-lo.

Contents

THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK

1.1. Modern Spain, the "woman question," and the gender debate

1.2. Cultural field, canon, and feminist hermeneutics

LITERARY FIELD AND WOMEN'S WRITING

2.1. Networks, platforms, and sociabilities: magazines, literary gatherings, and institutions

2.2. Poetry and the material medium: Champourcín, Méndez, Torre

2.3. Genres in tension: Chacel, Carnés, and the conditions of writing

VISUAL ARTS, DESIGN, AND DANCE

3.1. Women and the "isms": avant-garde and internationality in Spain

3.2. Destabilizing the canon: design and applied arts

3.3. Poetics of the body, dance, and performativity: Victorina Durán, Antonia Mercé "La Argentina"

INSTITUTIONS, ASSOCIATIONISM, AND ACTIVISM

4.1. The Lyceum Club Femenino: history, networks, and legacy

4.2. Mujeres Libres: press and cultural magazines in the working-class struggle

4.3. Images for the revolution: poster art, photomontage, and other forms of activism

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Research and Writing Work (Dossier and Critical Reviews) 88 3.52 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20
Analysis of Texts and Artworks 6 0.24 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 18
Tutorials 26 1.04 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Lectures and Workshops 30 1.2 1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 18

The module is organized into sessions that combine a theoretical and contextual component, the analysis of primary texts and works, and active hands-on workshops for students. Independent work centers largely on documentary research for the cultural recovery dossier, which requires consulting primary sources at real institutions (archives, newspaper libraries, museums, or foundations), together with preparation for the written tests carried out in class.

At the start of the course, students will be told which readings they need to acquire and which will be available digitized on the virtual campus.

For assessment activities, see the ASSESSMENT section.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Cultural Research-Recovery Dossier 50 % 0 0 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20
Active Participation in Workshops and Seminars 10 % 0 0 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Critical Reviews 40% 0 0 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20

Continuous assessment

The course will be assessed on the basis of the following activities:

  • Cultural research-recovery dossier: written report and oral defense (50%). The student or group (max. 2 people) submits the written dossier (S8) and defends it orally during session 8. See the project's specific document for details on the phases, structure, and rubric.
  • Two critical reviews in class (40%). One on a literary work from Block I (S4) and one on a visual or artistic work from Block II (S8). The instructors provide the text or work on the same day. Students may bring a handwritten sheet with theoretical tools, critical vocabulary, and corpus data. Each review is worth 20%.
  • Active participation in workshops and seminars (10%). Reasoned contributions, preparation of the corpus, and engagement in critical dialogue throughout the eight sessions are valued. Each instructor assesses participation in their own block.

The following considerations must also be taken into account:

  • Study of the course corpus is mandatory.
  • Students must obtain a final grade equal to or higher than 4.9, taking into account the percentages indicated above. For these percentages to apply, it is essential that the grade for each activity be higher than 3.5. The absence of the methodological annex in the dossier means the work will not be assessed.
  • Regarding written expression, students must write paragraphs with substantive content that are coherent and well developed. Errors (spelling, syntax, punctuation, etc.) will deduct 0.25 points each; more than ten errors will result in a failing grade for that test.
  • All activities and assignments submitted for this course must be original. Total or partial plagiarism of third-party materials published in any format will not be accepted under any circumstances. The use of artificial intelligence tools (ChatGPT or similar) without explicit documentation and methodological justification is considered plagiarism. Students must properly acknowledge the authorship of all quotations and the use of third-party materials. Submitting non-original material without adequately indicating its source will automatically result in a failing grade (0).
  • Likewise, students are assumed to be familiar with the general formatting conventions of an academic paper. Nevertheless, specific guidelines indicated by the course instructors may apply if deemed necessary.
  • On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place
  • Exchange students requesting to submit an assignment early must present their instructors with a written document from their home university justifying the request.


Single evaluation

Students who have opted for this assessment modality must complete the following activities on the day set in the assessment calendar.

  • Submission of the written cultural recovery dossier and its oral defense, held on the set day (50%). The dossier must meet the same requirements (phases, structure, sources, methodological annex) detailed in the project's specific document.
  • A written commentary on a text and on a work from the course corpus, provided by the instructors on the day of the exam (40%).
  • A short oral presentation on a part of the course content chosen by the student (10%).


Bibliography

Throughout the course, the instructors may provide students with complementary bibliography specific to the authors and topics studied.

Theory and methodology

Bajtín, Mijail (1989). Teoría y estética de la novela, Taurus.

Bal, Mieke (2020). El arte político hoy: el artefacto como medio. Tiempos trastornados. Análisis, historias y políticas de la memoria. Madrid: AKAL/Estudios Visuales, pp. 157-243.

Butler, Judith (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Routledge.

Bourdieu, Pierre (1992). Les règles de l'art: genèse et structure du champ littéraire, Éditions du Seuil. [Trad. esp.: Las reglas del arte, Anagrama, 1995.]

Cixous, Hélène (2010). Le rire de la méduse. París: Galilée. [Trad. esp.: La risa de la Medusa, Cátedra, 2025.]

Crenshaw, Kimberlé W. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics and Violence against Women of Color, Stanford Law Review, 43(6), pp. 1241–1299.

Díaz-Diocaretz, Myriam y Zavala, Iris M. (coords.) (1993). Breve historia feminista de la literatura española (en lengua castellana). I. Teoría feminista: discursos y diferencia, Anthropos.

Didi-Huberman, Georges (2021). Cuando las imágenes toman posición. Madrid: A. Machado Libros (2ª ed.).

Establier Pérez, Helena y Palomo Alepuz, Laura (eds.) (2025). Más allá del canon: género, creatividad femenina y transmedialidad, Peter Lang.

Gadamer, Hans-Georg (1977). Verdad y método: fundamentos de una hermenéutica filosófica, Sígueme.

Mulvey, Laura (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Screen, 16(3), pp. 6–18. [Disponible en abierto.]

Nochlin, Linda (1971). Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?, Art News, 69, pp. 22–39. [Trad. esp. en: Amazonas del arte nuevo, Fundación Mapfre, 2008, pp. 283–289.]

Pérez Fontdevila, Aina y Torras Francès, Meri (eds.) (2019). ¿Qué es una autora? Encrucijadas entre género y autoría, Icaria.

Russ, Joanna (2018). Cómo acabar con la escritura de las mujeres (trad. Gloria Fortún), Dos bigotes.

Trasforini, Maria Antonietta (2009). Bajo el signo de las artistas. Mujeres, profesiones de arte y modernidad (trad. M. Josep Cuenca), PUV.

History and context

Aresti, Nerea (2001). Médicos, donjuanes y mujeres modernas. Los ideales de masculinidad y feminidad en el primer tercio del siglo XX, Servicio Editorial de la Universidad del País Vasco.

Balló, Tània (2016). Las Sinsombrero 1. Sin ellas, la historia no está completa, Espasa Calpe.

— (2018). Las Sinsombrero 2. Ocultas e impecables, Espasa Calpe.

González-Naranjo, Rocío (ed.) (2022). Modernas, flappers, garçonnes. Representaciones de la «nueva mujer», Dykinson.

Mainer, José-Carlos (2025). La Edad de Plata. Ensayo de interpretación de un proceso cultural (1902–1939), Taurus.

Mangini, Shirley (2001). Las modernas de Madrid: las grandes intelectuales de la vanguardia española, Península.

Mayayo, Patricia (2003). Historia de mujeres, historias del arte. Madrid, Cátedra.

Nash, Mary (1995). Género y ciudadanía, Ayer, 20, pp. 241–258.

Nash, Mary (1975). Mujeres libres, Tusquets.

Nelken, Margarita (2025). La vida y las mujeres. Artículos (1916–1931). Ed. Alehandra Rodríguez Parragués, Fundación Santander.

Literature

Capdevila-Argüelles, Nuria (2017). Autoras inciertas: voces olvidadas de nuestro feminismo, Sílex.

Chacel, Rosa (2012). Estación. Ida y vuelta, Biblioteca Castro.

Ena Bordonada, Ángela (coord.) (2013). La otra Edad de Plata: temas, géneros y creadores (1898–1936), Editorial Complutense.

Fernández Urtasun, Rosa (2008). Ernestina de Champourcin: una voz diferente en la Generación del 27. Hipertexto, 7, pp. 18–37.

Kirkpatrick, Susan (2003). Mujer, modernismo y vanguardia en España (1898–1931), Cátedra.

Laurenzi, Elena (2012). Desenmascarar la complementariedad de los sexos. María Zambrano y Rosa Chacel frente al debate en la Revista de Occidente». Aurora: papeles del Seminario María Zambrano, 13, pp. 18–29.

Márquez Padorno, Margarita y Cueva Batanero, Almudena de la (coords.) (2015). Mujeres en vanguardia. La Residencia de Señoritas en su centenario (1915–1936), Publicaciones de la Residencia de Estudiantes.

Romero López, Dolores (coord.) (2021). La mujer moderna de la Edad de Plata (1868–1936): disidencias, invenciones y utopías, Feminismo/s, nº 37.

Romero López, Dolores y Ocampos Palomar, Emilio (2024). El feminismo en la literatura de la Edad de Plata, Ediciones Complutense.

Ulacia Altolaguirre, Paloma (ed.) (1990). Concha Méndez: Memorias habladas, memorias armadas, Mondadori.

Visual arts

Brihuega, Jaime (ed.) (1979). Manifiestos, proclamas, panfletos y textos doctrinales: las vanguardias artísticas en España (1910–1931), Cátedra.

De Diego, Estrella (2008). Maruja Mallo, Fundación Mapfre.

Ferris, José Luis (2004). Maruja Mallo. La gran transgresora del 27, Temas de Hoy.

García García, Isabel (1998). Orígenes de las vanguardias artísticas en Madrid (1909–1922), Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Mendelson, Jordana (2012). Documentar España. Los artistas, la cultura expositiva y la nación moderna, 1929-1939. Barcelona/Madrid: Ediciones de La Central.

Dance, design, and body arts

Gaitán Salinas, Carmen y Murga Castro, Idoia (2023). Al bies. Las artistas y el diseño en la vanguardia española, Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte.

López Arnaiz, Irene y López Fernández, Raquel (eds.) (2023). Coreografiar lo invisible. Danza, arte y esoterismo en los albores del siglo XX, Sans Soleil Ediciones.

Moreno Lago, Eva (2025). Victorina Durán. Una vida llamada Teatro, Renacimiento.

Murga Castro, Idoia (com.) (2017). Poetas del cuerpo. La danza de la Edad de Plata, Residencia de Estudiantes.

Institutions, associationism, and the press

Ackelsberg, Martha A. (2006). Mujeres Libres: El anarquismo y la lucha por la emancipación de las mujeres. Barcelona: Virus Editorial.

Alcalá Cortijo, Paloma, Corrales Rodrigáñez, Capi y López Giráldez, Julia (eds.) (2009). Ni tontas ni locas. Las intelectuales en el Madrid del primer tercio del siglo XX, FECYT.

Cuesta Bustillo, Josefina et al. (coords.) (2015). La Residencia de Señoritas y otras redes culturales femeninas, Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca.

González-Naranjo, Rocío (2026). Marisabidillas, frívolas y peligrosas: El Lyceum Club Femenino de Madrid (1926–1936), Hoja de Lata Editorial.

Ramos Palomo, María Dolores (coord.) (2014). Tejedoras de ciudadanía. Culturas políticas, feminismos y luchas democráticas en España, Universidad de Málaga.


Software

Moodle, TEAMS

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TEm) Theory (master) 1 Spanish first semester afternoon