Debating Cultures: Representations of Gender Violence in Modern Iberian Literatures and Cultures

The landmark law against gender violence in Spain, which was passed under the Socialist government in 2004, became the rallying point for feminist activists, even as it generated a vigorous backlash from among conservative sectors of Spanish society. More recently, the "La Manada" gang rape case in Pamplona in July 2016 provoked national outrage, and, together with the #MeToo and the #NiUnaMenos movements in the United States and Latin America, a global feminist movement was mobilized to protest sexual assault, femicide, and all other forms of gender-based violence. We will consider the works of 19th-century through present-day Spanish women writers, jouranlists, and filmmakers, including Emilia Pardo Bazan, Carmen de Burgos, Rosa Montero, Carme Riera, Lucia Etxebarria, Isabel Coixet, Iciar Bollain, and Roser Aguilar, who have spoken out against gender violence in a variety of fora. Their works will serve as points of departure for exploring the social and cultural causes and dynamics of gender-based violence as well as the ways in which Spanish women have responded to this problem in their writings, film, and other forms of representation. Our analysis will be informed by the larger historical framework of the development of feminism in Spain as well as by the recent global movement against gender-based violence. Course assignments will consist of daily readings, film viewings, group oral presentations, quizzes, discussion forum posts, and a final project that is orally based; students are also expected to engage actively in class discussions and in small group work. This course will have a strong, mandatory and graded oral communications component, and it is taught in Spanish. Prerequisite: Span 303 or Span 308D. Students who have taken more than two Spanish culture or literature classes are not allowed in this course and must proceed to a Researching Cultures class.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU BA; BU IS; AS HUM; AS LCD; AS LS; FA HUM; AR HUM; AS SC

Debating Cultures: Representations of Gender Violence in Modern Iberian Literatures and Cultures

SPANISH 3210

Section 01