SPAN 3310 - [Tales of Love & Lust]

(HB) (LA-AS) Satisfies Option 1.

Spring. 4 credits.

Prerequisite: SPAN 2190 and 1 of the following core courses (SPAN 2140, SPAN 2150, or SPAN 2170) or permission of instructor. Next offered 2014-2015. Conducted in Spanish.

M. A. Garcés.

The novella, a short fiction whose name alludes to both “novelty” and “news,” attained such perfection in the hands of Cervantes that he was called by one of his contemporaries “the Spanish Boccaccio.” Despite the title of his collection, Novellas ejemplares, these narratives are not exemplary: their scenes of rape, seduction, adultery, and witchcraft not only challenged social structures and reigning ideologies, but also constituted daring literary experiments which question the status of fiction. This course will trace the development of the novella in the 16th and 17th century Spain, studying a range of short fictions by Cervantes, Maria de Zayas, and other authors.