HISP 388 - Peninsular Seminar

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

A seminar offering in-depth study of topics related to the literary and cultural history of Spain. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes.

Topic for 2015/16b: Violence, Honor and Gender Construction in Golden Age Theater. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Spanish theatre became immensely popular, and moved from palace to public theatre and town square. In Spain and its colonies, theater plays began to depict a culture obsessed with honor, where a man resorted to violence when his or his wife’s honor was threatened through sexual disgrace. The seminar explores the character of this violence as a result of the strict application of the “honor code”, a complex social and rhetorical strategy whereby both men and women decided how to dispute issues of truth and reputation. Readings include selected plays by Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, and Calderón de la Barca. Mr. Vivalda.

Prerequisite: HISP 216 and one course above HISP 216.

One 2-hour period.