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Spanish Migration in Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film
Spain underwent drastic social and political changes in the last decades of the twentieth century which also affected the nation’s patterns of emigration. Contemporary Spanish literature and film that portray these decades reflect the country’s fluctuating characteristics of migration. ¡Vente a Alemania, Pepe! (1971) by Pedro Lazaga, Coto vedado (1985) by Juan Goytisolo, El hijo del acordeonista (2003) by Bernardo Atxaga, and Yoyes (2000) by Helena Taberna demonstrate Spain’s migration trends during the last years of Franco’s dictatorship and the transition to democracy. The nation’s highly increased socioeconomic development in the 1970s and 1980s which eventually led to a first-world status also affected emigration, which can be seen in Carlota Fainberg (1999) by Antonio Muñoz Molina, Kasbah (2000) by Mariano Barroso, Restos de carmine (1999) by Juan Madrid, and Map of the Sounds of Tokyo (2009) by Isabel Coixet.
Prose Writings of José Rubén Romero
This thesis presents a brief biography of the Mexican writer José Rubén Romero and discusses his prose writings, with an emphasis on his novels.
The Influence of Emile Zola's Naturalism on the Novels of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
It is my purpose in this thesis to show any influence that Emile Zola's Naturalism had on the novels of Blasco Ibáñez.. Because the novels of the Spanish author contain many suggestions of the Zolaesque theory of Naturalism, many literary critics have assumed that he did obtain much of his inspiration from this source; they have even called him the "Spanish Zola." I shall try to determine how much he imitated Zola's Naturalism, and to show to what extent it is correct to call him the "Spanish Zola."
La Evolución Del Subalterno En Tres Novelas Mexicanas: La Negra Angustias, Balún Canán, Y Neonao
The subaltern is a recurrent literary figure in Mexican narrative. The objective of this thesis is to investigate three ethnic groups – indeed, subalterns – in Mexico which include: Afro-Mexicans, indigenous groups, and Filipino colonial subjects from the perspectives of the Mexican Revolution, post-revolutionary Mexico, and the conquest of the Philippines in the sixteenth century. The principal characters play crucial roles in events shaping the history and culture of Mexico and thus demonstrate their importance to the country's development while also revealing the reality of subalterns. The literary research shows that trying circumstances or a lack of self-identity were the main causes for a character to be or become a subaltern in addition to their inherent ethnic disadvantages. However, the characters who overcame their subaltern state often changed personality traits or adapted to their surroundings in order to be assimilated into the majority culture.
A Feminist Rereading of Selected Works by Carlos Morton
Carlos Morton is a prominent Chicano playwright that has contributed greatly to Chicano theatre, creatively and academically, since in 1970s. This thesis offers a feminist analysis of the gender representation in three of his works: Lilith (1977), La Malinche (1984), and Dreaming on a Sunday in the Alameda (1992). The female characters in these three plays possess a unique agency that allows them to challenge oppressive patriarchal standards imposed on their gender identity. The second chapter explores Morton's Lilith, a play based on a Jewish creation myth. In the play, Lilith possesses agency of her gender identity and forms a bond with Eve to fight the patriarchal gender norms used to restrict women in Chicano culture. La Malinche is an adaptation of Eurpides's Medea set in post-Conquest New Spain. Chapter three focuses on the agency displayed by La Malinche through her indigenous roots to fight for her own form of motherhood and freedom from patriarchy. The final play analyzed in this thesis is Dreaming on a Sunday in the Alameda, a dream-like play that is based on Diego Rivera's mural by the same name. Several female characters in the play demonstrate agency through their androgynous sexual identities as they unite to resist male character's sexualized perceptions and expectations of females within Mexican and Chicano culture.
Dehumanization in the Theater of Valle-Inclán and Muñiz
This study proposes to establish an intrinsic relationship between Valle-Inclán and Muñiz based on the theme of dehumanization in their theater. It examines (1) the stylistic techniques which each playwright uses to depersonalize his characters, (2) the manner in which these characters dehumanize each other, (3) the role of society as the agent of dehumanization, and finally, due to each author's preoccupation with one social convention in particular (4) the devastating effects on men of the vestiges of an outmoded code of honor. The principal works used for the study are Valle-Inclán's Martes de carnaval, Luces de Bohemia, and Divinas palabras, and El tintero, Un solo de saxofón, Las viejas difíciles, and El grillo by Carlos Muñiz. Such an analysis proposes to reveal a profound literary affinity between these two writers, a bond which unites Valle-Inclán and Muñiz in a common protest against the dehumanization of mankind.
El ékfrasis en la Poesía De Manual Machado
Manuel Machado is known as one of the most innovative Spanish modernist poets of the twentieth century. Despite his recognition as a literary figure in Spain, the mimetic descriptions in Machado's poetics are interpreted as mere innovations in Spanish poetry. Those mimetic descriptions are examples of ekphrasis in Spanish literature. Ekphrasis is both a literary and representational art. The mimetic dimension in Machado's poetry is ignored or misinterpreted by the critics of his poetics. This study written in Spanish investigates the use of ekphrasis in terms of Machado's poetic style. An analysis of Manuel Machado's ekphrastic poems will determine: ekphrastic poetry is a representational art; how visual and acoustic aspects of Machado's poems create enargeia; and the manifestation of ekphrasis in Spanish verse. In using Machado's poems, this project will contribute to future explorations of ekphrasis in Spanish literature.
The Usage of Clitic Pronouns and the Influence of the Definite Article in Spanish among Spanish-Quechua Bilinguals in Peru
This study focuses on the clitic pronoun usage by Spanish-Quechua bilingual speakers in Cuzco, Peru when faced with a question that includes a definite article preceding the direct object. Answers are analyzed to determine whether or not the definite article has an effect on the presence or absence of the clitic pronoun. Direct objects tested were both [+human] and [-human] objects to determine if these variables affect clitic pronoun use as well. Speakers who have identified themselves as bilingual in both Spanish and Quechua were given a survey to complete in order to see what factors may contribute to the use or omission of the clitic pronouns.
The Immigrant's Daugher: an Adaptation of La Gringa, by Florencio Sánchez
This thesis is an experiment in adapting a Florencio Sánchez play for staging in English. La Gringa was chosen because it is the best known of Sánchez' works, and because, to this writer's knowledge, no translation of this play is available.
La Sátira en las Novelas de Ramón Pérez de Ayala
This thesis has as its purpose to make a study of the satirical vein that is revealed in the novels of Ramón Pérez de Ayala. It will be the goal to discover in these works the human habits and weaknesses that receive the censure of the author and to determine the means by which the novelist expresses his disapproval.
Woman in Spanish Culture as Reflected in the Drama of Jacinto Benavente
This is a study of the feminist content of the dramas of Jacinto Benavente (1866-1954) whose dramatic career spanned the same sixty years during which the most spectacular feminist advances took place in Spain. To this end twenty-nine plays are considered to illustrate topically Benavente's conception of the nature of Spanish women and his attitudes with regard to their position in society. It is concluded that Benavente in his first period of dramatic output drew into focus the problems confronting Spanish women in their culture, but in his second period (after 1920), however, he failed to portray adequately the modern female and her approach to the changing environment. Nevertheless, at its best, Benavente's drama constitutes a great contribution to feminist literature.
El Teatro Dominicano: Instrumento Político y Voz de una Identidad
Throughout the history of the Dominican Republic, theater has played an instrumental role in the cultural life its people, one which transcends purely artistic and cultural dimensions extending its influence into the political and social fabric of the nation. In spite of Spanish colonization and later Haitian occupation, a nascent national identity began forming early on. The staging of certain plays exposed latent conflicts and revealed sectorial, class interests. Theater provided a means of expression for popular sentiments, thus revealing an urge by the people to manifest their concerns, usually under the heavy weight of censorship. This thesis focuses on key moments of the first 140 years of Dominican Republic theater. It is organized into three chapters: "Historical Antecedents", "Theater of the Dictatorship" and "Theater of the Post-Dictatorship." The first chapter deals with the struggle for independence through 1844; the next focuses on the theatrical plays and political climate of bloody Rafael Leonidas Trujillo dictatorship which spanned from 1930 to his assassination in 1961, and the third presents the theater that appeared in the subsequent years of the equally repressive Joaquin Balaguer presidency (1966-1978). The analysis of these key historical moments, in conjunction with the dramaturgy of playwrights such as Franklin Domínguez, Marcio Veloz Maggiolo and Héctor Incháustegui Cabral, maps the function of theater as a tool of raising awareness, transmitting ideologies, and unifying a nation, in spite of despotism and oppression often disguised as democracy. As such, it documents the role that theatre played during a nation-building process that stages the history of political repression, lack of freedom of expression as well as social and political injustice.
The Novels of Juan Valera
This study is an attempt to analyze the novels of Juan Valera y Alcala Galiano, with particular attention to the characterization of the principal figures.
La Novela Española Bizantina
This is a study of the Byzantine novel or Milesian tale in Spain during the 17th century. It contains a brief comment about the origin of this literary mode and the significance of the two adjectives Byzantine and Milesian. Two novels of the Hellenistic originators of this form are discussed. Four Spanish Byzantine novels are considered in chronological order, with summaries and analyses, with particular attention to their similarity to or modification of the prototypes. It is concluded that this particular aspect of 17th century Spanish fiction is a deliberate imitation of the Hellenistic models, modified by the Spanish authors by the addition of original and contemporary ideas. No longer a popular genre, the Byzantine novel made a significant contribution to the development of the modern Spanish novel.
Romantic Characteristics in Gutiérrez Nájera's Poetry
This thesis presents a brief background of poetry in Mexico in the nineteenth century, along with a biography of Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera and a study of his three poetic periods: 1876-1886, 1886-1890, 1890-1895.
Musical Ekphrasis in the Poetry of Nicolás Guillén, Federico García Lorca, and Langston Hughes
Musical ekphrasis was occurring in the twentieth century in different centers around the world, Cuba: Andalusia, Spain; and Harlem, New York, simultaneously. The writers at the heart of this movement used poetry about music as a means to celebrate the cultures of the marginalized people in their lands, los negros, los gitanos, and African-Americans. The purpose of this study is to define musical ekphrasis and identify it in the works of Nicolás Guillén, Federico García Lorca, and Langston Hughes. Also explored are the common characteristics in ekphrastic poetry by the three poets and the common themes found in their ekphrastic poetry, as well as common influences. Each author is considered in the context of his surroundings and his respective culture, and how that influenced his musical tastes as well as his writing style.
El Cine De Terror Español Como Espejo De La Cultura Española
This study traces the history and culture of Spain as seen through the lens of the nation´s production of horror cinema. Starting from the boom of Spanish horror film in the early 1960s, the thesis compares and contrasts the political and social aspects of Spanish society throughout three distinct eras of the 20th century: 1962 – 1975 (the boom of Spanish horror film through the Franco dictatorship), 1975 – 1999 (the transition to democracy through the end of the 20th century) and 2000 – present (the 21st century). Movies as diverse as Gritos en la noche (1962, Jesús Franco), ¿Quién puede matar a un niño? (1976, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador) and Angustia (1987, Bigas Luna) are framed by culturally-related anectodes as well as correlations to their respective social environments. Special attention has been paid to the production and release of each film, especially in regards to censorship during the Franco dictatorship. The results show that Spanish horror cinema has acted as a true mirror to culture, society and politics in its native country throughout the 20th century and that this trend will likely extend in to the future.
The Influence of Krausism in the Works of Pérez Galdós
This paper is a study of the major influence of the German philosophy, Krausism, in the writings of Benito Perez Galdds. The study is an analysis of the effects of this ideology on Spain and her people, as illustrated in the works of the most representative writer of the nineteenth century in that country. Also included is a discussion of historical incidents of the period which is necessary to place the acceptance of both this philosophy and the works of Perez Galdos in its proper perspective.
Mariano Azuela, Novelist of the Mexican Revolution
This thesis discusses the life and works of the Mexican novelist Mariano Azuela, who lived and wrote during the time of the Mexican Revolution.
Motivos Estructurales y Temporales en la Obra de Alejo Carpentier
Este estudio propone hacer un ensayo dando énfasis los motivos temporales y estructurales en las obras Los pasos perdios (1946) y Guerra del tiepo (1958) de Alejo Carpenter, gran novelista y cuentista cubano del momento. Carpenter obliga al lector a notar nuevos conceptos sobre el tiempo y a aceptar nuevas definiciones y dimensiones mas amplias, libre de todas las restricciones tradicionales. Mediante la deformación del tiempo en todo aspecto concebible (vuelto al revés, transpuesto del lugar normal, invertido, fragmentado, o torcido en una manera que es ilógica e inexplicable), Carpentier utiliza los medios temporales en su narrativa de varias maneras: el tiempo circular, el tiempo regresivo, el tiempo histórico, el tiempo interiorizado, o el tiempo atemporal, que son los principales aspectos analizados en esta tesis.
Las Obras de Carlos Fuentes
This thesis considers the novels of Carlos Fuentes from a thematic point of view, as well as looking at the place of the writer in Mexican narrative tradition. It also presents a brief history of the Mexican novel.
An Evaluation of the Third and Fourth Series of Pérez Galdós' Episodios Nacionales
The purpose of this thesis is to make a study of the third and fourth series of the Episodios nacionales. The study will deal with the plot structure, the characterization, and the historicity of the twenty novels which make up the two series.
Los "Pasos" de Lope de Rueda
This study presents a biographical sketch of the author, a historical background of his period, an overview of his known works, an investigation of the definition and literary criticism of the "pasos," and summaries of and critical commentaries on the twenty-four known "pasos" of the Spanish dramatist whose work is considered to have significantly influenced the evolution of the Spanish theatre. The "pasos," brief comical dramatizations of realistic situations, involving diverse types of common people, reflecting witty and charming humor, are written in a prose style considered by critics to be equal to that of Cervantes and Rojas. The sources of investigation have been two volumes of his known works by the Real Academia Espanola, an edition of Pasos completos, literary histories, and several articles.
The Simplistic Nature of Spanish Rural Society as Reflected in Some Child Characters of Miguel Delibes
The major proposition is that the childhood point of view in two Delibes novels--El camino (1950) and Las ratas (1962)--aids the reader's comprehension of the basic values held by rural Spaniards. These values are stressed in both novels, giving the reader an insight into the nature of these simplistic people. Honest, accepting attitudes of the child protagonists aid the reader's understanding of the plight of the villagers.The superiority of the natural way of life is revealed in both novels. Nature became even more important to Delibes as his stature as novelist increased, The later work, therefore, is a social protest against effects of industrial progress on rural Castilians.
Characterization and Principal Themes in the Novels of Gustavo A. Martinez Zuviria (pseud. Hugo West)
This thesis examines the themes in the work of Argentine novelist Gustavo Adolfo Martínez Zuviría, who wrote under the pseudonym of Hugo West.
La violencia en el Teatro de Guillén de Castro
This analysis, written in Spanish, compares the use of violence in four of Castro's dramas with its use in their sources and in the works of other Golden Age authors. Chapter II investigates the manner in which the plays based on Greek myths compare with the original stories and with the ancient Classical theater. Each of the four following chapters compares one of Castro's plays to contemporary works with the same plot. The conclusion indicates that Castro's plays do not show an extraordinary use of violence. In some instances Castro demonstrates more restraint than the other dramatists. Thus, Castro, as a typical author of his epoch, does not deserve his reputation for writing excessively violent works.
Temporal, Spatial, and Identity Displacement in the Short Stories of Julio Cortazar
The purpose of this study is to analyze the techniques through which Julio CortSzar presents and explores the literary concepts of temporal, spatial and identity displacement. The author's radical departure from the more traditionally structured view of these notions is certainly one of the most perplexing and controversial aspects of his literary style.
El Arquetipo Del Narco Mexicano En La Novela, El Cine, Y La Música
Various groups of Mexican culture have assigned to el narco archetypical characteristics of a heroic figure in the literary, visual, and auditory arts. As a result, today’s narcocultura has expanded its tentacles to a vast array of prominent industries, such as publishing companies, the silver screen, and recording studios. El narco is no longer seen by some sectors as the outlaw that stalks our society but, instead, as a hero who fights against a hegemonic faction to reclaim his sovereignty. This thesis unites interdisciplinary observations of the narco phenomena that Mexican culture has assigned to the iconic figure of el narco. The purpose of this work is to recreate the evolutionary development through a theoretical-literary analysis of this prototype in order to better understand Mexican society’s stance on this phenomenon. Octavio Paz’s theory of the Mexican psyche, Joseph Campbell’s theory of the hero’s journey, and an interdisciplinary focus will be employed to analyze this iconic figure. In this thesis, my aim is to investigate how an ultra-conservative Mexican society evolved into a consortium that upholds the narco’s indistinct behaviors and actions. What roles do first world governments and the Mexican state play to fortify, eradicate, or control the narco phenomenon? Finally, which is the most prudent strategy to coexist in a world alongside the narco?
The Plot Structure in Pio Baroja's Novels
Categories titled simple plots, loose plots, no plots, and parallel plots are used within this thesis to organize and contrast sixteen novels by Spanish author Pio Baroja.
Antón Arrufat’s Los Siete Contra Tebas: Political Allegory and Anthropological Concepts As Vehicles to Portray Theatrical and Social Conflict
This thesis (i) presents a critical analysis of the political allegory and dramatic elements employed by Antón Arrufat in Los siete contra Tebas in order to comment upon the conflict in Cuban society during and immediately after the Cuban revolution; and (ii) further analyzes that conflict using an anthropological approach in order to establish partial reintegration as an additional final phase in the rites of passage journey.
El Pensamiento de José Martí tergiversado como Ideología Política y de Lucha por la Revolución Cubana
The political ideologies that Martí envisioned of an America free from the inherited yoke of European ideals were taken by Fidel Castro as an anti-imperialist discourse. Therefore, Marti’s political vision on the power that the United States began to carry out at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century was an excellent strategy to establish the anti-imperialist character of the Cuban revolution. Since 1961, Castro set Martí as the face of his Marxist-Leninist ideology to institute his anti-American philosophy; Castro created a myth of Marti’s persona, and converted him into the bastion of his political ideology. As a result, Castro distorted the revolutionary ideas of Marti’s. Castro proposed his ideas out of context and portrayed the incorrect idea of this great thinker and poet. Martí’s human ethic and love for the independence of Cuba placed Martí as a liberator of revolutionary and progressive ideas of his generation. Martí was not thought as a dictator and never was a man who lacked democratic values. The expressed analytical assimilation of Martí on his sociopolitical and economic juncture that was presented in America and Cuba was used to trace the political anti-imperialist propaganda by the dictatorial regime lead by Castro. This thesis will emphasize the persona of Jose Martí as a revolutionary, visionary and educator of his generation, then it will present the incorrect interpretation of Marti’s ideology by Fidel Castro, as an ideal to embark his revolution. Finally, the differences of his ideas in contrast to the political and social ideology of the Cuban revolution will be explained.
El Desarrollo de los Caracteres Anormales en las Obras de Emilia Pardo Bazán
The purpose of this investigation is to determine the change in characterization that takes place in the works of Emilia Pardo Bazán. Source material include the writings of such critics of Spanish literature as Richard Chandler, Kessel Schwartz, Emiliano Díez-Echarri, José M. Roca Franquesa, Federico C. Saínz de Robles, and José A. Balseiro. Emilia Pardo Bazán wrote a total of twenty novels. From this collection ten were selected which best exemplify the change in characterization in her writings.
Character Development in the Quintero Brothers' Plays
The purpose of this study is to determine the importance of characterization in the Quinteros in developing their characters into figures possessing human qualities which give them charm and reality. In nine of the twenty plays studied, the characters are used in emphasizing other elements such as love and atmosphere, or to prove a thesis. However, the importance of characterization is shown by the fact that eleven of the plays are concerned with the character development.
La ley de memoria histórica en el cine y la novela españoles
This thesis investigates the Spanish identity crisis through structural, political and representational intersectionality by means of the Law of Historic Memory, also known as LEY 52/2007 del 26 de diciembre. This work, written in Spanish, explores relational aspects of various contemporary themes within four post-Franco novels and four Spanish films: Réquiem por un campesino español by Ramón J. Sender and its corresponding film directed by Francesc Betriu; Soldados de Salamina by Javier Cercas and its corresponding film directed by David Trueba; La voz dormida by Dulce Chacón and its corresponding film directed by Benito Zambrano; and Los girasoles ciegos by Alberto Méndez and its corresponding film directed by José Luis Cuerda. Linked by a variety of human elements that affect the individual as much as the collective, the works explore sacrifice, betrayal, indifference and injustice. Each novel and movie pair offers a glimpse of individual memory that, at the same time, belongs to collective memory. Delving into the effects of LEY, this thesis considers the role of the Catholic Church, the general atrocities of war, the role of women in the Spanish Civil War, and the fractured family unit. Lastly, this thesis delineates how these effects apply to the healing of individual and collective memories so as to recover what it means to be Spanish.
After the Storm: an Adaptation of Sobre las Ruinas, by Roberto J. Payró
The present thesis is an experiment in adaptation of one of Roberto Payró's plays for staging in English. Sobre las Ruinas was chosen both because it is one of the best known of his works and because no previous translation is known to exist.
Satire in the "Cuadros de Costumbree" de Mariano Jóse de Larra.
This study discusses the life and works of Larra and many of his beliefs and ideas. The chapters have been divided into three, traeting of Larra's social, literary and political satire that deals mainly with the high cociety of Madrid (Spain).
La Tradición Erótica Y La Vanguardia En La Poesía De Ernestina De Champourcín
The unfolding of eroticism always has been controlled socially; its expression forbidden for the women and accepted for the men. Ernestina de Champourcín’s poetry is an example of the presence of eroticism and the Avant-Garde in Spanish poetry. Champourcín becomes a member of the Generation of ‘27 after appearing in the prologue of Gerardo Diego’s anthology, Poesía Española Contemporßnea (1934). According to this thesis, the shortage of studies on her work is due to her exile, not to the Spanish Civil War. The exposition celebrates the life and work of Champourcín and studies the relationship between the Avant-Garde and sensuality in her poetry and in poems of Pedro Salinas and Vicente Aleixandre. It compares their individual handling of the Avant-Garde, the sexual act, and love, and concludes that Champourcín’s poetry is as Avant-Garde and erotic as the works of her companions of the Generation of ‘27.
An Inquiry into Possible Plagiarism in Blasco Ibáñez's La Horda
The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether Blasco Ibáñez in his novel La Horda used Pío Baroja's Material which was published in La Lucha por la Vida. Baroja claimed that he did. Therefore, this paper compares the two novels to discover similarities in their settings, their plots, and their characters.
La vía del abandono en los cuentos de Amparo Dávila
Amparo Davila's writing style is characterized by circumventing the boundaries between the real and the fantastic and between the known and the unknown. The author creates a narrative that evokes horror in the reader by mixing the uncanny of the unknown with the reality of the world. This study proposes that the sinister in Davila's stories are created by abandonment. This abandonment is the peremptory element of Davilian narrative and can be seen and examined throughout the author's literary work. The abandonment wields a mechanism of loneliness, madness, hopelessness and chaos that eventually provokes the sinister. The element of abandonment disturbs the main character of the story and makes him fall into an abyss from which he or she cannot escape. This abandonment is not always obvious, since most of the time the abandonment is veil by a halo of gothic and fantastic elements. The present thesis has the task of breaking down the different types of abandonment that are presented throughout this narrative, its sinister function and the theoretical and historical interpretation of the various abandonments both personal and collective that Amparo Davila presents. The route of abandonment proposed in this thesis is explained in the following three stories: "El desayuno" (1961), "La quinta de las celosías" (1959) and "La señorita Julia" (1959).
Muerte Y Soledad En La Poesía De Manuel Altolaguirre Ante El Exilio
This study focuses on the Spanish poet of the Generation of '27 Manuel Altolaguirre. The purpose of this thesis is to show how the poetry of Manuel Altolaguirre evolves in relation to specific issues. Specifically, I study the changes in his work in regard to the themes of death and solitude, resulting from exile in 1939, to be enriched by new experiences, many of them dramatic, taking more personal ways, while offering them a more profound and complex and even in regard to the subject of the poet's death comes to contemplate a more positive way. The thesis is divided into five chapters. Following the introduction, the second chapter focuses on Altolaguirre's biography and the Generation in 1927 while the third focuses and analyzes his poetry before his exile in 1939. The fourth chapter examines his poetry after exile until his death in 1959, while the fifth and last chapter concludes this study.
Realism e Idealismo en los Personajes Dramáticos de García Lorca
The purpose of this investigation is to characterize the dramatic characters of Federico García Lorca as realists or idealists. Lorca wrote a total of fifteen plays, and the majority of them are considered in this study. Additional source materials include the works of such critics as J. Alberich, María Teresa Babín, Alfredo de la Guardia, and Francisco Umbral.
Los medios de comunicación y transporte en la novela picaresca del Siglo de Oro
The problem with which this study is concerned is that of demonstrating the importance of communication and travel in the Siglo de Oro as seen in selected picaresque novels. This study is divided into five chapters. The introductory chapter includes a literary and chronological history of the period and, in the interest of clarity, a plot summary of the selected picaresque novels. The second, third and fourth chapters discuss the various means of urban, rural and maritime communication and travel. The concluding chapter summarizes the study and asserts that communication and travel were of utmost importance during the Siglo LeQ ro and that the picaresque novel, describing faithfully the society that produced it, is a valuable data source for research of this kind.
El amor como fuerza motivadora en la vida y obra poética y dramática de Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda
This thesis presents a study of events in the life of Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, a lyric poetess and dramatist during the Romantic period, as motivating forces in her literary career. As might be expected in the case of a true representative of the Romantic period, Avellaneda's passions and personal life are reflected in all of her works. She uses human and divine love as the main themes throughout all of her literary production, especially in her lyric poetry and the four tragedies chosen for this study: Munio Alfonso (1844), El Príncipe de Viana (1844), Saúl (1849), and Baltasar (1858).
The Ideological Appropriation of La Malinche in Mexican and Chicano Literature
La Malinche is one of the most controversial figures in Mexican and Chicano literature. The historical facts about her life before and after the Spanish Conquest are largely speculative. What is reliably known is that she had a significant role as translator, which developed into something of mythic proportions. The ideological appropriation of her image by three authors, Octavio Paz, Laura Esquivel and Cherríe Moraga, are explored in this thesis. The full extent of the proposed rendition of La Malinche by Octavio Paz is the basis of the second chapter. The conclusion drawn by Paz, in The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950) is that La Malinche is what he calls la chingada [the raped/violated one] and proposes that all women are always open to conquest, sexually and otherwise. Laura Esquivel's novel Malinche (2006) is a re-interpretation that focuses on the tongue as the source of power and language as the ultimate source of autonomy for La Malinche. This aspect of La Malinche and the contrast of Paz's understanding are the basis of the third chapter of this thesis. Cherríe Moraga, in Loving in the War Years (1983), proposes that if women are to be traitors, it is not each other that they should betray but their cultural roles as mothers and wives. She writes that in order to avoid being the one who is passively colonized, women often times become el chingón. However, ultimately women are free of these limiting dichotomous roles are able to autonomously define themselves in a way that goes beyond these labels. This is only possible when La Malinche is re-interpreted by these by different authors.
Carnaval, grotesco y dialogismo en las zarzuelas de Pablo Sorozábal
In the present study, the three principal theories of Russian theorist Mikhail Bakhtin--the carnavalesque, grotesque, and dialogical--are applied to the musical-theatre genre of the Spanish zarzuela. The focus of the study centers on the works of composer Pablo Sorozábal and the various librettists who collaborated with him, among them the renowned literary author Pío Baroja. Within this study, zarzuela is first analyzed on its own in terms of the academic debate surrounding the genre and its importance in terms of both literary and musical criticism. After establishing the particular capacity of the zarzuela to make important cultural contributions, the central theoretical framework of the thesis is established via Bakhtinian theory, and several links are drawn between this theory and the genre of the zarzuela, which is shown to be a body of work often capable of conveying subversive messages, both cultural and sociopolitical. With this critical lens, then, the specific sociopolitical context of Spain between 1931-1942 is analyzed and described in order to illustrate the various extratextual and intertextual elements at play in Sorozábal's zarzuelas. The three works ultimately studied are Katiuska (1931), Adiós a la bohemia (1933), and Black, el payaso (1942). By way of highlighting the Bakhtinian characteristics at play in these three zarzuelas, the composer's intention to challenge and criticize Spain's sociopolitical reality, including Francoist dictatorship, is revealed, illustrating the capacity of the zarzuela to challenge and transgress existing norms--an aspect that many critics have failed to recognize in the genre up to the present day.
Clarin's View of Society
This thesis is a study of social criticism in the works of Leopoldo Alas ("Clarín"), a nineteenth century Spanish novelist, literary critic and short story writer. In Clarín's two major novels, "La Regenta" and "Su único hijo," and in his numerous short stories there is frequent criticism of the abuses of the clergy, the state of Spanish morality, the misunderstanding and misapplication of religion by the laity, the quality of education, literature, theater and medicine, the corruption of law and government and the treatment to which the poor and uneducated were subjected. Because of Clarín's techniques it can be said that he was the leader of the naturalistic movement in Spain. It can also be said that Clarín as a naturalist did not follow the tenets of the French school.
La Poesía Lírica Colombiana
In this work, superficial to the extreme, it is my purpose to offer a review of the development of lyric poetry ("poesía lírica") in Colombia throughout its history. It is logical that because of the extent of the subject it is not possible to give a complete treatment of our political history, though I have tried not to leave out points of significance. The classification of authors and of poems, as well as the division of periods I have made arbitrarily, guided by my own criteria. Thus, I have the Romantic period divided into romanticism and post-romanticism, according to the dates generally regarded as the beginning and end of these two literary movements. In reality, romanticism only ended with the beginning of modernism, and one cannot therefore distinguish romantic poets from post-romantic poets. Due to the nature of this thesis, many poets--some of them well known--will not be mentioned. However, my intention is not to write a lyric anthology, but to reveal the spirit of Columbia through her poets and her poetry.
La Temática Poética de Julián del Casal
This thesis studies three of the most significant themes in the poetry of the Cuban Modernist, Julian del Casal. The poet's morbid fascination with death is characterized by an inability to adapt to his life environment, boredom, a strong self-destructive drive, and the concept of death as the ultimate joy and refuge. He reflects the Modernist aesthetic code in his cult of plastic and lyric beauty. An escapist, he sought refuge in an ideal world of perfection and elegance. This unobtainable goal resulted in deep melancholia and despair. The theme of love reflects a complete absence of passion and eroticism. The poet's categorical rejection of woman as a sensual object is accompanied by subtle insinuations concerning his own physical impotence and inability to love.
El Arte Hiperólico de Gabriel García Márquez
This thesis examines the fiction of the Columbian author Gabriel García Márquez, and focuses on hyperbole as a fundamental characteristic of Márquez's fiction. There is special interest in three aspects of his work: setting, people, and themes.
Estrategias Didácticas para la Enseñanza del Enfoque Léxico y las Nuevas Tecnologías de la Información y de la Comunicación (TIC) en la Clase de Español como Lengua Extranjera (ELE)
The purpose of this research was to use a lexical approach, and information and communication technologies (ICT) as strategies to facilitate learning to students of Spanish as a foreign language, to answer the research questions: (1) if the use of multiword lexical units improves the lexical competence and (2) whether the use of technology is an effective strategy to facilitate learning. A lesson plan with different activities was designed and put into practice with two groups of students (experimental and control) of the intermediate level of the University of North Texas (UNT). The collected data were analyzed using the quantitative paradigm with the variance model ANOVA with repeated measures, and the qualitative or interpretive paradigm to offer a broader perspective of the learning process of multiwords lexical units (collocations and idiomatic expressions). The results of this investigation answered the research questions and confirmed the effectiveness of the lexical approach and ICT in the teaching-learning process and facilitated the student's acquisition of L2.
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