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SPAN 621

SPAN 621

Literary and Cultural History of the Spanish Language

TuTh 12:30-1:45, Dey 107a
Prof. Lucia Binotti (lbinotti@ad.unc.edu)

Why do so many people speak Spanish all across the world?
He said ahorita, should I wait?
Is Spanglish a language?
If any of these questions make you curious, SPAN 621 is the course for yo

Spanish and Spanish American literary works will help us understand how the Spanish language changes overtime, and challenge us to find answers for the above questions and many others in relation to linguistic attitudes and the historical construction of linguistic identity.

Literary and Cultural History of the Spanish Language

Have you ever thought about the language you speak? If the answer is yes, surely you might have wondered: Where does my language come from? How does it change? What are its relationships with other languages? How do its literary and cultural production reflect such evolution and connections?

In this course we will approach classic works of Spanish literature within the methodological frame of linguistic historiography, and the reading and analysis of these texts will help us understand how the Spanish language changes overtime, and challenge us to find answers for the above questions and many others in relation to linguistic attitudes and the historical construction of linguistic identity.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

  1. Strengthen your tools of critical analysis by focusing your attention on the different dimensions of Spanish linguistic reality and its thought literature from today to Latin origins, observing backwards the influence of their meanings in linguistic history.
  2. Strengthen your ability to produce clear, concise and potent arguments that include an analysis of linguistic, historical and literary data and that are based on evidence.
  3. Strengthen your ability to participate in and cultivate environments of productive dissent and experimental thought. D. Develop a deeper understanding of the distinctive constructions of Spanish linguistic identity in various historical, cultural and literary contexts and how those constructions transform history, culture, and relations of power.
  4. Develop skills to critically analyze primary sources.

Pre-requisites: SPAN 301 or 302; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.