Handbook

What makes contemporary Spain such a fascinating place is the immense and frenetic change it has undergone and that has, many argue, produced a new country. In less than half a century, a predominantly rural, agricultural society has been transformed into a mainly urban and technological one. A 40-year dictatorship has become a democracy. One of the world's most centralised states has been made into one of the most decentralised. A society that was intensely sexually repressed has become a notably permissive one. There has been a revolution in the roles of men and women. And, Spain has experienced a surge in immigration that has turned it, in the space of just a few years, into a multi-ethnic society. In this context of change, the topics explored in the course include nationalism and national identity, literary production, the arts, media, gender and sexuality, Europeanisation, languages and regionalism, religion, and fiestas.

This course is taught in English and with readings in English.