Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Prerequisite: One of HISP-S 324, HISP-S 328, HISP-S 331, HISP-S 333, or HISP-S 334

Two concepts that have long characterized discussions about Spain’s past are the “Reconquista” (Reconquest) and “Convivencia” (Coexistence). These concepts have impacted the way scholars look back on the origins and emerging identity of Spain, its relationship to religious and ethnic “others” (especially Muslims and Jews), and the cultural contexts in which the modern nation began to emerge. In this course, we will survey primary and secondary texts that shed light on the way notions of Reconquest and Coexistence have been used, misused, revised, and politicized over time. First, we will consider late medieval thinking about the past, and in the second part of the semester go on to examine the legacy of these ideas in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. Discussions will be conducted in Spanish.

HISP-S 411     #13577     11:30A-12:45P         MW     LH 328          Prof. Edgar Illas

Note: Class meets with HISP-S 498 #13578

• A&H
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