SPAN 325 Madrid in its Literature and Art

In this interdisciplinary course we will examine representative works of art and literature that are centered on the city of Madrid as a cultural, social, historical and intellectual space. We will discuss artistic and philosophical issues including, among others, the conception of space revolution in Diego Velázquez, the tensions of Enlightenment and Romanticism in Francisco de Goya, and the existential representation of life after the Spanish Civil War in Camilo José Cela. We will explore the interconnection of selected artistic and literary works with the purpose of approaching an understanding of the multilayered and fluid creation of the city’s identity.