This course explores approaches to the medieval and the oriental in Hispanic American literary and nonfictional writings, especially in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. It places texts and topics in theoretical and historical context, highlighting differences between the Hispano-American archive and other studies of medievalism and orientalism.

20x1hr seminars over both semesters as scheduled in MyCampus.

This is one of the honours options in SMLC and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

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Time-limited assignment to be completed over a 4-day period (1,500 words) semester 1 - 50%

Essay (2,000 words) - 50%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ introduce students to key Hispano-American texts evidencing use of medievalist and orientalist ideas;

■ interrogate the ways in which these texts engage with continental identity through the Islamic background of medieval Iberia;

■ chart the modifications of medievalist and orientalist ideas from the 1800s to the 1950s as embodied in literary and nonfictional texts.

By the end of this course students will be able to: 

■ account for the context and the particularities of medievalist and orientalist ideas in Hispano-America vis-à-vis other regions of the world;

■ evaluate the progression of medievalist and orientalist discourses in Hispano-America from the 1800s to the 1950s as embodied in literary and nonfictional texts;

■ produce an essay on a course topic that is established on a well-defined working hypothesis and references current critical scholarship.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.