Hispanidades: España la Primera Hispanidad

4/5 ( ratings)

College instructors often comment that students entering advanced study of Spanish language and literature lack a basic knowledge of the geography, history and culture of the Hispanic world. Such knowledge is difficult to include in the crowded and highly structured introductory or intermediate courses. In third-year and upper division literature courses, the absence of such background becomes apparent. To cite just a few examples, how are students to grasp the meaning of a poem by Garcia Lorca without knowing something about Spain and Andalucia, or how to understand Juan Rulfo's stories without knowledge of post-revolutionary Mexico? How to approach the work of Pablo Neruda or Garcia Marquez without the basics of South American history and geography? Instructors often attempt to add such material in what is typically non-standardized curriculum reflecting their own interest and training.

HISPANIDADES is intended to serve as a resource for instructors to provide this background while preserving flexibility to shape their own courses.

HISPANIDADES draws on portions of the video series EL ESPEJO ENTERRADO as a dramatic visual platform for such study.

These video segments, selected for their connection with the topic, are placed on the DVDs which accompany these texts, HISPANIDADES: ESPANA LA PRIMERA HISPANIDAD and its companion, HISPANIDADES: LATINOAMERICA y LOS EE.UU.

Each chapter in these texts contains the following: - Chronological Orientation - Introduction to the topic - Discussion questions - Transcript of the video segments - Vocabulary with exercises - Review of selected grammar - Literary selections based on chaptertopic - Exercises and explanatory passages intended to assist students in understanding the reading selections and literature in general. - Web references to encourage students to do further research - In a number of chapters, the authors added a short essay with additional information to illustrate the ongoing relevance of the topic to the contemporary world.