This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
This module explores the different ways in which Spain and Latin American countries have attempted to make transitions from dictatorship to democracy. The course provides an overview of the political, social and cultural developments in Spain and Latin America after conditions of dictatorship, from 1975 onwards in the case of Spain and from the 1980s and 1990s in the case of specific Latin American countries (Chile, Argentina and Peru, among others). The course takes a comparative and interdisciplinary approach by combining history, literature, film, journalism and comics. The chosen texts provide an insight into the political, social and cultural attitudes of post-dictatorship societies as well as into the changing role and conditions of cultural production in post-dictatorial democracies. Issues such as historical trauma and historical memory, forgetting and collective memory, and justice and truth commissions cut across the module.
Total Contact Hours: 20
Private Study Hours: 130
Total Study Hours: 150
Main assessment methods
• Essay (2,500 words) – 50%
• Mid-term assignment: Critical Commentary (1,500 words) – 25%
• Mid-term assignment: Group Presentation (15 minutes) – 25%
Reassessment methods
• Reassessment Instrument: 100% Coursework
Indicative Reading List:
Armengou, Montse (2003). Las fosas del silencio. TV Catalunya. [Film documentary – Spain]
Cercas, Javier (2001). Soldados de Salamina / Soldiers of Salamis. Barcelona: Tusquets Editores.
Ley 46/1977 (1977) "Ley de Amnistía". http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1977/10/17/pdfs/A22765-22766.pdf. [Link to the website of the Spanish Government (Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado)]
Ley 52/2007 (2007) "La Ley de Memoria Histórica". http://www.memoriahistorica.gob.es/es-es/LaLey/Paginas/index.aspx. [Link to the website of the Spanish Government (Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado)]
Dorfman, Ariel (1994 [1990]). La muerte y la doncella / Death and the Maiden. London: Nick Hern Books. [Play – Chile]
Llosa, Claudia (2008) La teta asustada / The Milk of Sorrow. [Film – Peru]
Martel, Lucrecia (2008). La mujer sin cabeza [Film – Argentina]
Taylor, Diana (1970). Disappearing acts: spectacles of gender and nationalism in Argentina's "dirty war". Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate critical understanding of the different ways in which Spain and Latin American countries have attempted to make transitions from dictatorship to democracy;
2 Demonstrate a cogent knowledge of a variety of textual media, having synthesised information from a number of sources in order to gain a coherent understanding of the
subject, whilst expanding their knowledge of critical and cultural theory;
3 Demonstrate understanding of established methods of analysing, criticising and assessing logical arguments, and studying and reaching conclusions independently;
4 Research, plan and present orally to a group on a chosen topic relating to Spanish and Latin American countries who have attempted to make transitions from
dictatorship to democracy;
5 Read and listen to texts in Spanish.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Participate in discussion, make their own contributions to the discussion and listen to and respect the contributions of others;
2 Communicate their own ideas clearly and coherently, orally and in writing;
3 Take responsibility for personal and professional learning and development;
4 Reflect on their own learning, plan their use of time, and identify appropriate directions for further study;
5 Plan and write an essay and to organise it around a coherent argument;
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