Paradoxically initiated by the loss of its last colonies in the Spanish-American War of 1898 and a Nicaraguan poet’s invention of modernism, Spain’s rebirth, its Silver Age, was marked by an increasingly cosmopolitan, radical egoism. This cultural revitalization, particularly the newfound gravitas of the philosophical essay, fed by America to Europe then back to America once again, is sometimes referred to as the essence of Hispanicism. The course will consider the Generation of ’98, emphasizing the work of the leader of its intelligentsia, José Ortega y Gasset, and that of its most macabre associate, Ramón María del Valle-Inclán. Students will expand their descriptive, analytical, polemical, and creative vocabulary. Discussions, presentations, tacky puppetry and makeshift, flamboyant performances will facilitate the development of oral fluency. Written work will include both analysis and fiction, and should solidify familiarity with linguistic structures. Conducted in Spanish. Highish-intermediate level.

Corequisites: attendance at two Language Series events.