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SP401H: SPANISH IDENTITY THROUGH MUSIC, FILM AND VISUAL CULTURE (2023-2024)

Last modified: 05 Oct 2023 08:46


Course Overview

In the popular imagination, Spain invokes a number of alluring stereotypes: sun, sand, passion, and flamenco. In this course, students will be encouraged to look beyond these dominant stereotypes. Co-taught by lecturers in music, FVC and Spanish, students will explore how music, film and visual culture can reveal deep-seated tensions regarding national identity, politics and cultural representations of Spain throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Term First Term Credit Points 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits)
Campus Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Matthew Machin-Autenrieth
  • Dr Barbara Barreiro

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)
  • One of Spanish And Latin American Studies (SP) or MA Computing and Music or MA English with Music Studies or Master Of Arts In Spanish And Latin American Studies or MA French with Music Studies or MA French with Music Studies (Mode B) or MA German with Music Studies or Ma In Spanish & Latin American Studies With Music Studies B or Master Of Arts In German With Music Studies (Mode B) or Master Of Arts In Spanish & Latin American Studies (Mode B) or MA History with Music Studies or MA In Spanish And Latin American Studies With Music Studies or Bachelor of Laws with Options in Music (Honours) or Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Music with Honours (Education)
  • Either Programme Level 4 or Programme Level 5

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

This course introduces students to different cultural identities and representations in and of Spain in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In particular, it focuses on the relationship between music, film and visual culture, nationalism and politics, where students will examine the various ways in which ‘Spanish-ness’ has been represented, performed and negotiated at different historical and political moments. In the popular imagination, Spain invokes a number of alluring stereotypes: sun, sand, passion, and flamenco. Students will be encouraged to look beyond these dominant stereotypes, exploring how music, film and visual culture can reveal deep-seated tensions regarding national identity, politics and cultural representations of Spain.


Adopting an interdisciplinary approach (music, film and visual culture, music and Spanish cultural studies), the course will be structured in five thematic blocks:

  1. The Spanish image and propaganda;
  2. Performing national and regional identity;
  3. Tourism;
  4. Politics; and
  5. Migration. In each of these blocks, students will be introduced to a range of musical and visual culture case studies that cross different genres (e.g., film, art, photography, flamenco, popular music, folk music).


The course will examine how cultural representations of Spanish-ness in twentieth and twenty-first century Spain have been used to articulate critical portrayals of Spanish society. Students will study the ways in which these representations relate to social and political developments, such as the tourism boom in Spain from the 19th century, the Civil War (1936-39), the Franco dictatorship (1939-75), the transition to democracy (1975 onwards), and 21st century debates around national identity, race and migration


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

Academic Poster

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 30
Assessment Weeks 14 Feedback Weeks 15,16

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Feedback

By week 7 students will need to prepare an academic poster. The purpose of an academic poster is to introduce a research topic using images, text and bibliography. This could lead to the next and final essay, helping students to shape the topic, methodology and practicalities of it beforehand. Written feedback to students will be provided following submission of the poster.

Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
FactualUnderstandTo study the role of contemporary music, film and visual culture in actively shaping wider socio-cultural debates in twentieth- and twenty-first century Spain.
ProceduralAnalyseTo analyse visual and theoretical approaches to identity, race, authenticity, nostalgia and heritage, as applied to specific music, art and visual genres and cultures from Spain.
ProceduralCreateTo develop skills in creating informative posters and video-audio essays, and to present, reflect on and critique materials learnt throughout the course.
ReflectionApplyTo develop a sensitivity towards cultural and social identities and their different historical manifestations and representations.

Video Essay/Podcast + Reflection

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 60
Assessment Weeks 18 Feedback Weeks 21

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Feedback

The video essay or video podcast will be a maximum of 7 minutes long and will be accompanied by a written reflection of around 1500 words. Written feedback will be provided up to three weeks following the submission.

Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
FactualUnderstandTo study the role of contemporary music, film and visual culture in actively shaping wider socio-cultural debates in twentieth- and twenty-first century Spain.
ProceduralAnalyseTo analyse visual and theoretical approaches to identity, race, authenticity, nostalgia and heritage, as applied to specific music, art and visual genres and cultures from Spain.
ProceduralCreateTo develop skills in creating informative posters and video-audio essays, and to present, reflect on and critique materials learnt throughout the course.
ReflectionApplyTo develop a sensitivity towards cultural and social identities and their different historical manifestations and representations.

Tutorial/Seminar Participation

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 10
Assessment Weeks 8,9,10,11,12,14,15,16,17,18 Feedback Weeks 39,40

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Feedback

Tutorial leaders will provide informal feedback midway through the course with the final grade at the end of the course.

Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
FactualUnderstandTo study the role of contemporary music, film and visual culture in actively shaping wider socio-cultural debates in twentieth- and twenty-first century Spain.
ProceduralAnalyseTo analyse visual and theoretical approaches to identity, race, authenticity, nostalgia and heritage, as applied to specific music, art and visual genres and cultures from Spain.
ProceduralCreateTo develop skills in creating informative posters and video-audio essays, and to present, reflect on and critique materials learnt throughout the course.
ReflectionApplyTo develop a sensitivity towards cultural and social identities and their different historical manifestations and representations.

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Resit Assessments

Essay

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 100
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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Feedback Word Count 4000
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
Sorry, we don't have this information available just now. Please check the course guide on MyAberdeen or with the Course Coordinator

Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
FactualUnderstandTo study the role of contemporary music, film and visual culture in actively shaping wider socio-cultural debates in twentieth- and twenty-first century Spain.
ReflectionApplyTo develop a sensitivity towards cultural and social identities and their different historical manifestations and representations.
ProceduralAnalyseTo analyse visual and theoretical approaches to identity, race, authenticity, nostalgia and heritage, as applied to specific music, art and visual genres and cultures from Spain.
ProceduralCreateTo develop skills in creating informative posters and video-audio essays, and to present, reflect on and critique materials learnt throughout the course.

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