Films for the Humanities & Sciences

As a child of the Spanish Civil War and the repressive post-war era, Carmen Martin Gaite found kindred spirits among the Madrid literati, led by her future husband Rafael Sanchez Ferlosio, during the '50s. In her long and uninterrupted literary career, Gaite chose socially critical topics such as the relationship between the sexes and the differences between provincial and city life. Using modes of expression that became increasingly more personal...

The 18th century in Spain was less a period of literary achievement than a time of intellectual ferment, as the Bourbon monarchs attempted sweeping social and cultural reforms. In this program, renowned experts put into perspective the writings of those who kept the flame of literature alight during the Age of Reason. Dramatic readings include excerpts from Torres Villarroel's El Censor, Benito Jerónimo Feijóo's "Fábula de las Batuecas y Países...

At the onset of Spain's Golden Age, the genres of pastoral fiction and mystic poetry attained their fullest expression while the picaresque story made its bracing debut. In this program, respected authorities scrutinize the lives and works of those who paved the way for Cervantes, Vega, and Góngora. Dramatic readings include excerpts from the anonymously written Lazarillo de Tormes, Mateo Alemán's Guzmán de Alfarache, Jorge Montemayor's Los...

After the Spanish Civil War, the defeated Republicans had only two options: to stay in Spain and accept the rule of Franco's authoritarian regime or to leave their homeland and go into exile. In this program, leading scholars talk about the lives and works of Spain's dispossessed literary elite, whose voices refused to be silenced. Dramatic readings include excerpts from Rafael Alberti's "A Traves de la Niebla," León Felipe's Español del Éxodo...

During the 17th century, Spain witnessed a flowering of letters that was nourished by religious zeal, epic adventures, and a new sense of realism. In this program, leading scholars provide insights into the writings and personalities of Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and other giants of Spanish literature. Dramatic readings include excerpts from Cervantes' Don Quijote and Los Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda, Vega's Fuenteovejuna, Tirso de Molina's...

Despite the dampening effects of the Inquisition and the Counter-Reformation, the Renaissance gave a powerful impetus to learning and experimentation - and in the process ensconced Castilian as the language of choice for both poetry and prose. In this program, renowned experts place the masters of the Renaissance within the context of their times. Dramatic readings include excerpts from Fernando de Rojas's La Celestina, Juan Alfonso de Baena's Cancionero...

At the heart of the Generation of '27 lies experimentation with a host of popular artistic as well as political "isms" including neo-Gongorism, Ultraism, Creationism, Surrealism, socialism, and communism. In this program, renowned experts profile key members of this post-World War I group. Dramatic readings include excerpts from Luis Cernuda's Donde Habite el Olvido, Rafael Alberti's "Cita Triste de Charlot," Ramón Gómez de la Serna's Flor de...

A passionate dissatisfaction with Spain's immediate past and a keen awareness of the need for a rebirth of spirit and letters was a mindset held in common by a disparate group of writers later renowned as the Generation of '98. They also enjoyed a shared love of old towns and the countryside and early poets such as Berceo and Juan Ruiz. This program seeks to understand the icons of that Generation through dramatic readings from Antonio Machado's El...

Jacinto Benavente-a member of the Generation of '98, the winner of the 1922 Nobel Prize for Literature, and one of the most influential Spanish dramatists of the entire 20th century-penned more than 170 plays. This program tells the story of Benavente's life and the turbulent times in which he lived as it sheds light on aspects of his writing. A critic of the bourgeois class, he nonetheless counted its members among his most loyal supporters. Readings...

After the death of Franco and during the transition to a parliamentary monarchy, Spain's cultural life blossomed once again. In this environment, the poetry movement known as "the other sentimentality"-named after the first book of Javier Egea and Luis Garcia Montero-was born, a movement known for its transformation of the personal experience into a collective one so that any reader might identify with the feelings evoked. This program discusses that...