I took a course from Andrés Amorós. He was / is a scholar of Pérez de Ayala, so I read a lot of PdA in his editions. This was a course for Spanish students, so the Americans in it had a tutor. I read La Regenta and loved it, and wrote a great answer on it on the final exam. The other question was on Fray Gerundio. I had not read this novel so I totally faked it on the exam. Amarós wrote that my exam was "uneven," if uneven meant one really good answer on a novel you've actually read and one bad answer on one you never even started.
I still haven't read Fray Gerundio, one of the few 18th century Spanish novels and a satire of baroque sermons (so I've been told). I read a lot of Galdós for his course, which led to my first marriage. It was nice to read a book and then go to the exact streets where the characters lived.
The format was lecture, lecture, lecture. I asked a question once, what was "ilustración"? It turned out to be the enlightenment. Who would have guessed? I was thinking of pictures in a children's book!
I took an art history course that met in the Prado once a week, but usually was in the Complutense. When the instructor turned off the lights to show her slides, I would inevitably get drowsy, having been up until 2 the previous night. I wrote a highly detailed paper on a painting on the "Noli me tangere" theme hanging in the Prado. I will find it for you if you ask me in the comments. It is a very beautiful painting of Mary Magdalene and Jesus almost touching their hands.
I tried Bousoño's class but he was a pedant. He spend the entire hour explicating one line of a Lorca poem, the first line of "Romance de la guardia civil española." I switched to Claudio Rodríguez, and then ended up writing a dissertation on him.
I studied with José Luis Cano, who had known Lorca. He was really a disciple of Aleixandre, though. We studied Lorca, Aleixandre, and Guillén. He told us about the ASA pattern. (Adjective noun adjective) in all of Aleixandre's work. I took a Golden Age course. I remember Fray Luis de León and little else from it.
This year in Spain made me a Hispanist, because I would have been an English major otherwise. There could have been other courses too, but that's all I remember.
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At home there was an Andalusian with a colorful vocabulary. It took me a few months to realize what "mecagenlotia" meant. Or "mecagendios" or mecagenlamdarequeteparió." It was confusing to learn that "de puta madre" meant "excellent." Hash was "chocolate" and was bought in foil like a Hershey bar would come in.
4 comments:
I'll guess the painting was this by Nuñez del Valle rather than the Correggio or Poussin versions they also have.
I think it's the Correggio.
I'll buy that (though they're not especially close to touching). The Poussin is unusually weak, not at all playing to his strengths.
Let's see. I made Spanish my main language in Comp. Lit. so I could spend the year in Spain. Otherwise I'd have been French first, but who wants to go to France when you can go to Spain? Seriously.
I am quite sure this person I saw sing in San Sebastián was Paco Ibáñez. I took a medieval course with J. M. Blecua, the son. I learned Catalán and read a lot of Catalan poetry. I should remember the name of the Latin Americanist professor, who was very good. I didn't take Badia Margarit's linguistics class because although he was famous, it seemed boring. Lluís Llach was everywhere. The children of the neighborhood taught us to sing Bella Ciao and I realized their parents must be Republicans. I don't remember the name of the art history professor but the question was on modernismo and I got the highest possible grade. I shared an apartment with a tuno from Extremadura. There were many things I did not do and could have, but many things I did. I went to the movies so many nights, it was the 70s and there were all these amazing films coming out.
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