Exile and Nation in Modern Spain (Level 5)

About this course

The course traces political expulsion in Spain from nineteenth-century exile to the Catalan procés of 2017. Participants consider the experiences and cultural work of figures including Blanco White, Unamuno, Max Aub, María Zambrano, Luis Cernuda and Jorge Semprún, alongside perspectives from within Spain under absolutist, dictatorial and democratic regimes. Recurring themes include history, memory, reparation and the new encounters created through exile. Assessment consists of a 2,000-word essay and a two-hour in-class test.

What you'll learn

• Examine changing forms of forced expulsion from Spain across the nineteenth, twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
• Analyse cultural responses to exile through selected writers, intellectuals and political figures.
• Evaluate how Spanish state discourses have justified individual and mass expulsions at different historical moments.
• Relate experiences of exile to questions of history, memory, reparation and transnational encounters.

Is this course right for you?

The course is listed for all levels and is intended for learners engaging with historical and cultural material about modern Spain. Participation involves considering case studies and completing both extended written work and a timed in-class assessment.

• Covers Spanish history from the nineteenth century to the 2017 Catalan procés.
• Includes literary, intellectual and political perspectives on exile.
• Assessment involves both an essay and an in-class test.