SJ2A012 History of Spanish through texts

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/2/2. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Ivo Buzek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Ivo Buzek, Ph.D.
Department of Romance Languages and Literatures – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Milada Malá, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Romance Languages and Literatures – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to offer to students a representative sample of the richness of Castilian and Spanish texts throughout history and the geographical extension of the Spanish language in its wide spread of textual typology and sociopragmatic complexity. The overview will start with the first Romance texts traditionally interpreted as Castilian, followed by texts that already belong indisputably to medieval Castilian textual history. However, main attention will be paid to the European Spanish and Latin American texts that belong to classical, modern and contemporary Spanish. The texts will be analyzed from the perspective of the study of discursive traditions and attention will be paid to their pragmatic and sociolinguistic value. The typology of texts will include both literary (prose and verse) and non-literary texts (administration and jury, chronicles, scientific and humanistic, journalistic).
Learning outcomes
In the first place, students will learn to identify the main characteristics of the Spanish language in different periods of its evolution as they are shown in texts from different periods and geographical areas. However, the priority in reading and analysis will be the stylistic and sociopragmatic factors of the texts analyzed. As a future philologists and / or teachers of Spanish in secondary education, students must be able to identify the characteristics of the main discursive traditions of Spanish throughout its evolution in order to understand the continuity of past traditions in the present and their variation and variety in independent (post-colonial) Spanish-speaking countries.
Syllabus
  • 1. First Romance documents: Glosas, legal and administrative texts
  • 2. Acknowledgement of Castilian: epic and lyric poetry, medieval prose, scientific, legal and administrative texts
  • 3. From medieval Castilian to pre-classical Spanish: fiction and non-fiction, scientific, legal and administrative texts
  • 4. Classical Spanish: fiction (prose and drama), humanistic, scientific, legal and administrative texts; private texts
  • 5. Modern Spanish: humanistic, scientific, legal and administrative texts; private texts
  • 6. Contemporary Spanish: discursive traditions of independent Spanish speaking nations
Literature
    required literature
  • PONS RODRÍGUEZ, Lola. La lengua de ayer : manual práctico de historia del español. Madrid: Arco/Libros, 2010, 494 s. ISBN 9788476358122. info
  • PENNY, Ralph J. Variación y cambio en español. Edited by Juan Sánchez Méndez. Madrid: Gredos, 2004, 391 s. ISBN 8424927303. info
  • FRAGO GRACIA, Juan Antonio. Textos y normas : comentarios lingüísticos. Madrid: Gredos, 2002, 507 s. ISBN 8424923545. info
    recommended literature
  • Así se van las lenguas variando : nuevas tendencias en la investigación del cambio lingüístico en español. Edited by Mónica Castillo Lluch - Lola Pons Rodríguez. Bern: Peter Lang, 2011, 435 s. ISBN 9783034305655. info
  • MENÉNDEZ PIDAL, Ramón. Historia de la lengua española. 2nd ed., (corr.). Madrid: Fundación Ramón Menéndez Pidal, 2007, 747 s. ISBN 9788489934177. info
  • MENÉNDEZ PIDAL, Ramón. Historia de la lengua española. 2nd ed., (corr.). Madrid: Fundación Ramón Menéndez Pidal, 2007, 1360 s. ISBN 9788489934169. info
  • Historia de la lengua y crítica textual. Edited by Lola Pons Rodríguez. Madrid: Iberoamericana, 2006, 334 s. ISBN 386527286X. info
  • Historia de la lengua española. Edited by Rafael Cano Aguilar. 2a ed. Barcelona: Ariel, 2005, 1167 s. ISBN 8434482614. info
  • FRAGO GRACIA, Juan Antonio and Mariano FRANCO FIGUEROA. El español de América. 2.a ed. Cádiz: Universidad de Cádiz, 2003, 302 s. ISBN 8477868395. info
  • SÁNCHEZ MÉNDEZ, Juan. Historia de la lengua española en América. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, 2003, 494 s. ISBN 8484427110. info
  • FRAGO GRACIA, Juan Antonio. Historia del español de América : textos y contextos. Madrid: Gredos, 1999, 350 s. ISBN 8424922387. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, obligatory reading tasks, class discussion, working in groups on extracts of Castilian and Spanish texts from different eras and areas.
Attention will be paid to class activities (comentaries and analysis of texts), although previous readings at home for each topic will be necessary too.
Assessment methods
Written test that will consist of five questions on subjects included in syllabus and a short analysis of a fragment of text (similar to texts commented in class). The final grade will rely as well on the level of homeworks, class participation and reading tasks.
Language of instruction
Spanish
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
General note: V plánu kombinovaného studia je kontaktní výuka 14 hodin za semestr (6 hodin přednášky a semináře, 8 hodin konzultace).
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: kombinovaná forma: 14 hodin/semestr.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/SJ2A012