Monsters and Misfits: Disability in Early Modern Spanish Literature

Undergraduate / Graduate

In this course, we will explore a selection of Spanish early modern texts that foreground disability and bodily difference in their narratives. Through our analysis of these texts, we will examine how early modern Spanish authors constructed and challenged notions of difference in relation to the cultural, social, and political context of their time. Moreover, we will reflect on how these representations, produced before the notion of a "normal body" came into being, inform our understanding of human diversity and social inclusion. Critical readings from disability literary studies will provide us with the necessary theoretical and conceptual tools for understanding and analyzing the texts. We will read literary works of diverse genres written by canonical authors of the period, such as Miguel de Cervantes, Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Tirso de Molina, and Mateo Alemán.