Approaches to Teaching the Works of Benito Pérez Galdós

Essays on teaching the Spanish author Benito Pérez Galdós

The Spanish author Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920) produced an immense oeuvre of novels, stories, plays, and journalism that addressed the political, social, and aesthetic questions of his time. This volume will give any instructor interested in teaching Galdós, including those who want to teach the works in translation, exciting ways of exploring his writing with their students.

Galdós's concerns included the emergence of feminism, religion's power, the rising middle class, Spain's declining empire, increasing autocracy, and social conflict. Some essays in this volume discuss more familiar works, such as Marianela and Tristana, whereas others introduce little-known texts. Some approaches are designed for students new to textual analysis; others, for students who are eager for theoretical frameworks, including food studies, medical humanities, adaptation studies, and celebrity studies, and activities such as theater games and microblogging. From literary history to cultural studies, this volume's subjects are appropriate for courses in diverse settings and disciplines.

This volume contains discussion of the following works by Galdós: "El cólera y la política," La desheredada, Doña Perfecta, Electra, "La especulacion del miedo," Fortunata y Jacinta, Marianela, "Precauciones sanitarias," Tormento, Torquemada en la hoguera, Tristana, and "Tropiquillos." It also discusses Galdós adaptations and tributes such as the graphic novels 1892, by Antonio Becerra Bolaños and Alberto Hernández Rivero, and Nela, by Rayco Pulido Rodríguez; the telefilm Prim, el asesinato de la calle del Turco, written by Nacho Faerna and Virginia Yagüe; and the film Doña Perfecta, directed by Alejandro Galindo.