University of Virginia Library

II. Specific Investigation

Groups meet one hour a week throughout the year. One to ten students. Lectures,
translation, discussion, reports, examinations—in the French language, or
the Spanish language, or the Italian language, according to the subject involved.

1. Wilson. French. Lecturer and Group investigate the general
tendencies of French thought (as influenced by Pascal), French elements in
early American ideology (as advanced by Rousseau), the French novel (as
built by Balzac), the French prose epic (as exploited by Hugo), and French
temperament (as portrayed by Alphonse Daudet). Five groups:

• a. The Attitude of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Emile). (C1)

• b. Alphonse Daudet (5 to 25 volumes, according to size of group). (C6)

• c. Balzac's Work (5 to 25 volumes, according to size of group). (C9)

• d. Victor Hugo as a novelist (Notre Dame de Paris, les Misérables,
  les Travailleurs de la Mer). (C11)

• e. The Bearings of Pascal (Pensées). (C17)

2. Bardin. Spanish. Lecturer and Group investigate the forms and
ideology of the theatre of the Golden Age (as represented by Lope de Vega),
the Renaissance spirit (of Cervantes), the contra-reforma attitude (of Tirso
de Molina), the poetical application of Neo-Platonism (in Calderón), conservative
modern social criticism (as set forth in Pereda), liberal social
criticism (in Galdós), and radical social criticism (advanced by Baroja).
Seven groups:

• a. Lope de Vega (10 plays). (C2)

• b. Tirso de Molina and the Don Juan legend (8 plays and comparative
  literature of Don Juan). (C5)

• c. Calderón de la Barca and his tendency toward mysticism (10 plays).
  (C10)

• d. The novels of Benito Pérez Galdós (6 novels). (C16)

• e. The novels of José María de Pereda (6 novels). (C12)

• f. The novels of Pío Baroja (9 to 27 novels, according to size of group).
  (C19)

• g. Cervantes (Quijote, Novelas Ejemplares, and portions of the Theatre,
  the Galatea, and Persiles and Segismunda). (D3)

3. Graham. French. Lecturer and Group investigate the form, material,
treatment, and psychological atmosphere of the short story (as established
by Maupassant). One group:

Maupassant and the short story (5 to 15 volumes, according to size of
group). (C3)

4. Abbot. French. Lecturer and Group study Rabelais as a humanist,
Corneille and Racine as exemplars of classicism, and Molière as the embodiment
of French common sense. Three groups:

• a. Molière (20 plays). (C4)

• b. Corneille and Racine (16 plays). (C23)

• c. Rabelais (first two books). (D4)

5. Mellor. French. Lecturer and Group investigate problems in the
origin of classicism as presented by minor writers, the Pléiade, and Montaigne.
One group:

Montaigne, the Pléiade, and minor writers of the Sixteenth Century.
(C13)

6. Rinetti. Italian. Lecturer and Group investigate the salient tendencies
of the Italian Renaissance, Petrarch in his relations to Humanism, and
Dante in his general relation to medieval thought. Three groups:

• a. The Italian Renaissance. (C22)

• b. Petrarch (il Canzoniere.) (C20)

• c. Dante (la Divina Commedia). (C21)

7. Woody. Spanish. Lecturer and Group investigate the social forces
of modern Spain, as set forth in the theatre of Benavente, Martinez Sierra,
Linares Rivas, Marquina, and the Quintero brothers. One group:

Contemporary Spanish Theatre (30 plays). (C14)

8. Galbán. Spanish. Lecturer and Group investigate the national characteristics
of the Spanish short story (from Juan Manuel to the present day),
the españolismo of Spain's literature in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries,
and the social psychology of contemporary Spanish-American literature
(as exhibited by Rubén Dario, Amado Nervo, and Manuel Ugarte).
Three groups:

• a. The Spanish Short Story (45 stories). (C15)

• b. Contemporary Spanish-American Literature (15 volumes). (C18)

• c. Literature of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries in Spain (15
  authors). (C8)

9. Lee. French. Lecturer and Group investigate Symbolism and
Baudelaire's influence, the rôles of Verlaine, Mallarme, and Rimbaud. One
group:

Baudelaire and the Symbolists. (C7)