Hispanic Studies Guide for Pre-Sessional Reading 2015
¡Hola! We hope you are enjoying your summer and looking forward to beginning your Hispanic Studies
degree in October. We know that many prospective undergraduates like to begin reading during the
summer in preparation for the start of term, and so we have prepared this guided reading list to help
you get started. We don’t expect you to buy (or even read!) all of the works on this list, but if you sample
at least one or two works from each section, you will be in a good position to begin your studies in
October. And don’t feel you have to limit yourself to our list – anything you can read in Spanish or about
the Hispanic world will stand you in good stead for the course. Why not make a weekly date with a
Spanish-language newspaper, or try some contemporary Spanish-language fiction?
Many primary texts should be available at the University Bookshop for the beginning of term. Multiple
copies of set texts will be available at the University Library, although we recommend you purchase
your own copies of primary texts where you can.
General Reading
These texts provide a useful introduction to the history of the Hispanic world as we study it at Warwick.
We recommend you read at least two of them during the summer before you come up to Warwick:
Barton, Simon. A History of Spain (Palgrave Essential Histories Series). Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
Benjamin, Thomas. The Atlantic World: Europeans, Africans, Indians and their Shared History, 1400-1900.
Cambridge UP, 2009.
Davies, Catherine. Ed. Hispanic Studies. The Essential Companion. Hodder Education, 2002.
Fowler, Will. Latin America since 1780 (Modern History for Modern Languages). Hodder Education, 2008.
Higman, BW. A Concise History of the Caribbean (Cambridge Concise Histories). Cambridge University
Press, 2010.
Phillips, William D and Carla Rahn Phillips. A Concise History of Spain (Cambridge Concise Histories).
Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Ross, Chris. Spain since 1812 (Modern History for Modern Languages). Hodder Education, 2009.
Swanson, Phil. Ed. The Companion to Latin American Studies. Hodder Education, 2003.
Tremlett, Giles. Ghosts of Spain. Faber, 2006. 2nd ed. 2012 (paperback, any edition)
Vincent, Mary. Modern Spain, 1833-2002: People and State. Oxford UP, 2007.
Williamson, Edwin. The Penguin History of Latin America: New Edition. Penguin, 2009.
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Language
We recommend all students purchase an up to date bilingual dictionary and the Butt and Benjamin
reference grammar, both of which will be useful to you throughout your four years of study.
Grammar
A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish. John Butt and Carmen Benjamin. Publisher: Taylor &
Francis Ltd. Hodder Education. 5th Revised edition. ISBN-10: 1444137697
Suggested Bilingual dictionaries (always get the most recent edition you can)
Collins Spanish Dictionary and Grammar. Harper Collins Publishers Limited – 2010. ISBN
0007323174
Oxford Spanish Desk Dictionary: Spanish-English, English-Spanish. Oxford University Press, 2009.
ISBN 0199560803
Literature and Culture
This is a list of selected readings from our two Level 1 modules. We recommend you read at least one
text from each module (and ideally more!) before you arrive at Warwick. If you are taking single honours
Hispanic Studies or Hispanic Studies as a major (75% HS, 25% another subject), you will study both of
these modules. If you are taking joint honours (50% HS, 50% another subject), you will choose one of
them. Whether you are taking single or joint honours, we recommend you read at least one text from
each module. They are presented in the order you will be studying them.
HP103: Language, Text and Identity in the Hispanic World
Mar-Molinero, C. The Spanish Speaking World: A Practical Introduction to Sociolinguistic Issues. London:
Routledge, 1997.
Stockwell, P. Sociolinguistics: A resource book for students. London: Routledge, 2002.
Pérez Firmat, Gustavo. Bilingual Blues: Poems, 1981-1994. Bilingual Press, 1995.
Rivas, Manuel. La mano del emigrante. Madrid: Alfaguara, 2001 [a short excerpt in English is available
here: https://www.guernicamag.com/fiction/excerpt_from_the_emigrants_han ]
HP104: Images and Representations of the Hispanic World
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises, Scribner, 2006.
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Guevara, Ernesto. Viaje a Sudamerica, Txalaparta, Tafalla, 2000 [English translation: Ernesto
Guevara, The Motorcycle diary: Notes on a Latin American Journey, Harper Perennial, 2004.]
Cadalso, José. Cartas Marruecas, ed. by Russell P. Sebold. Madrid: Catedra, 2000:
https://archive.org/details/cartasmarruecas00cada (1917 edition)
Ford, Richard. Gatherings from Spain (1846): https://archive.org/details/gatheringsfromsp00forduoft
Bardem, Juan Antonio. Calle Mayor (FILM: 1956):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLnKVa7ypmE
Martín Gaite, Carmen. Usos amorosos de la posguerra española. Barcelona: Anagrama, 1987 [English
translation by Margaret EW Jones: Courtship Customs in Postwar Spain. Bucknell University Press,
2004]
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