Tag Archives: madrid

Picasso’s “Guernica” and Aleixandre’s “Oda”: The Spanish Civil War in Art and Poetry

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

One of my favorite things to do when creating lesson plans and homework assignments is to find visuals that evoke the same themes or feelings as the literary text. When teaching poetry for example, I have found that images work … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Literature, Spain, Spanish Civil War | Tagged art, guernica, madrid, picasso, poetry, spanish art, spanish civil war, teaching, Vicente Aleixandre | 12 Comments

Francisco de Goya: The Enigma of the Black Paintings

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

This semester at Kansas State I am teaching a survey course on Spanish Civilization and Culture. While it is certainly requiring me to brush up on history and politics (from prehistoric times to the present, nonetheless), it is also giving … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Spain | Tagged 18th century, art history, black paintings, goya, madrid, museo del prado | 1 Comment

Women of the Second Republic (Spain 1931-39)

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

While I was in Spain last summer (2014), I was able to attend the “Feria del libro” (Book Fair) that takes place annually in Madrid’s central park, El Retiro. According to the Feria del Libro’s (FLM) website, its goals are … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Feminism, First-wave spanish feminism, History, Spain, Women | Tagged 1930s, books, Dalí, feria del libro, gender, las 13 rosas, madrid, mallo, Second Republic, spanish civil war, women | 6 Comments

The Memory of War in Madrid

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

I recently came across the Spanish blog and online magazine Yorokobu, a Madrid-based publication that discusses historical events and narratives not typically featured in traditional media. According to their “About” page, the writers at Yorokubu aim to inspire their audience by … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Spain, Spanish Civil War | Tagged 1930s, Franco, Historical Memory Law, madrid, memory, photography, Spain, spanish civil war, war | 4 Comments

Posters and Propaganda from the Spanish Civil War (1936-39)

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

A few weeks ago one of my friends passed on a link to these Spanish Civil War posters, which were published over at Retronaut, “The Photographic Time Machine.” I had just finished teaching a unit on representations of the war … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Spain, Spanish Civil War | Tagged 1930s, children, gender, madrid, masculinity, propaganda, spanish civil war, war | 4 Comments

Maternity and Madrid: Gendered Spaces in La rampa (1917)

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

I have officially decided that September is the fastest-moving, shortest month of the (academic) year. It flies by quicker than winter break. One day you are rather calmly introducing the course syllabus and getting to know new students… the next … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Literature, Modernity, Science and Medicine, Spain, Women | Tagged 1920s, Carmen de Burgos, gender, literature, madrid, maternity, motherhood, Spain, urban studies | 10 Comments

Highlights from Spain… as summer vacation comes to an end :(

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

I realized I haven’t yet written a post for the month of July, and the fact that August is only days away is a bit terrifying! I must say, however, that I have had a nice balance of “work” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Spain | Tagged asturias, food, galicia, madrid, oviedo, photography, Santiago de Compostela, segovia, Spain, spanish, travel | 5 Comments

Pedro Almodovar’s “La piel que habito”: Science and Technology as Postmodern Mediums

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

I feel very lucky to have been able to spend the month of June in Spain, first in Madrid for nearly 3 weeks (with a day trip to Segovia), then in Santiago de Compostela for a few days during a … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Science and Medicine, Spain, Women | Tagged art, femininity, film, gender, La piel que habito, madrid, medicine, Pedro Almodovar, postmodernism, prado, pseudoscience, Santiago de Compostela, science, technology, Titian, velazquez, Venus | 4 Comments

Breastfeeding in the Prado: Religious, Mythological, and Pagan Roots

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

Don’t worry! This isn’t a too-much-information personal anecdote… just some observations I made regarding the very frequent and detailed depictions of breastfeeding in the artwork gracing the Prado’s walls. Having initially visited Madrid’s Museo del Prado in 2001 for my … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Spain, Women | Tagged art, breastfeeding, catholicism, madrid, maternity, motherhood, museo del prado, Rubens, Spain, spanish art, velazquez, virgin mary | 10 Comments

Bicycles, typewriters, and sex!?!? Cultures of the Erotic in early 20th Century Spain

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

Among the many articles and books I consulted for my last article on La Venus mecánica, Maite Zubiaurre’s Cultures of the Erotic in Spain, 1898-1939 (from Vanderbilt UP, 2012) was by far my favorite. Not only does Prof. Zubiaurre‘s monograph … Continue reading →