Summary: Complacency has never been a hallmark of Latin American literature. As the 21st century dawned, many young writers-and even some who had fueled the Latin American Boom-grew disenchanted with the status quo. This program profiles the careers and the potential of literary artists at the forefront of the region's emerging narrative trends. Addressing the influence of the Crack Movement and the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Complacency has never been a hallmark of Latin American literature. As the 21st century dawned, many young writers-and even some who had fueled the Latin American Boom-grew disenchanted with the status quo. This program profiles the careers and the potential of literary artists at the forefront of the region's emerging narrative trends. Addressing the influence of the Crack Movement and the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: In the first decades of the 20th century, Brazilian avant-garde literature came into its own. This program examines the awakening of Modernismo and subsequent movements in Brazilian letters, from Sao Paulo's Week of Modern Art in 1922 to the politically focused milieu of the 1970s. Outlining historical events that helped shape the country's multifaceted culture, the program explores the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: In the first decades of the 20th century, Brazilian avant-garde literature came into its own. This program examines the awakening of Modernismo and subsequent movements in Brazilian letters, from Sao Paulo's Week of Modern Art in 1922 to the politically focused milieu of the 1970s. Outlining historical events that helped shape the country's multifaceted culture, the program explores the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Characterized by expressions of individuality, popularismo, criticism, stoicism, humor, piety, and dignity, the literature of Spain spans ten centuries, includes some of history's most significant writers, and contains landmark works of every major literary genre. This program provides an overview of Iberian history as it relates to Spanish literature. The formation of regional tongues and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Adapted from his book, The Pleasures of the Imagination, this lavish exploration of the arts in eighteenth-century London is presented by historian John Brewer. Illustrated with period prints and paintings, along with artful reenactments of London cultural life, the program considers the world of commerce and celebrity in which Georgian culture was created-a world with many parallels to today....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: English is a language spoken by two billion people, perhaps even more. This classic PBS program examines the prevalence of English in the world today and presents a historical overview of its rise. Focusing on the expansion of the British Empire and the emergence of English-language mass media, the program explains how widespread English usage survived Britain's post-WWII decolonization,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The 18th century in Spain was less a period of literary achievement than a time of intellectual ferment, as the Bourbon monarchs attempted sweeping social and cultural reforms. In this program, renowned experts put into perspective the writings of those who kept the flame of literature alight during the Age of Reason. Dramatic readings include excerpts from Torres Villarroel's El Censor, Benito...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Unified by the Portuguese language, the literature of Brazil represents the cultural synthesis of three distinct influences: indigenous peoples, European emigres, and Africans brought to the New World as slaves. This program reflects on those influences as it examines the first five centuries of recorded Brazilian writing. With an overview of ancient folklore and verse, the program highlights...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Unified by the Portuguese language, the literature of Brazil represents the cultural synthesis of three distinct influences: indigenous peoples, European emigres, and Africans brought to the New World as slaves. This program reflects on those influences as it examines the first five centuries of recorded Brazilian writing. With an overview of ancient folklore and verse, the program highlights...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: How did a language originally spoken in just a small part of the British Isles come to dominate the communication of so many different countries? From its start as a diverse group of Anglo-Saxon dialects and all the way onward to adoption on a global scale, this program tracks the establishment of English as the world’s common tongue. English crossed the sea by means of settlement, trade, and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: At the heart of the Generation of '27 lies experimentation with a host of popular artistic as well as political "isms" including neo-Gongorism, Ultraism, Creationism, Surrealism, socialism, and communism. In this program, renowned experts profile key members of this post-World War I group. Dramatic readings include excerpts from Luis Cernuda's Donde Habite el Olvido, Rafael Alberti's "Cita...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: What makes the promise of Camelot still resonate in the 21st century? In this program, Barbara and Alan Lupack, authors of King Arthur in America and Arthurian Literature by Women; Debra Mancoff, author of The Arthurian Revival in Victorian Art; and Kevin J. Harty, author of King Arthur on Film, New Essays on Arthurian Cinema, discuss the enduring fascination with King Arthur in Britain and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The making of English is the story of three great invasions and a cultural revolution. This classic PBS program shows how an early form of English was carried to Britain by invading Anglo-Saxons, how that language was all but obliterated by waves of Viking settlers, and how it was reshaped by the French-speaking Normans. The fact that English survived on the lips of people who left no written...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: When Massasoit hailed the Plymouth settlers in their own language, they might have taken it for a sign that English would dominate the New World. Packed with surprising etymologies and intriguing stories, this program traces the dynamic relationship between English and America, exploring the linguistic influence of westward expansion, cowboy culture, slave culture, and encounters with the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Three versions of the Judgment of Solomon story illustrate the changes that have taken place in the English language across more than a millennium: from Aelfric's 10th-century account of how Solomon's wisdom reached to the truth, through Middle, to Early Modern and Modern English. At each stage, the grammar and vocabulary of the pieces are analyzed, as are the social assumptions of the writers....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: When Spain's army mutinied against the Second Republic in 1936, it marked the beginning of a bitter civil war that lasted three years and cost one million Spanish lives. In this program, respected authorities elaborate on the writings and personalities of those who captured this devastating period in poetry and prose. Dramatic readings include excerpts from Rafael Alberti's "Romancero General...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: With the Norman invasion, English became a third language in its own country, behind French and Latin. In this program, Melvyn Bragg examines the impact of Old French on the development of English. Manuscripts, tapestries, and dozens of curious etymologies help illustrate a tremendous influx of vocabulary pertaining to romance, chivalry, and, of course, food. The influence of Eleanor of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: How did life in post-civil war Spain-a time of uncertainty and oppression-influence the writings of the period? In this program, renowned experts explore the literature of the Franco era through the experiences of Ana Maria Matute and other writers who chose to stay in Spain after the Nationalist victory in 1939. Dramatic readings include excerpts from Camilo Jose Cela's La Colmena, Luis...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Despite the dampening effects of the Inquisition and the Counter-Reformation, the Renaissance gave a powerful impetus to learning and experimentation-and in the process ensconced Castilian as the language of choice for both poetry and prose. In this program, renowned experts place the masters of the Renaissance within the context of their times. Dramatic readings include excerpts from Fernando...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: When California passed a law making English its official language, it set off a storm of legal and social debate-debate which continues to rage today. In this program, advocates for and against the policy examine the topic from social, legal, and educational standpoints: English-only advocates justify their viewpoint on the grounds that it promotes national unity and saves money by eliminating...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Dark mysterious creatures, tales of vampires are told in many different cultures around the world. This revealing documentary explores the fear and intrigue that these undead beings stir. Origins of the Vampire also presents the surprising truth about real-life cases through history. From Vlad the Impaler’s 16th century Transylvania to Bram Stoker’s stories of the 19th century to today’s movies...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1993
View online at AVOD
Summary: After the horrors of World War I, Latin American writing turned away from what many saw as ornamental and frivolous experimentation. This program studies the so-called "criticism of Modernismo within Modernismo" in which language reached back to a simpler, more intimate, less urban-centered framework. Investigating the work of several poets and authors of the period-including Enrique Gonzalez...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The mid-20th century was an era of large-scale and often tragically violent political shifts which completely changed the face of Latin American life-and art. As this program demonstrates, the rise of military dictatorships and authoritarian regimes forced a reassessment of issues that had been problematic since Latin American countries gained their independence. These dilemmas brought intense...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007