What do we study when we study Literature? Curricular approaches to Rosalía de Castro

Abstract

This article examines how literary instruction has dealt with the figure of Rosalía de Castro since the beginning of the XXth century, taking into account the several reforms within Spanish secondary education. Castro’s presence is analysed in the curricula derived from the following legislations: 1901 Plan, 1926 Plan, 1931 Decree, 1938 Law, 1953 Plan, 1975 Plan, 1990 LOGSE, 2006 LOE and 2013 LOMCE, relying also on some examples taken from textbooks. Conclusions are drawn concerning the dysfunctions caused both by the linguistic-national criterion, which relegates Castro to the role of representative of a regional literature, but also by the new post-national trends, which allow her exclusion from regulated education. Finally, the consequences of marginalizing Castro for a comprehensive understanding of Romanticism and the importance of an adequate educational approach of Castro for the effective transmission of cultural memory and patrimony are discussed.