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The main objectives of this thesis are, on the one hand, the examination of the thought of the Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno regarding Argentinian history, language, and literature. On the other hand, it deals with the possible influence Unamuno might have exercised on the early works of the Argentinian writer, Jorge Luis Borges. Doing so, I cover areas which have not been researched thoroughly. A secondary objective is also covered: the literary output of Borges from 1920 to the early 1930s, often neglected by literary criticism. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part contextualizes the time and place in which the two writers lived. A brief examination of the sociopolitical situation in Argentina and Spain is carried out as well as a brief look at the cultural state of the two countries. Unamuno's attitude towards his own country is set in relation to his ideas about Argentina. I show how Unamuno related the decadence of Spain to the development of Argentina, and how the latter was, for him, the Spain that could have been but was not, the Spain of the future. The second part details the areas in which Unamuno perceived this identification between the two countries. The historical development of Argentina and Spain is examined according to Unamuno's views. Argentinian Spanish is compared to Castilian Spanish. Finally, I deal with Unamuno's views about Argentinian literature, emphasizing his opinions about gauchesque works, avant-garde movements, and key literary figures like Sarmiento and Hernández. The third part deals with Borges' ideas about Argentinian history, language, and literature. On the one hand, Borges' ideas are examined on their own; on the other, they are set in relation to Unamuno's opinions. In some cases, the influence of the Spaniard in the Argentinian is noticeable. In other cases, however, the disagreement is obvious.

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This paper proposes a diachronic and synchronic analysis of the extensive use of se in Spanish reflexive and passive constructions with se being discussed in relation to the Unaccusative Hypothesis in Arc Pair Grammar.Universals in Arc Pair Grammar, namely the Unaccusative Law, the 1-Advancement Exclusiveness Law and the Final 1-Arc Law will account for the similarities and differences, first between English and Spanish predicates; and second, between ordinary reflexive constructions and reflexive passive constructions.Evidence from Spanish, primarily synchronic, is presented to analyze reflexive constructions that come from an initial unaccusative stratum. A parallel between these constructions and reflexive passives is established to demonstrate that unaccusative predicates and reflexive passive constructions are very closely related.Diachronically the paper claims that there is a logical and clear evolution of se based on corefentiality, anaphoric chains, unspecified arguments, and self-erasing ghost arcs.Finally this paper attempts to explain why in some instances the predicate will not exhibit agreement with the corresponding nominal. The Chomeur relation and the introduction of ghost arcs according to Arc Pair Grammar Laws and Theorems will provide the basis for this explanation.

This thesis predicts the phonological errors which were likely to occur in the American English pronunciation of speakers of different dialects of American Spanish and ascertains whether the predicted errors actually occur. In the process of error prediction it was expected that not only should the sound system of Spanish in general make a difference as to which errors would be committed, but that dialectal differences should also. Both aspects of interference prediction were based on a contrastive analysis between the individual native phonological manifestations and American English. Sounds found to be universal in the native language were taken under the rubric of homogeneous L1 sounds and were to cruse negative interference for all informants. Sounds which differed from native informant to native informant were taken to be non-homogeneous sounds and expected to cause interference for those individuals who manifested sounds different from English sounds.

Existing critical response to the question of Baudelaire's influence is confined almost exclusively to isolated assumptions articulated by critics who make little attempt, if any, to substantiate their claims, and who, thereby, show scant regard for the burden of proof associated with the study of causal influence. This study proposes to test the validity of such assumptions, and to formulate a more structured appraisal of the issue than has been made hitherto. To this end, it has sought to assemble pertinent evidence and to assess its value as an indication of a real literary debt. Enquiry is structured accordingly. The thesis begins with an exploration of methodological considerations designed to establish the conceptual basis of enquiry (Part One). It then proceeds to study the diffusion of Baudelaire's work in Spain between 1857 and 1910, and, subsequently, to examine critical reaction to the poet during the same period (Part Two). Finally, it studies the theme of Baudelaire's influence in modernismo with reference to the work of six poets whose work is representative of or which, in one case, prefigures the modernista movement in Spain: Manuel Reina, Rubén Darío, Francisco Villaespesa, the brothers Machado and Juan Ramón Jiménez. The particular objective of each case study varies according to the evidence available and the extent of existing critical response, but basically these objectives are three in number. First, to analyse unequivocal influences. Second, to ascertain, where no conclusive proof of influence exists, the extent to which the possibility of influence may be entertained. Third, to indicate, where pertinent, that the question merits more detailed examination than is possible in a general survey of this kind. The study concludes that although Baudelaire's work was reasonably well-diffused, his direct influence was slight and can be proven far less than existing preemptory claims suggest.

This study provides a thorough examination of the role of orthography in promoting first language-based phonological transfer. Specifically, it analyzes the role of auditory-orthographic condition, type of grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence and aspects of phonological memory on shaping transfer. Although, there has been previous work on the role of orthography in the acquisition of second language phonology, not much is known about the factors that shape orthography-induced transfer. In addition, the role of orthography remains to be formalized in the future models of the acquisition of second language phonology. In this experiment, data was elicited via a primary Spanish-based picture-naming task and a secondary Farsi-based non-word repetition phonological memory task. In the picture-naming task, participants were divided into four groups and assigned to four conditions, three with different degrees of exposure to orthography and one auditory condition. The data based on the productions of 40 novice adult English-speaking learners of Spanish, reveal a robust effect of orthography on phonological transfer leading to non-target-like productions at the very beginning stages of second language acquisition. There is also strong evidence that individual grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences differ in the extent to which they trigger phonological transfer. In addition, the findings show that while the presence of orthography at learning or at production induces transfer, the presence of orthography at learning has a stronger effect. The results also indicate some effect for the different aspects of phonological memory, namely, primacy and repetition effects. However, there was no correlation between individual phonological memory and the quantity of transfer. Based on the findings, I argue that when a shared grapheme corresponds to two different phonemes in the learners’ first language and the second language, the less salient the acoustic/phonetic difference between the target language and the first language phonemes, the higher the probability of first language transfer. I also argue for an effect of first language grapheme-to-phoneme frequency on transfer, suggesting that when there is variability in the realization of a particular grapheme in the first language, transfer will be based on the most frequent first language realization. Moreover, based on the findings in this study and previous research on the effect of orthography on second language production, I propose that exposure to orthography may interfere with the establishment of second language phonological categories.

This study provides a thorough examination of the role of orthography in promoting first language-based phonological transfer. Specifically, it analyzes the role of auditory-orthographic condition, type of grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence and aspects of phonological memory on shaping transfer. Although, there has been previous work on the role of orthography in the acquisition of second language phonology, not much is known about the factors that shape orthography-induced transfer. In addition, the role of orthography remains to be formalized in the future models of the acquisition of second language phonology. In this experiment, data was elicited via a primary Spanish-based picture-naming task and a secondary Farsi-based non-word repetition phonological memory task. In the picture-naming task, participants were divided into four groups and assigned to four conditions, three with different degrees of exposure to orthography and one auditory condition. The data based on the productions of 40 novice adult English-speaking learners of Spanish, reveal a robust effect of orthography on phonological transfer leading to non-target-like productions at the very beginning stages of second language acquisition. There is also strong evidence that individual grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences differ in the extent to which they trigger phonological transfer. In addition, the findings show that while the presence of orthography at learning or at production induces transfer, the presence of orthography at learning has a stronger effect. The results also indicate some effect for the different aspects of phonological memory, namely, primacy and repetition effects. However, there was no correlation between individual phonological memory and the quantity of transfer. Based on the findings, I argue that when a shared grapheme corresponds to two different phonemes in the learners’ first language and the second language, the less salient the acoustic/phonetic difference between the target language and the first language phonemes, the higher the probability of first language transfer. I also argue for an effect of first language grapheme-to-phoneme frequency on transfer, suggesting that when there is variability in the realization of a particular grapheme in the first language, transfer will be based on the most frequent first language realization. Moreover, based on the findings in this study and previous research on the effect of orthography on second language production, I propose that exposure to orthography may interfere with the establishment of second language phonological categories.

This thesis describes the role of Spanish as a common language in the construction of social networks among the diverse Spanish-speaking population of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Analysis of the data confirms the low public visibility of the community observed initially, despite the even larger numbers of Spanish speakers living in the city than initially estimated. The communitys relatively low level of coherence and its minimal presence in the public sphere can be explained by two main factors: an exceptional degree of diversity among members (described in terms of national, religious, political, socio-economic and ethnic variations), and a set of ambivalent attitudes regarding the relative value of Hispanic culture. This communitys public anonymity is also discussed as related to the larger realities of Canadas official policy of multiculturalism and popular discourses of Hispanidad in Anglo-Canadian mainstream culture.

[Abstract]: ‘Spanish Civil War’ is an important, absent signifier in Australian history, letters, writing and cultural politics of the 1930s. I argue that despite the glossing over of the importance of Spain’s war in the period, events in Spain had a pervasive influence on Australian society, and writers in particular – on their political re-alignments, on their nationalist and internationalist cultural outlooks, and on their common acceptance that they lived in an essentially tragic age. Consequently, the critical neglect of Spain and its impact on Australian cultural affairs in the 30s is unwarranted.My thesis research has covered a very wide range of texts: the ephemeral pamphlet, the small circulation journal, poetry, agitprop, the mainstream novel, the ‘mass declamation’ and the associated ‘new media’ of the 30s – photography and film. It has also looked at different groups or cultural networks in the period, all of which (despite their disparate politics) saw Spain as a central cause: the Catholic Church, the Communist Party, anti-fascist and peace movements amongst others.The theoretical dimension of my work is driven by Raymond Williams’ concept of ‘structure of feeling’, first formulated in his study The Long Revolution then developed in a series of subsequent works. The generous range of texts I study conforms to Williams’ theory of ‘structure of feeling’, arguing that to understand the ‘field’ of a period, one should survey the interconnectivity of all its texts. Also drawing on Williams’ theory, I read the structured feeling of the 30s as essentially tragic: revealing exactly how Spain focalised fears and apparently symbolised the impasse of ‘modernity’ itself – Spain was a spectacle that graphically demonstrated how the inner destructiveness of technological modernity had tragically cancelled the possibility of progress and the arrival of variously imagined utopias.