Works presented

Summary
Julia Kristeva's concept of the abject runs through the veins of Gothic fiction, from is inception to its modern iterations, and has evolved past the written word and into other forms of fiction. Among a sea of monstrous creations, Al Ewing's Immortal Hulk (2018-2021) stands out as a work that not only embraces the roots of nineteenth-century Gothic fiction by fixating on the physicality of the monster it portrays, but manages to evolve the concept of the monster itself by presenting abjection and physical otherness in itself as a political weapon. This thesis intends to examine Immortal Hulk as an evolution of Gothic monster narratives, utilizing the work of Julia Kristeva to analyze the trajectory of the physically abject in literature. To this end, this study will be structure into three main parts. In the first one, the concept of the abject will be examined as it pertains to Gothic fiction and Gothic monsters across its timeline. This will be followed by a contextualization of the character of the Hulk as a creation inspired by works of Gothic fiction, and finally, the third chapter will provide a close reading of Immortal Hulk in which I shall examine its position as a recontextualization of the Hulk mythos as well as the evolution of the Gothic abject it presents, in the form of a political weapon.

Direction
Pereira Ares, Noemí (Tutorships)

Court
BLANCO SUAREZ, ZELTIA (Coordinator)
LOJO RODRIGUEZ, LAURA MARIA (Chairman)
JIMENEZ PLACER, SUSANA MARIA (Secretary)
SACIDO ROMERO, JORGE (Member)

Summary
Long periods of warfare, political tensions, and famine in Europe have made the Americas an appealing final destination for many since the early decades of colonisation. In the case of Cuba, the island remained a receiving country of migration for many years, but would make a sharp turn outwards as the political climate began to get heated in the second quarter of the 20th century. The main country to welcome the many waves of migration that followed was the United States of America. This mass migration led to a process of transculturation, the merging of two cultures, among the members of the diasporic community, which brought forward feelings of belonging and unbelonging, troubled memories of the past, and questions regarding cultural identity. This master’s thesis intends to examine the impact of migration on the Cuban diaspora living in the United States by carrying out an analysis of the characters that appear in Oscar Hijuelos’ The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1990). Consequently, the analysis will consist of a theoretical framework that aims to expand on the concepts of diaspora, memory, and identity that make up the experience of Cuban immigrants in America; and a literary analysis that will focus on the application of such terms to Hijuelos’ characters. Furthermore, the impact of music, both in the novel and in Cuban culture, will be essential to bring together the theoretical aspects in question. Through the figure of Eugenio Castillo, and driven by his status as second-generation immigrant, this dissertation aims to bring the aforementioned theoretical notions together by presenting him as the ultimate representative of the process of transculturation. To carry it out, the study will be contrasted to several relevant bibliographical sources and will be illustrated with a number of excerpts from the novel.

Direction
ALONSO ALONSO, MARIA (Tutorships)

Court
BLANCO SUAREZ, ZELTIA (Coordinator)
GONZALEZ GROBA, CONSTANTE (Chairman)
JIMENEZ PLACER, SUSANA MARIA (Secretary)
PALACIOS GONZALEZ, MANUELA (Member)

Summary
The aim of the following master's thesis is to shed light on issues of gender, language, and literature. In particular, gender issues in Lexicography and the literary world, more specifically in the literary world of Galicia. To cover both areas, a Biographical Dictionary of Galician Female Writers is proposed, an online dictionary that presents all the entries in Galician and English. A lexicographical and biographical approach is adopted to structure the entries that form part of the proposed online dictionary. A general structure is presented and discussed, and examples are given in both languages.

Direction
ALVAREZ DE LA GRANJA, MARIA (Tutorships)

Court
CAL VARELA, MARIO (Coordinator)
SANMARCO BANDE, MARIA TERESA (Chairman)
González Seoane, Ernesto Xosé (Secretary)
Frankenberg García, Ana (Member)

Summary
In general terms, the main aim of this End of Master’s Degree Project (EMP) is the study and the annotated critical edition of the Galician-Portuguese songs of moral theme. The corpus of study is made up of compositions by several prominent authors in Galician-Portuguese lyrical production, active in different periods and belonging to different estates. This research will allow us to explore the ethical message that each author attempts to convey through their compositions, and eventually determine the existence of similarities and differences between them. First, detailed information will be provided about authors, the transmission of the texts that constitute the corpus and the thematic, stylistic and metric characteristics of moral songs. Secondly, the annotated critical edition of each of the songs will be carried out, regulated by pre-established editing criteria.

Direction
GONZALEZ MARTINEZ, DEBORA (Tutorships)

Court
DOMINGUEZ PRIETO, CESAR PABLO (Coordinator)
ALONSO VELOSO, MARIA JOSE (Chairman)
MORAN CABANAS, MARIA ISABEL (Secretary)
GARCIA TRABAZO, JOSE VIRGILIO (Member)