29898 - Portuguese and Brazilian Literature 1 (LM)

Learning outcomes

The student has deep knowledge about the history of Portuguese, Brazilian literatures and cultures, with a particular attention paid to the relation between literary texts and the historical, artistic, conceptual and linguistic contexts. He knows, and is able to use, practical and effective methods for the analysis and interpretation of literary texts and other cultural objects through competences of critical theory.

Course contents

The monographic course, taught in blended mode and entirely in Portuguese, has as its topic "O dia dos inícios: o 25 de Abril de 1974 e as ontotologias de Portugal", it takes on the experience of the 1974 "Carnation Revolution" in a non-celebratory or conventional way (still on an interpretative level often inscribed in the context of a crisis and a transition, with representations that reduce the image of a rupture at the end of Salazarism) as a platform of enormous potential for reflection around ontologies (also conflictual) of Portugal. Represented as a fracture or an effect, as discontinuity or invisibility, 25 April 1974, both from a literary and cultural point of view, is not only the heart of the Portuguese twentieth century, darkened for almost half a century by the suspension of democracy, but also the transit through which grasping a profound and decisive identity transition from the Atlantic to Europe, leaving as heritage a multiplicity of visions and uses of the past, including nostalgia, ideologies, redesigns and reconstructions. The problematization of the "dia levantado e principal", to use a famous definition by José Saramago, becomes the interpretative key of a large and complex literary corpus (starting from the complex representation of the revolutionary event itself) which nevertheless allows us to establish the precise profile of the contemporary Portuguese literature.

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

Essential references

Primary sources:

Eduarda Dionísio, Retrato dum amigo enquanto falo (1979)

Hélder Macedo, Pedro e Paula (1998)

Mia Couto, Vinte e zinco (1999)

Lídia Jorge, O dia dos prodígios (1980)

Idem, Os memoráveis (2014)

(parti scelte della collana Caminho de Abril)

Secondary sources:

Fernando Rosas, Ensaios de Abril. Lisboa: Tinta da China, 2023

Manuel Loff, Miguel Cardina (orgs). 25 de Abril. Revolução e mudança em 50 anos de memória. Lisboa: Tinta da China, 2024

Raquel Varela (ed.), Revolução ou transição? História e memória da Revolução dos Cravos. Lisboa: Bertrand, 2012.

Idem, História do povo na Revolução portguesa (1974-75). Lisboa: Bertrand, 2014.

(an integration of bibliographic references will be provided during the lessons)

 

Teaching methods

The course participates to UNIBO teaching innovation project.The method proposed in the course is mixed: it provides, in addition to the traditional lessons, thanks to the platform Virtuale, collective workshop for the discussion of common texts, the construction of specific thematic routes to each individual student, the planning shared by all the class of a work project (Wiki), a final presentation of each personal work with the participation of all the class. In this way, the preparation is assessed during the course (through the constractivist modality provided by Virtuale- not in a final test.

Assessment methods

The exam aims to assess the achievement of the main learning objectives of the course, namely: forming a deep critical knowledge about the history and theory of Portuguese, Brazilian and African Portuguese-speaking literatures and cultures, with particular attention to the relation between literary texts and the historical, cultural and aesthetic contexts; strengthening a wide knowledge and use of critical methodologies and practices for the analysis and interpretation of literary texts and the historical and cultural contexts. The exam will be articulated on different tests that contribute to determine the final evaluation and disseminated during the course. In fact, it is articulated in different modes: organization of joint seminars where an active participation in the discussion is a favorable element for the assessment of the skills in order to achieve progressively and integrally the course objectives; preparation of a final work with a deep analysis of a topic among those approached during the course and its following discussion in the occasion of a final oral test on the main topics of the course. The student will be put in the condition, either through the lessons and an appropriate path of readings, to achieve the objectives of the course. The evaluation will be proportionate to the performance of the student in the different moments of the course. In this sense, it will be considereted satisfactory an informed knowledge of the main topics addressed, intersected with critical methodologies used during the development of the course. If this essential level is not achieved, the student will be put anyway in the condition, through an integrative program of individual readings, to reach an acceptable level of comptences. The articulation of the knowledges on a more varied and lucidly composed textual, contextual and critical framework, dialoguing not only with the premises but also with the most crucial topics of the course, in particular those of conceptual order, will add value to the overall evaluation of the student. Finally, in this context, the integration of a critical and orginal contribution, capable to open new and alternative perspectives of analysis and interpretation of the mains issues of the course, is evaluated as an excellent result of the student's performance.

Teaching tools

For its conceptual nature the course defines a strict dialogue between literatures, arts and cultures. For this reason, beside literary texts, to which a specific workshop (reading and commenting) will be dedicated, other multimedia and internet contents -provided through Virtuale platform- will be introduced, in order to build an organic and clear framework of the topic. Different materials and texts used during the lessons are made available to students through the collaborative platform set up specifically for the class.

Links to further information

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/roberto.vecchi

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Vecchi