31178 - Portuguese and Brazilian Literature 2

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student understands the general outlines of literary history, is able to read, comprehend, and translate texts in the original language, and has been introduced to the basic analytical methods and tools required to interpret the works of major authors, contextualizing them within their cultural and historical framework.

Course contents

The course, titled Real and Imaginary Fluctuations: the Mythologies of the Portuguese Empire between Baroque and Romanticism and the Indianist Invention of Nineteenth-Century Brazil, is developed in two closely interconnected parts, the first devoted to Portuguese literature and the second to Brazilian literature.

The first segment analyzes the “fluctuations of the Portuguese Empire,” in historical and ideological terms, considering the period from the defeat of Alcacer-Quibir and the start of the dual monarchy to the constitutionalist struggles of the early 19th century. The analysis of the broad period covered concerns as much the birth and consolidation of Sebastianist mythologies as their Romantic crisis and deconstruction. It uses as an interpretative filter the “classical” figure of the “translatio imperii” that finds specific form in Portuguese history both from the cultural and literary point of view-through texts as well as from the historical one (in the early 19th century - a unique case in the history of colonialism - the Portuguese court actually moved to its colony, Brazil). An in-depth reading and analysis is reserved for Almeida Garrett, author of the first attempts at demythologization of rhetoric and imagery of empire.

The second segment is devoted to the literary “invention” of Romantic and 19th-century Brazil and aims to reconstruct debates and cultural tensions present in Brazil after political independence from Portugal (1822). Indianist literature, which is entrusted with the attempt to express peculiarities of the new nation-empire, will contribute to the creation of fictitious and stereotyped images of the indigenous. Black women and men also find no place in this idealized scenario, except as subaltern slaves or narrated victims who are denied speech. Through the analysis of texts and through contrapuntal readings in dialogue with contemporary voices, these images and figures, present or concealed, in the literature of the period under discussion will be analyzed. The culmination of this movement of formation, as well as of these tensions and constructions, is the fiction of Machado de Assis, particularly that which develops from the 1881 novel Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas. An in-depth study is also devoted to the short story Pai contra Mãe in which Brazilian social and racial contradictions emerge, disruptive and dramatic.

Readings/Bibliography

Portuguese Section

-Roberto Vecchi e Vincenzo Russo (a cura di), La letteratura portoghese. I testi e le idee. Milano, Mondadori, 2017 (Parte seconda “L'impero portoghese e i suoi simulacri: dall'India al Brasile e ritorno”)

-José Hermano Saraiva, Storia del Portogallo, Milano, Mondadori, 2004 (dalla Monarchia duale al Costituzionalismo)

-Eduardo Lourenço, Il labrinto della saudade. Portogallo come destino, Reggio Emilia, Diabasis, 2013 (Del colonialismo come impensato. Il caso del Portogallo, Milano, Meltemi, 2019, capitolo "Critica della mitologia colonialista - anni 1964-1974)

-José Saramago, Memoriale del convento, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2017.

Brazilian Section

-Luciana Stegagno Picchio, Storia della letteratura Brasiliana, Einaudi, 1997 (La formazione della nazione, capp 5-8)

- Boris Fausto Storia del Brasile, Cagliari, Fabula, 2010 oppure Angelo Trento, Un terra tra tradizione e progresso, Firenze, Giunti, 1992 (parts related to the nineteenth century)

-Giovanni Ricciardi Scrittori brasiliani, Tullio Pironti, 2003 (parts related to the nineteenth century).

-Machado de Assis, Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas (in traduzione italiana: Fazi, 2020)

- Machado de Assis, Pai contra Mãe (in the handout provided)

Teaching methods

A combination of lectures, labs, group work, student presentations, seminars, and guest speakers from outside the course (professors, scholars and former students) make up course's structure.

Assessment methods

The final exam is the result of partial tests. At the end of each module, it will be proposed two test structured through questions on the main conceptual, contextual and textual issues of the section in exam. The final grade will therefore be made up of the results of the tests of the partial exams. These trials will test the capacity of understanding the main concepts exposed during the course, connected to a descriptive knowledge of the analyzed contexts and the ability to navigate among the assigned readings, enhancing the capacity of synthesis and precision of expression especially about the conceptual keys. In terms of evaluation, an accurate knowledge of concepts, contexts and texts, combined with an effective capacity of argument, will be judged with the top score. In this context, the capacity of synthesis, combined with a proper conceptual and terminological precision, contributes to improve the overall outcome of the exam.

For non-attending students: please get in touch with the professor to agree on the details of the program in order to facilitate your preparation.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities: It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/ studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination. Any requests for adjustments should be made by emailing the teacher and entering the email address disabilita@unibo.it (in case of a disabling condition) or dsa@unibo.it (for students with DSA) in Cc.

Teaching tools

The course establishes a close dialogue between the literatures and cultures of the period in question. In order to facilitate the development of a comprehensive and organic understanding of the period under investigation, we will include additional content (such as musical and artistic works) in addition to the texts, designating specific areas for reading and commentary. The virtual platform will provide students with access to a diverse array of materials, as well as an interaction forum and other didactic proposals for facilitating horizontal and participatory sharing and path building.

Office hours

See the website of Alessia Di Eugenio