- Docente: Roberto Vecchi
- Credits: 9
- SSD: L-LIN/08
- Language: Italian
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Foreign Languages and Literature (cod. 0979)
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from Feb 09, 2026 to May 13, 2026
Learning outcomes
The aim of the course is to provide basic and well structured competencies in Portuguese and Brazilian cultural and literary history, with an ample repertoire of texts, contexts and concepts about the historical period at stake.
Course contents
The course addresses the topic of the modern construction of Portugal and the formation, through literature, of Brazil. It is entitled “The empty tombs of the nation: Portugal, the construction of peripheral modernities, and the literary formation of Brazil: a contemporary discussion”. In particular, both during the period of Spanish domination and in the reconstruction of its sovereignty, Portugal uses, in the literary field, the founding imagination (Camonian) of the kingdom in motion. This strategy of recursive symbolic reformulation of the nation shows the close relationship between literature and history and allows to grasp the fundamental stages in the construction of the Luso-Brazilian colony and its importance in consolidating the self-referential image of modern Portugal as the center. Brazil's independence in 1822 was a fundamental and problematic turning point for both Portugal and Brazil. The problematic nature of a negotiated independence, without any real discontinuity, created the need to transform Brazilian culture into a veritable laboratory for the construction of images and symbols of the new modern nation. The reconstruction of the decisive moments in the formation of Brazilian literature provides the tools to fully understand this process. Both narratives of the nation, problematized on a conceptual level, allow advanced third-year students to grasp substantial aspects of contemporary Portugal and Brazil.
Readings/Bibliography
Portuguese sources
-Valeria Tocco, Breve storia della letteratura portoghese, Roma Carocci, 2011 (capp.1 e 2)
-Roberto Vecchi e Vincenzo Russo (a cura di), La letteratura portoghese. I testi e le idee. Milano: Le Monnier Università, 2017 (Parte seconda “ L'impero portoghese e i suoi simulacri: dall'India al Brasile e ritorno”)
-José Hermano Saraiva, Storia del Portogallo, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2004 (dalla Monarchia duale al Costituzionalismo)
-Eduardo Lourenço, Il labrinto della saudade. Portogallo come destino, Reggio Emilia: Diabasis, 2013 (for the studentes of the 2nd and 3th year. Del colonialismo come impensato. Il caso del Portogallo, Milano; Meltemi, 2019, chapter "Critica della mitologia colonialista - anni 1964-1974)
-José Saramago, Memorial do convento (ed it Feltrinelli)
Brazilian sources
-Luciana Stegagno Picchio, Storia della letteratura Brasiliana (Einaudi) la formazione della nazione (capp5-8)
-Angelo Trento, Un terra tra tradizione e progresso (l'800) or, as alternatives, Paolo Lingua, Storia del Brasile or Boris Fausto Storia del Brasile
-Giovanni Ricciardi Scrittori brasiliani. Tullio Pironti 2003 (l'800 con Machado de Assis incluso) In sostituzione la dispensa messa a disposizione.
-Machado de Assis, Memorias póstumas de Brás Cubas (ed italiana Memorie postume di Brás Cubas, 2020)
Teaching methods
The lessons (partly in Portuguese), based on the connection between concepts and contexts, will be followed by a seminar discussion on a selected bibliography. Individual readings on the main primary resources introduced during the course supported by a tutor during the preparation of the final test.
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. A general knowledge of the historical and literary context and the main sources used but lacking a precise conceptual framework will be evaluated favorably even with intermediate results, while a purely manualistic or fragmentary knowledge of the structure of the course, although sufficient for the purpose of reporting the general framework of the course, it will get only a sufficient feedback. In this context, the capacity of synthesis, combined with a proper conceptual and terminological precision, contributes to improve the overall outcome of the exam.
Teaching tools
The course defines a strict dialogue between literatures and cultures for the period in exam. For this reason, beside literary texts, to which a specific workshop (reading and commenting) will pay special attention, other multemedia and internet contents will be introduced, in order to build an organic and clear framework of the historical context in discussion. Materials and audio of the lessons are made available to students for a better prepration of the course.The blended methodology encourages all students to participate in online interactions.
Links to further information
https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/roberto.vecchi/
Office hours
See the website of Roberto Vecchi
SDGs


This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.