31061 - Portuguese and Brazilian Literature 1

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 is developed in two interconnected parts, with the first part devoted to Portuguese literature and the second to Brazilian literature.

The first segment, titled "Portugal from the Formation of the Nation to the Empire of Water," offers a literary and cultural reflection on Portuguese history, from its origins to the 1500s, analyzing the bearing and rhetorics of the experience of the sea and overseas expansion. Within the synoptic itinerary, an in-depth study will be devoted in particular to Luís Vaz de Camões' epic work, Os Lusíadas (1572), which constitutes the aesthetic apogee and cultural-historical compendium of the examined era.Special attention will be paid to the connection between colonial maps and literary narratives in the (partial) reconstruction of sixteenth-century Portuguese imaginaries.

The second segment, entitled "Terra Brasile between paradisiacal and cannibalistic imaginaries: myths and rhetorics of colonial culture," addresses Brazilian colonial literature in connection with Portuguese culture of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. It will look at the texts as a fundamental archive for understanding the constitution of imaginaries (paradisiacal and cannibalistic), stereotypes, and rhetorics that persisted and influenced Brazil's narratives and autonarratives even after political independence in the nineteenth century. An in-depth study will be reserved for Camonian echoes present in the colony's epic, particularly in Santa Rita Durão's work Caramuru (1781) and to contrapuntal readings of colonial narratives concerning indigenous peoples.

Readings/Bibliography

Portuguese Part

-Roberto Vecchi e Vincenzo Russo (a cura di), La letteratura portoghese. I testi e le idee, Milano, Le Monnier Università, 2017 (Parte prima "Dalla formazione del Portogallo all'impero", pp.15-170) 

-José Hermano Saraiva, Storia del Portogallo, Milano, Mondadori, 2004 (dalle origini ad Alcácer Quibir)

-Eduardo Lourenço, Il labrinto della saudade. Portogallo come destino, Reggio Emilia, Diabasis, 2013

- Luís de Camões, I Lusiadi, Milano, BUR, 2001 (canti 1-4-5-9 e 10)

 

Brazilian Part

-Luciana Stegagno Picchio, Storia della letteratura Brasiliana, Torino, Einaudi, 1997 (capp. I-IV)

-Boris Fausto, Storia del Brasile, Cagliari Fabula, 2010 (capp 1 e 2, parte coloniale)

-Giovanni Ricciardi, Scrittori brasiliani, Tullio Pironti, 2003 (Parte Prima, il Brasile coloniale che sarà messa a disposizione attraverso la piattaforma virtuale).

-Pêro Vaz de Caminha, Carta do achamento, Milano, Cisalpino, 1984.

 

 

Texts that will be used for in-depth study and workshops

Edward Wilson Lee, Una storia d’acqua. Dove si narra di un omicidio, di un poema epico e di due visioni contrapposte della storia globale, Bollati Boringhieri, 2023.

Francesca De Rosa e Alessia Di Eugenio, Voci Amefricane. Contesti, testi e concetti dal Brasile, Alessandria, Capovolte, 2024.

Olga Maira Zannoni, Cattivi selvaggi, Torino, Eris Edizioni, 2025.

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.

Links to further information

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/alessia.dieugenio2

Office hours

See the website of Alessia Di Eugenio