31357 - Portuguese and Brazilian Literature 3

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, entitled “Empires of the Past, Countries of the Future: Eccentric Modernities in 20th-Century Portuguese and Brazilian Cultures”, offers a critical exploration of Portuguese and Brazilian literary cultures in their relationship with modernity, history and the forms of nation-building.

Beginning with the Portuguese case, the course explores the tensions between empire, modernisation and identity, examining how 20th-century Portuguese culture developed within a historical context marked by colonial persistence, semi-peripheral backwardness and engagement with Europe.

The so-called Third Portuguese Empire – from the African expansion of the late nineteenth century to the Carnation Revolution and decolonisation – provides the backdrop against which to interpret the transformations in literature and critical thought.

Through significant authors, generations and movements, the course highlights the way in which Portuguese literature has addressed – through melancholy, memory and questions of identity – the crisis of the empire and the redefinition of its own present.

Particular attention will be paid to key figures of the late twentieth century, such as José Saramago and António Lobo Antunes, who engage in a complex examination of history, the nation and the legacies of the colonial past.

The second part of the course focuses on Brazil, re-examining Modernism beyond the canonical centrality of the 1922 Semana de Arte Moderna.

Brazilian Modernism will be considered as a broad and multi-layered process, encompassing earlier experiences, postmodernist developments and tensions between aesthetic innovation, social transformation and the construction of a national imagination.

From this perspective, the 1930s novel from the Northeast represents a decisive turning point for understanding the relationship between literature, modernisation and historical inequalities.

Overall, the course aims to provide tools for understanding Portuguese and Brazilian modernity as non-linear, eccentric experiences deeply shaped by colonial history, political transformations and the cultural tensions of the twentieth century.

Students with SLDs or temporary or permanent disabilities: we suggest that you contact the relevant university office ( https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ) and your teacher immediately to work together to find the most effective strategies for attending classes and/or preparing for exams.
Any requests for exam accommodations must be made at least 15 days before the date of the exam, by sending an email to the teacher and copying (Cc) the email address disabilita@unibo.it (in case of disability) or dsa@unibo.it (for students with Specific Learning Difficulties).

Readings/Bibliography

The bibliography is organised into required reading and supplementary/further reading. Any extracts, handouts, or visual, musical or audiovisual materials will be indicated and made available via Virtuale, in accordance with copyright regulations. The specific pages and any alternative materials will be confirmed at the start of the course.


Portuguese section – required reading

• Roberto Vecchi e Vincenzo Russo (a cura di), La letteratura portoghese. I testi e le idee, Milano, Le Monnier Università, 2017: Parte terza, “Lo splendore del Portogallo ed il suo oltre”, pp. 355-621.
• José Hermano Saraiva, Storia del Portogallo, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2004: sezioni relative al Novecento; in alternativa, Fernando Pimenta, Storia politica del Portogallo contemporaneo.
• José Saramago, Una terra chiamata Alentejo, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2010.

Supplementary and further reading

• Eduardo Lourenço, Labirinto della Saudade: Portogallo come destino, Parma, Diabasis, 2013: estratti di lettura indicati a lezione.
• Boaventura de Sousa Santos et al., Atlantico periferico. Il postcolonialismo portoghese, Reggio Emilia, Diabasis, 2008: parti selezionate.

Brazilian section – required reading

• Luciana Stegagno Picchio, Storia della letteratura brasiliana, Torino, Einaudi: sezione “La formazione della nazione”, capp. 11-16.
• Angelo Trento, Un paese tra tradizione e progresso: il Novecento brasiliano; in alternativa, Paolo Lingua, Storia del Brasile, oppure Boris Fausto, Storia del Brasile.
• Graciliano Ramos, Vidas secas; trad. it. Vite secche, Robin, 2001

Supplementary and further reading

• Giovanni Ricciardi, Scrittori brasiliani, Napoli, Tullio Pironti, 2003: sezioni relative al Novecento. In sostituzione, potrà essere utilizzata la dispensa messa a disposizione sulla piattaforma Virtuale.
• Ulteriori testi critici, schede di contestualizzazione e materiali audiovisivi saranno indicati durante il corso e resi disponibili su Virtuale.

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