B8118 - History of Portuguese-Speaking Cultures (LM)

Learning outcomes

The student has wide knowledges about the historic, political, philosophical, religious and socio-economic context of the Lusophone cultures (Portuguese, Brazilian, African, Asiatic). S/he has high capacity to understand and to elaborate a critical analysis of the cultural specificities of this area. S/he is able to develop, through a conceptual commitment, a deep analysis handling complex conceptual issues and to formulate sharp reflections on the topics of this specific area of studies.

Course contents

The advanced course, taught in Portuguese, is entitled «Periphery and Critique: Contemporary Brazilian Thought from Schwarz to Safatle» and aims to trace a genealogy of Brazilian critical thought from the second half of the twentieth century to the present day, highlighting the continuities, ruptures and internal transformations within an intellectual tradition that has systematically engaged with the problem of Brazil’s peripheral position within global capitalist modernity. Among the authors and themes covered are: Roberto Schwarz and the dialectic of the periphery; Silviano Santiago and the ‘entre-lugar’; Paulo Arantes and his diagnosis of the present; Marcos Nobre and Brazilian critical theory; Vladimir Safatle and the critique of the political subject, new media and radical public discourse (Jones Manoel, etc.)

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

Essential references

• Roberto Schwarz, Ao vencedor as batatas [1977], São Paulo, Duas Cidades/34, 2000
• Silviano Santiago, Uma literatura nos trópicos [1978], Rio de Janeiro, Rocco, 2000
• Paulo Arantes, O novo tempo do mundo, São Paulo, Boitempo, 2014 (capp. 1, 3, 5 – estratti disponibili su Virtuale).
• Marcos Nobre, Choque de democracia: razões da revolta, São Paulo, Companhia das Letras, 2013 (trad. it. parziale disponibile su Virtuale).
• Vladimir Safatle, O circuito dos afetos, São Paulo, Cosac Naify, 2015.
• Jones Manoel, selezione di video-lezioni (canale YouTube «Aula Livre» e «Marxismo 21»).

Teaching methods

The course is delivered in blended mode. The method proposed in the course is mixed (blended learning): it provides, in addition to the traditional lessons, thnaks 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, a final presentation of each personal work with the participation of all the class. In this way, the preparation is assessed partly during the course, not only in a final test. In collaboration with Camões - Instiuto da Cooperação e da Língua, an alternative e-learning version of the course is available for any possible interested student.

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 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 the critical, 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

The course defines a strict dialogue among critical concepts, literatures, arts and cultures. For this reason, beside literary texts, to which a specific workshop (reading and commenting) will pay special attention, other multimidia and internet contents will be introduced, in order to build an organic and clear framework of the morphology of the cultures in Portuguese languages (through the platform Virtuale, that is Moodle). Different materials and texts used during the lessons are made available to students for a better prepration of the course. The course is carried out in Blended Learning modality.

Links to further information

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

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Vecchi