Portuguese graduate course topics and descriptions Fall 2013
Portuguese 361 Portuguese Civilization
TR 9:30 Professor Kathryn Sánchez
This course examines the art, music, culture, film, and traditions of Portugal, along with
important historical moments and political movements that have shaped the country. We will
look at Portugal’s past from the days of the Portuguese overseas empire through
decolonization and the Portuguese Revolution (1974), down to the present political turmoil. We
will examine how the past informs events of the present through our discussion of: historical
monuments and architecture throughout the country, including remarkable constructions
dating from the Roman invasion; the contemporary monumentality of Portugal’s major cities
and pockets of futuristic architecture; the beer and wine culture, along with other culinary
traditions; major events such as the Exposição do Mundo Português (1940) and the World Expo
(1998); and Portugal’s relationship with Brazil and its neighboring country Spain. We will also
discuss icons and myths of Portugal that remain an important part of Portuguese culture and
traditions down to the present day, and how the Portuguese film production has articulated the
country’s past and what it means to be Portuguese.
Taught in Portuguese, 3 Credits.
Portuguese 411 Survey of Portuguese Literature
MWF 11:00 Professor Luis Madureira
An advanced survey of Portuguese Literature from 1140 to 1825, focusing on the major figures,
works and tendencies of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Portuguese 751 Seminar in Brazilian Literature
R 3:30 Professor Severino Albuquerque
Topic: Literatura e cinema da ditadura
This graduate seminar examines major works written, published, or produced during the period of
the repressive military dictatorship of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s; some of the fiction as well
as most of the films were only written/produced after censorship was abolished. In addition to the
social and political context, considerable attention is given to the nature of narrative (in prose and
film), adaptation theory, and key theoretical works on trauma and memory. Students are expected
to read a number of works of fiction, testimony, theory, and criticism; watch numerous relevant
films; participate actively in discussion, give in-class reports, write several position papers, develop
a semester-long research project, a substantial annotated bibliography, and write a solid term
paper related to the semester project. All books will be on Reserve at the College Library; films will
be streaming on the LSS site. There will also be a course reader and additional materials will be
available on learn@UW.
Readings include:
I. Primary works:
1. Fiction:
Ivan Angelo, A festa
Ignacio de Loyolla Brandão, Zero
Antonio Callado, Quarup
Graciliano Ramos, Memórias do cárcere
João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Sargento Getúlio
Murilo Rubião, O pirotécnico Zacarias
Silviano Santiago, Stella Manhattan and Em liberdade
Lygia Fagundes Telles, As meninas
J. J. Veiga, A máquina extraviada
Erico Verissimo, Incidente em Antares
2. Testimony:
Fernando Gabeira, O que é isso, companheiro?
Marcelo Rubens Paiva, Feliz ano velho
Alfredo Sirkis, Os Carbonários: Memórias da guerrilha perdida
Renato Tapajós, Em câmara lenta
Flávio Tavares, Memórias do esquecimento: Os segredos dos porões da ditadura. Revised edition (2005).
3. Film:
O ano em que meus pais saíram de férias, dir. Cao Hamburger
Four Days in September [O que é isso, companheiro?], dir. Bruno Barreto
Hércules 56, dir. Silvio Da-Rin
Memórias do cárcere, dir. Nelson Pereira dos Santos
Quase dois irmãos, dir. Lúcia Murat
Zuzu Angel, dir. Sérgio Rezende
II. Theory and criticism:
Idelber Avelar, The Untimely Present
Nancy Baden, The Muffled Cries
Cathy Caruth, ed. Trauma: Explorations in Memory
Joan Dassin, in Fear at the Edge
Janete Machado, Constantes ficcionais nos romances dos anos 70
Brian McFarlane, Novel to Film: An Introduction to the Theory of Adaptation
Renato Ortiz, Cultura brasileira e identidade nacional
Tania Pellegrini, Gavetas vazias
Elaine Scarry, The Body in Pain
Roberto Schwarz, Que horas são?
Malcolm Silverman, A moderna sátira brasileira
Malcolm Silverman, Protesto e o novo romance brasileiro
Flora Sussekind, Literatura e vida literária
Tzvetan Todorov, The Fantastic
George Yudice, in On Edge