Portuguese and Brazilian Studies (3)
A.Y. 2026/2027
Learning objectives
This course aims to provide students with a general understanding of historical and literary evolution of portuguese and brazilian culture. An introduction to formation («formação») of national literatures of Portugal and Brazil is offered, with a specific attention to complex colonial and political history. For Portugal, we analyze the development of Literature from medieval origins to contemporary era, for Brazil we analyze the evolution of literature from colonial formation in XVI century until the culture of our days. Particular attention is given to the history of ideas (colonialism, imperialism, cultural hiper-identity, semi-periphery) and concepts.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: outline of national and imperial Portuguese history; formation of colony-Brazil and development of Brazilian Literature as national literature (colonial canon, imperial canon, republican canon), main authors and literary movements from the Middle Ages to the contemporary era; fundamental elements of history of ideas and conceptual history that help analyze the societies and cultures of two countries.
Applying knowledge and understanding: ability to read and contextualize some paradigmatic works of portuguese and brazilian thought and literature; ability to read three significant works from selected period; understanding of historic, cultural, and social implications of literary texts; ability to place authors, movements and works in their context; ability to analyze literary texts through the application of ideas and concepts borrowed from literary criticism, post-colonial theory and cultural studies.
Applying knowledge and understanding: ability to read and contextualize some paradigmatic works of portuguese and brazilian thought and literature; ability to read three significant works from selected period; understanding of historic, cultural, and social implications of literary texts; ability to place authors, movements and works in their context; ability to analyze literary texts through the application of ideas and concepts borrowed from literary criticism, post-colonial theory and cultural studies.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
First Semester
Course Title
National and Imperial Simulacra: Literature in Portugal from the Baroque to Romanticism. Brazilian Literature between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: The Nation and Its "Others".
Course Description
Section A (30 hours)
Literature in Portugal from the Baroque to Romanticism
This section examines the history and literary history of Portugal from the late sixteenth century to the Romantic period—or, in political terms, from the Iberian Union of 1580 to nineteenth-century Constitutionalism. Particular emphasis will be placed on the theoretical concepts and the cultural and philosophical traditions that provide the framework for understanding the literary construction of the Portuguese nation.
Concepts such as translatio imperii, the South Atlantic, and narratives of nationhood will serve as critical tools for interpreting major works of the Portuguese literary canon, from the conceptual Baroque prose of António Vieira to the writings of the leading Romantic authors Almeida Garrett and Alexandre Herculano, whose works reconfigured Portuguese national identity during the nineteenth century.
Section B (30 hours)
Brazilian Literature between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: The Nation and Its "Others"
The course spans the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, exploring the historical phases in which Brazil began to conceptualize itself as a nation and confronted, time and again, figures of an "alterity" that was alternately rejected or absorbed. This is evident in the Arcadias and the Inconfidência Mineira, which in the eighteenth century crystallized the birth of an initial patriotic sentiment and the first consolidation of an autonomous literary system, in dialogue with the "other" system originating from the Portuguese motherland. Subsequently, nineteenth-century Romantic ideals and Indianismo—coinciding with Brazilian independence and the beginning of the Imperial era—sought to trace a Brazilian "self" by attempting to integrate the distorted figure of indigenous alterity, a process that is today scrutinized by indigenous critique itself. At the end of the nineteenth century, literature accompanied the crucial phases of the transition to the First Republic and the Abolition of slavery: here, the realism of Machado de Assis, the militant literature of Lima Barreto, and, even earlier, Black and abolitionist voices such as those of Maria Firmina dos Reis and Luís Gama, questioned the racist assumptions upon which republican Brazil was founded —a nation where the Black population remained an excluded, disavowed, and unthought "other."
Course Structure
The course is divided into two sections:
Section A: Ideas, concepts, and historical contexts in Portuguese history and literary history from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.
Section B: Ideas, concepts, and historical contexts in Brazilian history and literary history from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century.
· Section A examines the history of Portugal and Portuguese literature from the beginning of the seventeenth century to the second half of the nineteenth century.
· Section B explores the formation of Brazilian society and its literary canon between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, focusing on the period in which Brazil began to conceive of itself as a nation.
· The course is worth 9 ECTS credits.
· This syllabus is valid until September 2027. Beginning with the Summer examination session of 2027, students will be examined exclusively on the syllabus for the 2027/2028 academic year.
Course Title
National and Imperial Simulacra: Literature in Portugal from the Baroque to Romanticism. Brazilian Literature between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: The Nation and Its "Others".
Course Description
Section A (30 hours)
Literature in Portugal from the Baroque to Romanticism
This section examines the history and literary history of Portugal from the late sixteenth century to the Romantic period—or, in political terms, from the Iberian Union of 1580 to nineteenth-century Constitutionalism. Particular emphasis will be placed on the theoretical concepts and the cultural and philosophical traditions that provide the framework for understanding the literary construction of the Portuguese nation.
Concepts such as translatio imperii, the South Atlantic, and narratives of nationhood will serve as critical tools for interpreting major works of the Portuguese literary canon, from the conceptual Baroque prose of António Vieira to the writings of the leading Romantic authors Almeida Garrett and Alexandre Herculano, whose works reconfigured Portuguese national identity during the nineteenth century.
Section B (30 hours)
Brazilian Literature between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: The Nation and Its "Others"
The course spans the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, exploring the historical phases in which Brazil began to conceptualize itself as a nation and confronted, time and again, figures of an "alterity" that was alternately rejected or absorbed. This is evident in the Arcadias and the Inconfidência Mineira, which in the eighteenth century crystallized the birth of an initial patriotic sentiment and the first consolidation of an autonomous literary system, in dialogue with the "other" system originating from the Portuguese motherland. Subsequently, nineteenth-century Romantic ideals and Indianismo—coinciding with Brazilian independence and the beginning of the Imperial era—sought to trace a Brazilian "self" by attempting to integrate the distorted figure of indigenous alterity, a process that is today scrutinized by indigenous critique itself. At the end of the nineteenth century, literature accompanied the crucial phases of the transition to the First Republic and the Abolition of slavery: here, the realism of Machado de Assis, the militant literature of Lima Barreto, and, even earlier, Black and abolitionist voices such as those of Maria Firmina dos Reis and Luís Gama, questioned the racist assumptions upon which republican Brazil was founded —a nation where the Black population remained an excluded, disavowed, and unthought "other."
Course Structure
The course is divided into two sections:
Section A: Ideas, concepts, and historical contexts in Portuguese history and literary history from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.
Section B: Ideas, concepts, and historical contexts in Brazilian history and literary history from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century.
· Section A examines the history of Portugal and Portuguese literature from the beginning of the seventeenth century to the second half of the nineteenth century.
· Section B explores the formation of Brazilian society and its literary canon between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, focusing on the period in which Brazil began to conceive of itself as a nation.
· The course is worth 9 ECTS credits.
· This syllabus is valid until September 2027. Beginning with the Summer examination session of 2027, students will be examined exclusively on the syllabus for the 2027/2028 academic year.
Prerequisites for admission
The course is designed for students in the third year of the Portuguese language programme.
Teaching methods
Teaching Methods
The course combines lectures with seminar-style discussions based on the literary and critical texts included in the syllabus.
Classes are taught in Italian. Critical readings are in Italian, while literary texts may be studied either in Italian translation or in the original Portuguese, according to students' preferences and language proficiency.
The course combines lectures with seminar-style discussions based on the literary and critical texts included in the syllabus.
Classes are taught in Italian. Critical readings are in Italian, while literary texts may be studied either in Italian translation or in the original Portuguese, according to students' preferences and language proficiency.
Teaching Resources
Reading List
Section A
Required Reading
1) Roberto Vecchi and Vincenzo Russo (eds.), La Letteratura Portoghese. I testi e le idee, Florence: Le Monnier, 2017 (Part II).
2) Margarida Calafate Ribeiro, "Una storia di ritorni: impero, guerra coloniale e postcolonialismo," in Boaventura de Sousa Santos et al., Atlantico Periferico. Il postcolonialismo portoghese e il sistema mondiale, edited by M. Calafate Ribeiro, R. Vecchi and V. Russo, Reggio Emilia: Diabasis, 2008, pp. 91-135 (PDF provided by the instructor).
3) One of the following novels (Italian or Portuguese edition):
- Almeida Garrett, Viagens na minha terra (1846) / Italian translation: Viaggi nella mia terra, Tuga Edizioni, Rome, 2015.
- Camilo Castelo Branco, Amor de perdição (1862) / Italian translation: Amore di perdizione, Sellerio, Palermo, 2000.
Section B
Required Reading
2) Lilia M. Schwarcz and Heloisa M. Starling, Brasil, uma biografia, São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018 (selected chapters).
3) Antonio Candido, Iniciação à literatura brasileira: resumo para principiantes, Humanitas/FFLCH/USP, 1999 (selected chapters).
4) Literary Readings:
- Maria Firmina dos Reis, "A escrava," in Úrsula e outras obras, Edições Câmara, 2018.
- Lima Barreto, Clara dos Anjos, Fundação Biblioteca Nacional / tr. it Clara dos Anjos Diabasis, 2013 (selected chapters).
- Selected short stories by Machado de Assis from: 50 contos de Machado de Assis, Companhia das Letras, 2019; tr. It La cartomante e altri racconti, Einaudi, 1990; Cronache brasiliane, Lindau, 2016.
Examination Programme for Non-Attending Students
Non-attending students are required to prepare the following readings.
Section A
Required Reading
1) Roberto Vecchi and Vincenzo Russo (eds.), La Letteratura Portoghese. I testi e le idee, Florence: Le Monnier, 2017 (Part II).
2) Margarida Calafate Ribeiro, "Una storia di ritorni: impero, guerra coloniale e postcolonialismo," in Boaventura de Sousa Santos et al., Atlantico Periferico. Il postcolonialismo portoghese e il sistema mondiale, edited by M. Calafate Ribeiro, R. Vecchi and V. Russo, Reggio Emilia: Diabasis, 2008, pp. 91-135 (PDF provided by the instructor).
3) One of the following novels (Italian or Portuguese edition):
- Almeida Garrett, Viagens na minha terra (1846) / Italian translation: Viaggi nella mia terra, Tuga Edizioni, Rome, 2015.
- Camilo Castelo Branco, Amor de perdição (1862) / Italian translation: Amore di perdizione, Sellerio, Palermo, 2000.
4) José Hermano Saraiva, Storia del Portogallo, chapters covering the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (pp. 145-257), Bruno Mondadori, Milan, 2007.
Section B
Required Reading
1) Lilia M. Schwarcz and Heloisa M. Starling, Brasil, uma biografia, São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018 (selected chapters).
2) Antonio Candido, Iniciação à literatura brasileira: resumo para principiantes, Humanitas/FFLCH/USP, 1999 (selected chapters).
3) One of the following critical essays:
- Roberto Schwarz, "As Ideias Fora do Lugar," in Ao Vencedor as Batatas, Duas Cidades, 2000.
- Antonio Candido, "Esquema Machado de Assis," in Vários Escritos, Duas Cidades, 1995.
- Lilia M. Schwarcz, "Da minha janela vejo o mundo passar: Lima Barreto, o centro e os subúrbios," Estudos Avançados, 31(91), 123-142, 2017.
Fernanda Rodrigues de Miranda, "Maria Firmina dos Reis: a fundadora negra de outra tradição literária brasileira," Cadernos de Literatura Comparada, 43, 61-74, 2021.
4) Literary Readings
- Maria Firmina dos Reis, "A escrava," in Úrsula e outras obras, Edições Câmara, 2018.
- Lima Barreto, Clara dos Anjos, Fundação Biblioteca Nacional / tr. it Clara dos Anjos Diabasis, 2013 (selected chapters).
- Selected short stories by Machado de Assis from: 50 contos de Machado de Assis, Companhia das Letras, 2019; tr. It La cartomante e altri racconti, Einaudi, 1990; Cronache brasiliane, Lindau, 2016.
Non-attending students are strongly encouraged to contact the course instructors well in advance in order to agree on an examination programme appropriate to their year of study.
Section A
Required Reading
1) Roberto Vecchi and Vincenzo Russo (eds.), La Letteratura Portoghese. I testi e le idee, Florence: Le Monnier, 2017 (Part II).
2) Margarida Calafate Ribeiro, "Una storia di ritorni: impero, guerra coloniale e postcolonialismo," in Boaventura de Sousa Santos et al., Atlantico Periferico. Il postcolonialismo portoghese e il sistema mondiale, edited by M. Calafate Ribeiro, R. Vecchi and V. Russo, Reggio Emilia: Diabasis, 2008, pp. 91-135 (PDF provided by the instructor).
3) One of the following novels (Italian or Portuguese edition):
- Almeida Garrett, Viagens na minha terra (1846) / Italian translation: Viaggi nella mia terra, Tuga Edizioni, Rome, 2015.
- Camilo Castelo Branco, Amor de perdição (1862) / Italian translation: Amore di perdizione, Sellerio, Palermo, 2000.
Section B
Required Reading
2) Lilia M. Schwarcz and Heloisa M. Starling, Brasil, uma biografia, São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018 (selected chapters).
3) Antonio Candido, Iniciação à literatura brasileira: resumo para principiantes, Humanitas/FFLCH/USP, 1999 (selected chapters).
4) Literary Readings:
- Maria Firmina dos Reis, "A escrava," in Úrsula e outras obras, Edições Câmara, 2018.
- Lima Barreto, Clara dos Anjos, Fundação Biblioteca Nacional / tr. it Clara dos Anjos Diabasis, 2013 (selected chapters).
- Selected short stories by Machado de Assis from: 50 contos de Machado de Assis, Companhia das Letras, 2019; tr. It La cartomante e altri racconti, Einaudi, 1990; Cronache brasiliane, Lindau, 2016.
Examination Programme for Non-Attending Students
Non-attending students are required to prepare the following readings.
Section A
Required Reading
1) Roberto Vecchi and Vincenzo Russo (eds.), La Letteratura Portoghese. I testi e le idee, Florence: Le Monnier, 2017 (Part II).
2) Margarida Calafate Ribeiro, "Una storia di ritorni: impero, guerra coloniale e postcolonialismo," in Boaventura de Sousa Santos et al., Atlantico Periferico. Il postcolonialismo portoghese e il sistema mondiale, edited by M. Calafate Ribeiro, R. Vecchi and V. Russo, Reggio Emilia: Diabasis, 2008, pp. 91-135 (PDF provided by the instructor).
3) One of the following novels (Italian or Portuguese edition):
- Almeida Garrett, Viagens na minha terra (1846) / Italian translation: Viaggi nella mia terra, Tuga Edizioni, Rome, 2015.
- Camilo Castelo Branco, Amor de perdição (1862) / Italian translation: Amore di perdizione, Sellerio, Palermo, 2000.
4) José Hermano Saraiva, Storia del Portogallo, chapters covering the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (pp. 145-257), Bruno Mondadori, Milan, 2007.
Section B
Required Reading
1) Lilia M. Schwarcz and Heloisa M. Starling, Brasil, uma biografia, São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018 (selected chapters).
2) Antonio Candido, Iniciação à literatura brasileira: resumo para principiantes, Humanitas/FFLCH/USP, 1999 (selected chapters).
3) One of the following critical essays:
- Roberto Schwarz, "As Ideias Fora do Lugar," in Ao Vencedor as Batatas, Duas Cidades, 2000.
- Antonio Candido, "Esquema Machado de Assis," in Vários Escritos, Duas Cidades, 1995.
- Lilia M. Schwarcz, "Da minha janela vejo o mundo passar: Lima Barreto, o centro e os subúrbios," Estudos Avançados, 31(91), 123-142, 2017.
Fernanda Rodrigues de Miranda, "Maria Firmina dos Reis: a fundadora negra de outra tradição literária brasileira," Cadernos de Literatura Comparada, 43, 61-74, 2021.
4) Literary Readings
- Maria Firmina dos Reis, "A escrava," in Úrsula e outras obras, Edições Câmara, 2018.
- Lima Barreto, Clara dos Anjos, Fundação Biblioteca Nacional / tr. it Clara dos Anjos Diabasis, 2013 (selected chapters).
- Selected short stories by Machado de Assis from: 50 contos de Machado de Assis, Companhia das Letras, 2019; tr. It La cartomante e altri racconti, Einaudi, 1990; Cronache brasiliane, Lindau, 2016.
Non-attending students are strongly encouraged to contact the course instructors well in advance in order to agree on an examination programme appropriate to their year of study.
Assessment methods and Criteria
For attending students (i.e. those who attend at least 75% of the classes), the assessment consists of a preliminary written examination, primarily based on the topics covered during the lectures, and, if students wish to improve their written examination grade, an optional oral examination.
For non-attending students, as well as for students who do not take the written examination, the assessment consists of an oral examination based on the prescribed bibliography. In all cases, non-attending students are required to agree on the examination syllabus with the instructors before registering for the examination.
Both the written and oral examinations are conducted in Italian. They are designed to assess students' knowledge of the topics covered in the course, with particular emphasis on their ability to place the historical and literary developments of Portugal and Brazil within their respective chronological contexts. The examinations also assess students' knowledge of the literary texts studied and their ability to relate them to the critical and conceptual frameworks presented during the course.
The final grade is awarded on a scale of 30 points (out of 30). Students may decline the grade awarded, in which case the examination result will be officially recorded as "withdrawn."
International and incoming Erasmus students are encouraged to contact the course instructor well in advance. Examination arrangements for students with disabilities and/or specific learning disorders (SLD) will be agreed upon with the instructors in accordance with the University's competent office.
For non-attending students, as well as for students who do not take the written examination, the assessment consists of an oral examination based on the prescribed bibliography. In all cases, non-attending students are required to agree on the examination syllabus with the instructors before registering for the examination.
Both the written and oral examinations are conducted in Italian. They are designed to assess students' knowledge of the topics covered in the course, with particular emphasis on their ability to place the historical and literary developments of Portugal and Brazil within their respective chronological contexts. The examinations also assess students' knowledge of the literary texts studied and their ability to relate them to the critical and conceptual frameworks presented during the course.
The final grade is awarded on a scale of 30 points (out of 30). Students may decline the grade awarded, in which case the examination result will be officially recorded as "withdrawn."
International and incoming Erasmus students are encouraged to contact the course instructor well in advance. Examination arrangements for students with disabilities and/or specific learning disorders (SLD) will be agreed upon with the instructors in accordance with the University's competent office.
L-LIN/08 - PORTUGUESE AND BRAZILIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours