Description

This course aims to introduce students to both the Brazilian novel and its cultural, social, literary and historical contexts from the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century. The module will explore different traditions of novel writing in Brazil, place the emergence of Brazilian novel in relation to the contemporary European novel, and introduce students to a range of important discussions about the novel as a genre, its cultural function, its audiences, and its relation to the social world.

 

Aims of the module 

to introduce analytical, historical, critical and contextual approaches to the study of the Brazilian novel;
 to cultivate a deep-rooted understanding of Brazilian literature and culture;
 to equip students with a wide range of ideas and a vocabulary to talk and write about novels with confidence;
 to gain an understanding of these novels’ integral relationship to the Brazilian social, economic, and political context;
 to develop reading skills in Portuguese.
 

Intended learning outcomes 

Upon successful completion of the course, students are expected:

to have a clearer understanding of the history, culture, and socio-economic realities of Brazil in the period depicted by these novels;
 to be able to analyse a given Brazilian novel independently, comparing and contrasting it with a European literary text with which they are already familiar;
 reflect critically on historical representation and contextualization in fiction;
 to be able to express their ideas, informed by suitable research and reflection, in cogent, well-structured essays.
 

Primary texts (in Portuguese or English translation) 

Manuel Antônio de Almeida, Memórias de um sargento de milicias (1854)/Memoirs of a Militia Sergeant: A Novel (OUP, 1999).
 José de Alencar, Iracema (1865)/Iracema (OUP, 2000).
 Machado de Assis, Dom Casmurro (1900)/Dom Casmurro (OUP, 1999).
 Pagu (Patricia Galvão), Parque industrial (1933)/ Industrial Park (University of Nebraska Press, 1993).