Reflects on some of the leading writers, artists, and thinkers from the Republic (1889) to the present and the social and political transformations of modern and contemporary Brazil that shaped literary and artistic production. In providing students with an introduction to major literary movements (modernism, regionalism, concretism, marginal literature, urban literature, etc), the course problematizes the idea of a literary canon while exploring lesser-known works and newer voices. Histories of Brazil’s social transformations, as well as theoretical reflections on the politics of world literature and translation, form part of this course’s offerings.

This course focuses on the primary literary works of the main historical periods of Brazil (colonial period, naturalism/realism, modernism), with a particular focus on the 20th and 21st  centuries. Through exploration of canonic and non-canonic literary texts, and other modes of Brazilian artistic expression (such as film, music, visual arts, and performances) we will examine a Brazil that hides behind the Brazil that sees itself, going beyond common-place or official images in order to grasp a plural Brazil. With specific emphasis on works of prose, we will explore the contradictions, frictions, and violences, as well as the proximities, creativities, and resistances that permit an understanding of the complexities of a Brazilian culture marked by race, gender, class and geographies.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills