In exploring the persistence of a history of conquest and exchange in Brazil, this course investigates the interconnections and cross-fertilizations that have endured to diversify this country’s distinctly original national cultures. In so doing, it uses the impacts of European colonialism in the Americas and Africa as a springboard for understanding Brazil’s regional specificity. While there will be moments that recall a distant past, others will shed light on a present that both resembles and stands apart from much of Spanish America in the present. Throughout the course, the literature that we will be examining will find echoes in the country’s rich history.

This course surveys key moments in Brazilian arts and literature from the Semana de Arte Moderna de 1922 (1922 Modern Art Week) until the present day. We will study the aesthetic choices and sociocultural implications of works such as the novel Macunaíma, the music of Tropicália, and the film Cidade de Deus. On the one hand, we will consider how Brazilian artists dialogue with artists and intellectuals from other parts of the world as they negotiate their sense of originality and their place on the global stage. On the other hand, we will examine how they articulate internal tensions around race, gender, class, coloniality, and national identity. A working knowledge of Portuguese is required.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills