PORT 2800 - Perspectives on Brazil

(crosslisted) LATA 2800
(GLC-AS, SCD-AS) (CA-AG, D-AG) (EC-LASP)

Spring. 3 credits. Student option grading.

Conducted in English.

D. Osborne.

This course provides an introduction and overview of Brazilian culture. It will study different periods of Brazilian history, through the analysis of films, literature, essays, visual arts, and music. Students will explore different definitions of Brazilian identity and “Brazilianness” focusing on key topics including the formation of the colonial Brazil and the emergence of the nation of Brazil as a tropical paradise; slavery and abolition; the particularities century; and the contradictions of the modernization process throughout the 20th century. We will consider elements of Brazilian popular culture such as Carnival, Samba, and “telenovels,” and some of the most important cultural movements of the 20th century, such as “Modernismo,” “Cinema Novo,” and “Tropicalia.” The primary objective of the course is to provide students with the relevant background to understand Brazilian cultural history.