Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Spanish

The Department is one of the largest in the country, recently ranked as one of the most outstanding departments for Spanish and Portuguese in the UK for teaching and research. In addition to language classes for students who come up to Cambridge with a good A-level in Spanish, we provide a course for those who are starting Spanish from scratch or who are below A-level standard. The language courses are supported by work with a native speaker, sessions in the Language Centre, and College supervisions. Beginners and near beginners are very welcome. At present, of some seventy who come up each year to read Spanish, about one third may be beginners or below A-level standard. In Part IA (first year), which is predominantly linguistic, there is one literary paper, introducing Hispanic texts from different periods and countries. Candidates may also study the structure and varieties of the modern Spanish language as an alternative to a literary paper. In Part IB and Part II (second and final year, respectively), the range of options is wide: literary periods (with study of historical and general cultural themes) include the medieval, Golden Age, and modern (Peninsular) times; there are papers on Spanish-American literature, Portuguese or Catalan language and literature, and the history of the Spanish language.

Students spending a Year Abroad as English-language assistants or in other ways should note that there are opportunities not only in Spain, but also in some Latin-American countries. For advice on courses in Spain, please contact the Departmental Secretary.

The research interests of members of the Department are strong and varied. Among recent publications there is work on gender studies, twentieth-century Spanish poetry and cinema, Golden Age theatre, Cervantes, the modern Latin-American novel, Latin-American cinema and visual culture, the nineteenth-century novel, Medieval literature, Catalan poetry, and Romance languages. The undergraduate Hispanic Society meets regularly in term.

Portuguese

Cambridge was one of the first universities in this country to offer an Honours degree in Portuguese. Portuguese here may be combined with Spanish (or with any other language taught in the Faculty) in Part IA (first year) of the course, and Portuguese papers may be offered in combination with papers in any other language(s) in Part IB (second year) and Part II (final year). If you are considering taking up Portuguese here, or even changing to Portuguese from another language, see our prospectus, Studying Portuguese at Cambridge.

In addition to the usual provision for seminars, lectures, and supervisions, the Department benefits from the presence of a native speaker funded by the Portuguese government, who is primarily responsible for language-teaching at all levels.

Portuguese may be studied at Part IA both by beginners and by students with either an A-level in the language or some knowledge of it. In Part IA of the course there are, in addition to language papers and an oral examination, a choice between a literature option exploring the three cultural perspectives of Portugal, Brazil, and Portuguese-speaking Africa, and a linguistics option in which the structure and varieties of the modern Portuguese language are studied. In Part IB and Part II your options include papers in Portuguese language, on Portuguese, Brazilian, and African literature, history, and thought over some six centuries, and the history of the Portuguese language (in optional combination with the history of Spanish and/or Catalan).

Year Abroad opportunities include Portugal, Brazil, and some African Lusophone countries.

Research interests in this section of the Department include Portuguese and Brazilian literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, gender studies, and, more recently, post-colonial theory. The undergraduate Portuguese Society meets regularly in term.