Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Paper Pg 3

Introduction to the language and literature of Portugal, Brazil, and Portuguese-speaking Africa

n.b. This paper is available to ALL MML students in either PIB or PII except those taking Portuguese or, in Part II, those who took it in Part IB.

PLEASE NOTE: This page is being revised and a new webpage will be uploaded in due course. Do please note that the actual set of texts/authors/artists to be studied in 2013/14 will change from those mentioned below. For the draft lecture list for next academic year, please click here. Any queries regarding this paper should be addressed to Prof Manucha Lisboa mmgl100@cam.ac.uk

This paper is available to all MML students at Part IB or Part II except those taking Portuguese or, in Part II, those who took it in Part IB. Please note: (a) if you take this paper in Part IB you will not be able to take it again in Part II and (b) no candidate may offer more than one of Papers Du. 5, Gr. 3, Pg. 3, Sp. 10, or Uk. 1 in any one year.

A good performance in this paper at Part IB will enable students wishing to take a Portuguese paper at Part II (Pg 4: Self, Family, Nation and Empire in Lusophone Culture; Pg 5: Literature and Culture of Portugal and Brazil from 1595) to do so.

Portuguese is the fifth most widely-spoken world language. It is the official language of Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and S. Tomé e Príncipe, and is spoken by some 200 million people worldwide. Within the Romance languages, it bears close affinity to Spanish, and also to French and Italian. Any student within the MML Faculty, however, is welcome to choose this paper whatever her/his other language combinations, and many have done so with success.

The aim of this paper is to to provide reading knowledge of the language which will permit students who do not have a previous background in Portuguese to study the culture (primarily literature with a component of the visual arts) of Portuguese-speaking countries. It assumes no prior knowledge of Portuguese language.

The paper includes two hours per week of language instruction throughout the year and one or more lectures per week in Michaelmas and Lent Terms. Fortnightly supervisions begin usually in week 3 of the Michaelmas Term and continue in the Lent and Easter Terms. During Lent Term a series of language supervisions will also be arranged to prepare for the Translation component of the examination. For this paper, only 4 essays need to be written throughout the year (one at the end of Michaelmas Term, one at the division of the Lent Term, one at the end of the Lent Term and one on the first day of the Easter Term

The texts are similar to those available to Portuguese students taking paper Pg. 1 (Introduction to the Language, Literatures and Cultures of the Portuguese-speaking World), and include texts from Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique and Angola, as well as works by a Portuguese artist. The periods predominantly covered are the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, although some nineteenth-century texts are also included. The genres covered include short stories, novels, and poetry. Topics covered include gender, the family, dictatorship and fascism, religion and national identity.

The examination paper consists of a passage for compulsory translation into English, and a choice of essay titles on the authors and artist studied, of which two must be answered. The exam will also include a small number of questions of a comparative nature. As with all our papers, previous years' exams can be found in the MML Library and in CamTools.

All Portuguese supervisions are centrally organised by the Department, with the approval of the relevant college. Supervisions will be arranged at a meeting in the morning of the Wednesday before the beginning of the Michaelmas Teaching Term. The supervisor for the Translation component of the examination will contact students during the second half of Michaelmas to confirm times for the 4 Translation into English supervisions which usually take place fortnightly on Friday afternoon in the Lent Term .

Texts and authors/artist

Portugal

Fernando Pessoa: Mensagem and selected heteronymic poetry
Eça de Queirós: O Crime do Padre Amaro
Paula Rego: paintings, pastels, prints and lithographs from 1960 to the present
Hélia Correia, 'Fascinação' (short story)
Alexandre Herculano, 'A Dama Pé de Cabra' (short story) (N.B. Hélia Correia's 'Fascinação' and Herculano's 'A Dama Pé de Cabra' are available together in a volume by Ed. Relógio de Água, Lisbon, 2004)

Brazil

Manuel Bandeira, Antologia Poética
Graciliano Ramos, Vidas Secas

Lusophone Africa

Luís Bernardo Honwana: Nós Matámos o Cão-Tinhoso
José Eduardo Agualusa, Nação Crioula

Language Textbook

Before term stars, you might find it useful to prepare the first 6 chapters of the basic book used in the Portuguese Pg3 language classes: Sue Tyson-Ward, Teach Yourself Portuguese Grammar (ISBN 0-340-84785-9). You may order the textbook through your local bookshop (or try Heffers or Waterstone's, bookshops in Cambridge), or from Bookpoint Ltd, 130 Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4TD; Tel. 01235 827720; Fax: 01235 400454. You can also order through their website: http://www.madaboutbooks.com

The following book will NOT be the text used in language classes, but it provides a grounding in Portuguese grammar for English speakers, with some exercises at the end of each chapter: R.C. Willis, An Essential Course in Modern Portuguese (Thomas Nelson, latest edition).

A reading list is also available online.