PORTUGUESE AND BRAZILIAN LITERATURE 1 MOD. 1

The course is part of the core (characterising) activities of the Iberian and Ibero-American Studies track within the Master’s Degree in European, American and Postcolonial Languages and Literatures (LLEAP), and it is also included in the Linguistic Sciences track. The course aims to deepen students’ knowledge of Portuguese Modernism, with particular focus on the orthonymous and heteronymous lyric poetry of Fernando Pessoa, situated within a broad socio-cultural context.
Students are offered the opportunity, on a voluntary basis, to complete a written assignment, in line with a laboratory-based teaching approach that values the personalisation of learning paths. In addition to analysing and commenting on literary texts using appropriate academic language, students will be guided to develop increasing autonomy in the use of expository, expressive, and argumentative skills, both in oral and written communication, in relation to the course content.

Knowledge and understanding
Knowledge of the main developments of the early twentieth-century avant-gardes, with particular reference to Portuguese Modernism and the orthonymous and heteronymous lyric poetry of Fernando Pessoa. Ability to understand the reception of the author over time, up to the present day, and to analyse how his figure has become an internationally relevant literary myth, including in the Italian context. Ability to situate Pessoa’s work within its socio-historical and cultural framework.
Ability to recognise and interpret multiple forms of expression, not exclusively verbal, including those related to artistic production, music, cinema, and theatre, in connection with the course content.
Applying knowledge and understanding
Ability to apply critical and methodological tools to the analysis of literary texts and to recognise the role of literary criticism in shaping the relevance of the Pessoa phenomenon.
Making judgements
Ability to develop well-grounded and coherent critical syntheses, identifying the main interpretative perspectives on Fernando Pessoa’s work. Ability to formulate independent and well-argued evaluations of the literary and cultural features addressed in the course.
Communication skills
Ability to understand and re-elaborate academic discourse; to present complex content clearly and coherently; and to argue effectively using appropriate academic language.
Learning skills
Ability to recognise the complexity of Pessoa’s heteronymic system and the intratextual dynamics among different authorial voices. Ability to develop interpretative hypotheses and to design independent research paths, including the construction of a thematic bibliography.

Basic knowledge of European history and culture is required. Familiarity with the main concepts of literary analysis is also recommended.

The course aims to contextualise, from a historical-literary perspective, both the orthonymous work and that of the main heteronyms of Fernando Pessoa, through the reading and analysis of the most significant texts. Particular attention will be devoted to the evolution of the author’s critical reception.

The main topics covered during the course will include:

the concepts of the modern, modernity, and modernism;
the precursors of Portuguese Modernism;
the historical and political context of Portugal in the early decades of the twentieth century;
the avant-gardes and Portuguese Modernism;
the role of literary journals in the dissemination of Modernism (particularly Orpheu);
the main figures and artists of Portuguese Modernism;
the so-called “trunk” (arca) of Fernando Pessoa;
the principal orthonymous and heteronymous works of the poet;
the reception of Pessoa’s work in Portuguese and Brazilian contexts;
the main critical approaches to Fernando Pessoa’s work.

1. Primary texts
In lingua portoghese

PESSOA, Fernando, Poemas dramáticos, a cura di Maria Aliete Galhoz, Rio de Janeiro, Nova Fronteira, 1983.
———, Obra poética (in un volume), a cura di Maria Aliete Galhoz, Rio de Janeiro, Nova Aguilar, 1983.
———, Obras em prosa (in un volume), a cura di Cleonice Berardinelli, Rio de Janeiro, Nova Aguilar, 1995.
———, Poesia completa de Ricardo Reis, a cura di Manuela Parreira da Silva, São Paulo, Companhia das Letras, 2007.
———, Poesia completa de Álvaro de Campos, a cura di Teresa Rita Lopes, Rio de Janeiro, 2002.
———, Poemas de Álvaro de Campos, a cura di Cleonice Berardinelli, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 1990.
———, Poemas de Alberto Caeiro, a cura di Ivo Castro, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 2015.
———, Livro do Desassossego, a cura di Richard Zenith, São Paulo, Companhia das Letras, 2011.
———, Mensagem e poemas publicados em vida, a cura di Luiz Fagundes Duarte, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 2018.
B. In Italian:
PESSOA, Fernando, Un’affollata solitudine: poesie eteronime, a cura di Piero Ceccucci, Milano, BUR, 2012.
———, Il mondo che non vedo. Poesie ortonime, Milano, BUR, 2009.
———, Poesie, testo portoghese a fronte, a cura di O. Abbati, Roma, Newton Compton, 2014.
———, Il libro dell’inquietudine e Poesie, testo portoghese a fronte, a cura di O. Abbati, Roma, Newton Compton, 2013.
———, Mensagem, testo portoghese a fronte, a cura di Giulia Lanciani, Mila
2. General and historical-literary background
RUSSO, Vincenzo; VECCHI, Roberto, La letteratura portoghese: i testi e le idee, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2017.
TOCCO, Valeria, Breve storia della letteratura portoghese. Dalle origini ai giorni nostri, Roma, Carocci, 2020.
3. Critical studies
BLANCO, José et al., Studi su Fernando Pessoa, Perugia, Urogallo, 2010.
BERARDINELLI, Cleonice, Fernando Pessoa: outra vez te revejo, Rio de Janeiro, Lacerda, 2004.
COELHO, Jacinto do Prado, Unidade e diversidade de Fernando Pessoa, Lisboa, Verbo, 1991.
CRESPO, Ángel, La vita plurale di Fernando Pessoa, Milano, Bietti, 2014.
LOURENÇO, António Apolinário, Fernando Pessoa, Coimbra, Edições 70, 2009.
LOURENÇO, Eduardo, Poesia e metafisica: Camões, Antero, Pessoa, Lisboa, Gradiva, 2002.
———, Pessoa revisitado, Lisboa, Tinta da China, 2018.
———, Fernando, rei da nossa Baviera, Lisboa, Gradiva, 2008.
PIZARRO, Jerónimo (a cura di), Fernando Pessoa – O guardador de papéis, Lisboa, [editore da completare].
SERRÃO, Joel, Fernando Pessoa: cidadão do imaginário, Lisboa, Livros Horizonte, 1981.
SIMÕES, João Gaspar, Vida e obra de Fernando Pessoa, Lisboa, 6ª ed., 1991.
ZENITH, Richard, Fotobiografia de Fernando Pessoa, Lisboa, Temas e Debates, 2009.

The exam consists of a written test composed of five questions: one longer open-ended question, worth up to 10 points, and four shorter open-ended questions, worth up to 5 points each.
During the course, students may take a mid-term written test (partial exam), which will be assessed on a pass/fail basis. In the case of a non-passing result, the assignment may be revised and resubmitted.
Students who complete the optional written assignment will be allowed to answer three questions instead of five in the final exam and may consult their own work during the test.
Answers are expected to consist of well-argued personal commentaries, capable of linking the various aspects addressed during the course, including lectures, discussions, and critical bibliography, in order to assess both depth of understanding and the ability to develop an independent interpretation.
As for the expected length of the answers, students are required to write approximately:
one page for the longer question;
half a page for each of the shorter questions.

written

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

The final grade will be determined on the basis of the following criteria:

knowledge of the theoretical contents (up to 12 points);
ability to critically analyse the course contents (up to 5 points);
clarity, coherence, and organisation of written expression (up to 3 points);
mastery of specialised terminology and appropriate use of language (up to 5 points);
ability to develop an independent and well-structured argument (up to 5 points).

The maximum score is 30/30. Honours (lode) may be awarded in the case of outstanding performance in all the criteria listed above.

Teaching methods include lectures, complemented by moments of discussion and interaction with students. An individual written assignment is also envisaged. Some sessions will take a seminar-based format and may involve active student participation through presentations or thematic in-depth analyses.

Students who do not have Portuguese as their language of study may take the exam in Italian.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development