The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures

Division of the Humanities | The University of Chicago

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2008-2009 Undergraduate Courses in Portuguese

 
AUTUMN WINTER SPRING
10100 Elementary Portuguese I 10200 Elementary Portuguese II 10300 Elementary Portuguese III
20100 Intermediate Portuguese 20200 Advanced Portuguese 12200 Portuguese for Spanish Speakers
29700 Readings in Special Topics 21703 Introduction to Portuguese Literature and Culture I 21500 Estilística da língua portuguesa
  29700 Readings in Special Topics 21500 Introduction to Portuguese Literature and Culture II
    23901 Eça de Queirós’ The Maias
    26801 The Alice Books
    29700 Readings in Special Topics

Some 30000 and 40000-level courses in Portuguese (PORT) are open to advanced undergraduates in Romance Languages with consent of instructor. Please contact the department for further information.

Language

Language (must be taken for a quality grade)


10100-10200-10300. Beginning Elementary Portuguese I, II, III. Must be taken for a quality grade. This three-quarter sequence is designed for beginning and beginning-intermediate students in Portuguese. Its aim is providing students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Portuguese (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, sociocultural norms) to develop their speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills to the level required to demonstrate competency on the Portuguese examination. Although the three classes constitute a sequence leading to the Portuguese competency examination, there is enough review and recycling at every level for students to enter the sequence at whatever level is appropriate for them. A.M. Lima. Autumn, Winter, Spring.


12200. Portuguese for Spanish Speakers. PQ: SPAN 20100 or consent of instructor. Must be taken for a quality grade. This class is designed for speakers of Spanish to develop competence quickly in spoken and written Portuguese. In this intermediate-level course, students learn ways to apply their Spanish language skills to mastering Portuguese by concentrating on the similarities and differences between the two languages. A.M. Lima. Spring.


20100/30100-20200/30200. Intermediate/Advanced Portuguese. Must be taken for a quality grade. In this intermediate/advanced-level sequence, students review and extend their knowledge of all basic patterns (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, sociocultural norms) of the language. They develop their oral and written skills in describing, narrating, and presenting arguments. They are exposed to texts and audio-visual material that provide them with a deeper understanding of Portuguese literature, culture, and contemporary society. Autumn, Winter.

Literature and Culture


21500/31500. Estilística da língua portuguesa. PQ: PORT 20200/30200 or consent of instructor. This course is specifically designed to help students develop their skills in understanding, summarizing, and producing written and spoken arguments in Portuguese through readings and debates on various issues of relevance in contemporary Luso-Brazilian societies. Special consideration is given to the major differences between continental and Brazilian Portuguese. In addition to reading, analyzing, and commenting on advanced texts (both literary and nonliterary), students practice and extend their writing skills in a series of compositions. A.M. Lima. Spring.

21703. Introduction to Portuguese Literature and Culture I. The main goal of this class is to present a panoramic view of Portuguese Literature and Culture. We will read texts belonging to different genres (philosophical treatise, travel chronicles, sermon, epic poem, satirical poem, essay and realist novel) and different historical periods, ranging from the Late Medieval (1400s) to the Romantic Age (late 1800s). We will discuss topics dealing with Imperial imagination, Prophetic Discourse, Social Critique and Nostalgia. Through these topics we will envision how Portuguese intellectuals imagine themselves, their roles and their predicaments. Reading knowledge of Portuguese is required. All texts must be read in Portuguese. Alfredo Cesar Melo. Winter.

21803. Introduction to Portuguese Literature and Culture II. The main goal of this class is to present a panoramic view of Portuguese Literature and Culture during the 20th century. We will be exposed to different literary genres (poems, existentialist novel, metafictional novel, postcolonial novel, essay) and film. We will discuss topics dealing with Imperial imagination, Prophetic Discourse, Post-imperial anxiety. Through these topics we will envision how Portuguese intellectuals imagine themselves, their roles and their predicaments. Reading knowledge of Portuguese is required. All texts must be read in Portuguese. Alfredo Cesar Melo. Spring.

23901.  Eça de Queirós’ The Maias. José Maria de Eça de Queirós (1845-1900) is arguably the least-known of the great 19th Century European novelists.   The Maias, first published in 1888, is his most famous novel.   It somehow anticipates the tradition of the family saga novel of Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks (1901), though it also sees itself as a posthumous series of “episodes from Romantic life” (its subtitle), in the tradition of Gustave Flaubert’s Sentimental Education (1869).   The course may interest students who work on the history of the novel, and some attention will be paid to the context of 19th Century European fiction.  The book will be read in Margaret Jull Costa’s recent translation (2007).  No knowledge of Portuguese is required. Miguel Tamen. Spring.

26801/36801. The Alice Books. We will read Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871).    Some topics to be discussed are (alphabetically) animals, children, conversation, intention, justice and fairness, meaning of a word, malapropism, manners, pastoral, pictures, poems.   Discussions will sometimes be accompanied by additional texts, which only occasionally count as secondary bibliography.   Among these, we may read texts by Austin, Davidson, Empson, Oakeshott, Pitcher, Rawls, Russell, Wittgenstein and others. Miguel Tamen. Spring.

29700. Readings in Special Topics. PQ: PORT 10300 or 20200/30200, depending upon the requirements of the program for which credit is sought. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Directed readings in special topics not covered by courses offered as part of the program in Portuguese. Subjects treated and work to be completed for the course must be chosen in consultation with the instructor no later than the end of the preceding quarter. Autumn, Winter, Spring.