PORT10080 Lusophony, Identity & Cultural Diversity

Academic Year 2021/2022

This module will run in English and a reading knowledge of Portuguese is not required. Primary materials are studied in English translations.

This module aims to enable students to develop an informed understanding of Lusophony as a cultural and geographical reality dispersed by several spaces in all the continents of the globe, a reality inhabited by citizens of diverse ethnic and cultural groups.

This module examines 20th and 21st-century film and literature of the Portuguese-speaking world. The selected cultural objects serve as vehicles for a deeper understanding of some major political and social shifts that have impacted the contemporary Portuguese-speaking world. The module encourages students to compare different cultural objects, through a variety of genres and media, in order to establish conceptual links and recognise some of the main features of contemporary lusophone cultural production.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module, students should be able to:

- Demonstrate an understanding of Lusophony as a space of diversity within unity;

- Identify distinctive characteristics and themes in contemporary film and literature production;

- Examine the ways in which artistic productions contest hegemonic narratives and participate
in the construction of a national discourse;

- Understand how some of the major political and social shifts have impacted the current
landscape of the contemporary Portuguese-speaking world;

- Apply pertinent historical and socio-political information to their analyses of cultural products and understand how literature and cinema respond to social change in the Lusophone world.

Indicative Module Content:

Themes
1 - Concepts of Lusophony & Geography of the Portuguese-Speaking World

2 - The Colonial War and the Collapse of the Empire
The Murmuring Coast, by Margarida Cardoso

3 - Portugal: The Carnation Revolution
April Captains, by Maria de Medeiros

4 - Angola: in Search of a Nation
Yes, Comrade!, by Manuel Rui

5 - Mozambique: Colonial Impressions
We killed Mangy-Dog and Other Mozambique Stories, by Luís Bernardo Honwana

6 - Mozambique: The Civil War
Sleepwalking Land, by Teresa Prata

7 - Brazil: In Times of Military Dictatorship
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, by Cao Hamburger

8 - Brazil: "Favelas" & Violence
City of God, by Fernando Meirelles

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24

Specified Learning Activities

30

Autonomous Student Learning

46

Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures, seminar discussions, critical writing, group work. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: Comparative final essay Week 10 n/a Graded No

65

Assignment: Essay / Commentary Week 6 n/a Graded No

35


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback individually to students on non graded assessments at the discretion of the tutor - Students will be told what they have done well and what they need to do to improve. Feedback individually to students on graded assessments - includes reminding students of what they were aiming to achieve (the learning outcomes). Feedback to the class, on activities developed in class, where appropriate - feedback given against explicit and agreed criteria for success (clear marking criteria aligned with the learning outcomes).

Films:
- A Costa dos Murmúrios [The Murmuring Coast] (2004), by Margarida Cardoso;
- Capitães de Abril [April Captains] (2000), by Maria de Medeiros;
- Terra sonâmbula [Sleepwalking Land] (2007), by Teresa Prata;
- O ano em que meus pais saíram de férias [The Year My Parents Went on Vacation] (2006), by Cao Hamburger;
- Cidade de Deus [City of God] (2002), by Fernando Meirelles.

Literature:
- We Killed Mangy-Dog and Other Mozambique Stories (1964), by Luís Bernardo Honwana [selection of short stories];
- Yes, Comrade! (1977), by Manuel Rui [selection of short stories].

Background Readings:
- Selected readings from different texts will be provided.
Name Role
Dr Romeu Foz Lecturer / Co-Lecturer