PORT. 380 - SHORT STORIES OF THE PORTUGUESE-SPEAKING WORLD
(ANGOLA, BRAZIL, CAPE-VERDE, MOZAMBIQUE, PORTUGAL)
Professor: Ricardo Vasconcelos
Meets: Mondays 16:30 - 19:10 / Room: TBA
Office hours: TBA
Office: Curtin Hall 717.
Office telephone number: 229-2970.
Email: [email protected]
Objectives of the course:
The objectives of this course are to read, discuss and enjoy some of the most interesting short
stories written in Portuguese, from the end of the 19th century to our days. In the process,
students will develop their knowledge of canonical and upcoming prose-writers of five of the
eight Portuguese-speaking countries, in particular Brazil and Portugal: Branquinho da Fonseca;
Clarice Lispector; Eça de Queirós; Fernando Pessoa; Guimarães Rosa; Hilda Hist; Irene Lisboa;
José Saramago; Luandino Vieira; Lucia Bettencourt; Machado de Assis; Manuel Gomes; Mário
de Andrade; Mário de Carvalho; Mia Couto; Miguel Torga; Rubem Fonseca.
As the Brazilian Rubem Fonseca says in his story “Large Intestine,” “there are people writing in
the same language, in Portuguese, which is already a lot and everything.” Along this line of
thought, the course doesn’t aim at finding a collective identity based on a common language, but
precisely at contacting with a diversity of themes and styles of authors with very different origins
and identities. The short stories chosen deal with issues as diversified as colonization and
independence, subversion through language, love and betrayal, emancipation and the rights of
women, sexuality and the body, freedom and oppression, slavery, death, madness, exoticism and
sorcery, emigration, crime, paternity and motherhood, anarchism and capitalism.
Other specific objectives of the course are the development of reading and writing skills, as well
as of analytical tools and discussion skills.
Requirements and evaluation
• Students will read in advance for each weekly class one short story (on average) indicated
on the syllabus, as well as any brief critical text that may be required for the day. They
will then answer a small set of interpretation questions, posted in advance on D2L, so as
to prepare for the class discussion. Students are required to participate actively in the oral
discussions in class.
• Every three weeks (on average), students will write an original commentary (minimum
450 words) on one of the short stories read in those weeks, according to their preference.
Prompts will be provided for each short story, but students can choose to discuss different
aspects after consulting with the instructor. Guidelines for the format of the
commentaries will also be provided.
• For the last week of the class, students will rewrite and develop further one of the
commentaries previously written and corrected by the instructor.
Grade breakdown
• Homework (readings and interpretation questions) – 30%
• 5 commentaries (minimum of 450 words each) – 30%
• Final commentary (expansion of one of the commentaries written previously; about 4-5
pages) – 20%
• Class participation – 20%
Grading Scale
A 93-100
A_ 90-92
B+
B
B_
87-89
83-86
80-82
C+
C
C_
77-79
73-76
70-72
D+
D
D_
67-69 F 0-59
63-66
60-62
Attendance Policy
Attendance is mandatory; at the same time, it is understood that events like illnesses, weddings,
funerals, job interviews may occasionally prevent attendance. Therefore, after a first unjustified
absence, students’ grades will be dropped 3% per each absence.
Required readings
The short stories can be found on the reader for the class, available on Clark Graphics (2915
North Oakland Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53211; (414) 962-4633).
Supplementary readings will be provided by the instructor either in class or through D2L.
Special Needs: Students should discuss special needs with the instructor during the first week of classes.
Students with special needs must also contact the Student Accessibility Center
http://www4.uwm.edu/sac/, Mitchell Hall 116, (414) 229-6287 Voice/TTY .
Academic Conduct and Integrity: Students are expected to follow the code on academic conduct at
UWM on all their assignments. UWM student academic misconduct procedures can be found at
http://www4.uwm.edu/acad_aff/policy/academicmisconduct.cfm
Electronic Devices: All cellular phones, IPods, etc. must be turned off during class time. Not complying
with this policy will affect your participation grade.
University Policies: When in doubt about general rights and responsibilities, please access the Secretary
of the University Website, which contains general University policies, on aspects such as Students
with disabilities; Religious observances; Students called to active military duty; Incompletes;
Discriminatory conduct (such as sexual harassment); Academic misconduct; Complaint procedures;
Grade appeal procedures; Others: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/SyllabusLinks.pdf
Sources of short stories
Bettencourt, Lucia. “Borges’s Secretary.” Transl. Kim M. Hastings. Words Without Borders
(2010). http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/borgess-secretary/
Ellen, Maria M. Across the Atlantic: An Anthology of Cape Verdean Literature. North
Dartmouth: Center for the Portuguese Speaking World – Southeastern Massachusetts
University, 1988.
Honwana, Luís Bernardo. We Killed Mangy-Dog and Other Stories. London, Ibadan, Nairobi:
Heinemann Educational Books, 1969.
Jackson, Kenneth David (ed). Oxford Anthology of the Brazilian Short Story. Oxford, New York:
OUP, 2006.
Lisboa, Eugénio (Ed.) The Anarchist Banker and Other Portuguese Stories: Volume I.
Manchester: Carcanet, 1997
---. Professor Pfiglzz and His Strange Companion and Other Portuguese Stories: Volume II.
Manchester: Carcanet, 1997
Torga, Miguel. Tales of the Mountains. Q.E.D. Press: 1991.
Vieira, José Luandino. Luuanda. London: Heinemann, 1980.
GENERAL CALENDAR
Week
1
2
Monday
Thursday
24 January
Presentation of syllabus.
Machado de Assis (B), “Father Versus Mother” (1906)
31 January
Eça de Queirós (P), “Idiosyncrasies of a Young Blonde Woman” (1874)
3
7 February
Lima Barreto (B), “The Man Who Knew Javanese” (1911)
4
14 February
Fernando Pessoa (P), “The Anarchist Banker” (1922)
5
21 February
Branquinho da Fonseca (P), “The Baron” (1943)
6
28 February
Mário de Andrade (B), “The Christmas Turkey” (1947)
3 March
2nd commentary
7
7 March
Clarice Lispector (B), “The Chicken” (1952)
Miguel Torga (P), “Mariana” (1952)
14 de Março
João Guimarães Rosa (B), “The Third Bank of the River” (1962)
17 March
3rd commentary
9
Spring break
Spring Break
10
28 March
José Rodrigues Miguéis (P), “Léah” (1958)
Herberto Helder (P), “Police” (1963)
4 April
Manuel Lopes (CV), “Under the Spell of Baxenxe, the Sorcerer” (1959)
7 April
4th commentary
8
11
10 February
1st commentary
12
11April
Luandino Vieira (A), “The Tale of the Thief and the Parrot” (1963)
13
18 April
Luís Bernardo Honwana (M), “We Killed Mangy-Dog” (1964)
14
25 April
Rubem Fonseca (B), “Large Intestine” (1975)
28 April
5th commentary
15
2 May
Mário de Carvalho (P) “Professor Pfiglzz and His Strange Companion”
(1975)
9 May
Lucia Bettencourt (B) “Borges’s Secretary” (2007)
12 May
Final Commentary
16