Unit information: Body/Image: Gender and Corporeality in the Lusophone World in 2014/15

Unit name	Body/Image: Gender and Corporeality in the Lusophone World
Unit code	HISP20058
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Atkin
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	N/A
Co-requisites	N/A
School/department	Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The unit will explore issues of the body, gender, race and sexuality in the Lusophone world, with a focus on literary and visual texts. It takes account of the historico-political influences which feed into contemporary understandings of race, body and gender issues, and explores how these understandings permeate and are challenged or reiterated in cultural artefacts. Key themes will include: the impact of the colonial era; variations in Lusophone visions of the body; masculinities and femininities; challenges to social expectations; the political body. The unit is broadly based around cultural studies and is interdisciplinary in its approach, using supporting materials from the fields of sociology, anthropology, gender and sexuality studies, visual cultures and more. It approaches a variety of media (film, literature and visual arts) from different Lusophone countries. While the focus is on more contemporary texts, the unit will explore the development of cultural approaches to the body from the colonial period to the present, interrogating how the social and political realities of Lusophone history have had an impact on how the ways in which bodies are used in cultural production in the present.

The unit’s aims are:

• to introduce students to the plurality and diversity in approaches to the body, gender, race and sexuality across the Lusophone world;
• to develop students’ understanding of scholarly debates taking place in the Lusophone world and beyond;
• to develop students’ skills in critical thinking and analysis of cultural texts, situating them appropriately in their historical context;
• to develop critical skills and background knowledge, and the ability to analyse texts from a variety of media, as preparation for more advanced work on the year abroad and at final year level;

Intended Learning Outcomes

Subject specific:

• students will achieve an advanced knowledge and understanding of how bodies, sexualities and gender are viewed in the Lusophone world and from a variety of perspectives;
• students will develop their critical thinking and analysis skills with reference to a variety of literary and visual texts (particularly film, the novel and fine art);

Generic:

• students will develop research skills and the ability to use a variety of media to support their learning;
• students will develop their ability to present their critical responses to a variety of texts and to specific questions, in an appropriate manner and following relevant academic conventions.

Employability:

• Students will develop project management skills through the written assignment for the unit;
• Students will collaborate will their peers through team discussions and the oral presentations.

Teaching Information

Classes will be a mixture of tutor-led seminar discussions and informal lectures. Blackboard will be used to provide additional resources for students.

Assessment Information

The unit will be assessed in two parts, consisting of an oral presentation (25%) and a written assignment (75%, 2500 words). The oral presentation will test students’ ability to present and work through complex ideas and interpret texts. It will contribute to the development of good skills in delivering presentations and using A/V facilities. It will have a formative as well as a summative function, and will allow the tutor to provide feedback quickly in advance of the written assignment.

The written assignment offers students an opportunity to reflect more deeply on the issues covered during the course, and to compare at least two of the texts studied. It will have a research-based focus, assisting students in developing skills in critical enquiry.

Reading and References

The Judith Butler Reader, ed. Sarah Salih (Blackwell Publishing, 2004) Moira Gatens, Imaginary Bodies: Ethics, Power and Corporeality (Routledge, 1996) Robin E. Sheriff, Dreaming Equality: Color, Race and Racism in Urban Brazil (Rutgers UP, 2001) Lusosex: Gender and Sexuality in the Portuguese-Speaking World, ed. Susan Canty Quinlan and Fernando Arenas (Minnesota UP, 2002) David Brookshaw, Race and Colour in Brazilian Literature (Metuchen, Scarecrow, 1986)

The course reading list will give details of further essential and recommended critical and theoretical materials. Students will engage with cultural texts (film, literature, plastic arts) which will be made available on Blackboard and in the library throughout the course. The set texts may change from year to year.