| Unit name | Memory, Nation and Lusophone Identity |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HISP30052 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Silva Pereira |
| 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 |
This unit explores cultural responses to empirical events in the Lusophone world. It uses a range of cultural texts (particularly literary and cinematic texts) to introduce students to the issues and problematics surrounding specific events, and to explore the variations and similarities in methods adopted to come to terms with both the past, and the present, of their countries. The unit will focus on colonialism and postcolonialism in the Lusophone world and in this context, it will explore themes such as: slavery, race relations, lusotropicalism, migration through the Lusophone world, dictatorship, and war. The aims of the unit are: • To develop students’ understanding of the interrelatedness of memory of the past and conceptions of the present, particularly in relation to the redefinition of a country’s identity after colonialism, war and/or restrictive political regimes. • To familiarise students with the growing secondary literature that deals with the debates about memory and national identity in the Lusophone world. • To develop further students’ skills of textual analysis and independent research. •
By the end of the module students will be able to: • Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the texts studied and an understanding of their context within Lusophone history and culture; • Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the theoretical debates surrounding memory and the present, nationhood, colonialism and postcolonialism. • Demonstrate an ability to analyse and interpret the form of individual texts, and relate this to their content; • Understand how the texts studied may be related to one another, in thematic, theoretical and formal terms; The following generic skills will also be developed with a view to enhancing students’ employability: • The ability to undertake independent research on a specific subject; • The ability to manage a larger-scale project, producing work in an appropriate form and to a specified deadline; • The ability to engage with colleagues and peers through team discussions and collaborative tasks;
The unit will be taught in a combination of tutor- and student-led teaching, predominantly in seminar format but with a small number of introductory lectures.
One written assignment (100%, 5000 words - summative). The assignment will allow students to reflect in a structured and in-depth manner on the issues covered during the unit. he written assignment will test students’ subject specific knowledge and critical thinking and analysis skills, the use of subject-specific terms and engagement with theoretical and critical debates. It will develop students’ project management skills as they learn to plan a lengthy piece of work and will focus on developing skills in research and interpretation of information.
Gilberto Freyre, Casa Grande e Senzala (any edn). Boaventura de Sousa Santos, ‘Between Prospero and Caliban: Colonialism, Post-Colonialism and Inter-Identity’, Luso-Brazilian Review, 39 (2002), 29-43. Eduardo Lourenço, O Labirinto da Saudade – Psicanálise Mítica do Destino Português (any edn) Homi K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture (any edn) Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (any edn) Gayatri Spivak, ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’
Text-specific reading lists will be made available on Blackboard. The cultural texts studied may vary from one year to the next.
