Sumários

Luís de Camões: Selected Poetry

6 Outubro 2016, 10:00 • Helena Carvalhão Buescu

Luís de Camões as a writer of both Epic and Lyric poetry; his life and education; his literary work as a combined result of learned culture and lived experience.

Camões' lyric poems aligned with two different traditions: the popular and peninsular, through songs with motto, and the erudite and italian, through sonnets and odes. 
Reading and discussion of "My errors, cruel fortune and ardent love"; "Oh let that sad and joyful dawn"; "The sky, the earth, the wind blowing softly..."; "With the pitcher on her head" and "That lovely slave". 

Gil Vicente: The Indian Play

4 Outubro 2016, 10:00 • Helena Carvalhão Buescu

Presentation of the author and historical contextualization (both spatial and temporal).

Description of the play as a discourse of criticism and derision: its structure, the (i)moral values it portrays (ambition, materialism, violence, deception and non-religiousness) and the ways in which it condemns the collonial state. 
Connection with other authors such as Luís de Camões and Fernão Mendes Pinto, whose literary texts also present a tension between "glory" and "downfall"; and Edward Saïd's postcolonial concept of "contrapuntal reading".

Troubadour Poetry: Songs of love, Songs of mockery and slander

29 Setembro 2016, 10:00 • Helena Carvalhão Buescu

Reading and discussion of 3 (three) Cantigas de amor (Songs of love): "Song about the Pain of Love and Sea"; "Song in Provençal Style"; "Song about Provençal Style" and 2 (two) Cantigas de escárnio e maldizer (Songs of mockery and slander): "Song to a Learned Abbess"; "Song for an Ugly Lady".

Notions about formal virtuosity and rhyme schemes; exploration of frequent metaphors and idealized conceptions; parody and subversion.

Troubadour Poetry: Songs of the lover

27 Setembro 2016, 10:00 • Helena Carvalhão Buescu

Formal, contextual and thematic distinction between Cantigas de amigo (Songs of the lover), Cantigas de amor (Songs of love) and Cantigas de escárnio e maldizer (Songs of mockery and slander).

Reading and discussion of 4 (four) Cantigas de amigo (Songs of the lover): "Song for a Sleeping Lover"; "Song for a Sleepless Night"; "Seven Songs for a Beloved in Vigo" and "Song for an Unarriving Lover".

Eight Centuries of Portuguese Literature: An Overview

22 Setembro 2016, 10:00 • Helena Carvalhão Buescu

Discussion of Helder Macedo's article ("Eight Centuries of Portuguese Literature: An Overview") supported by a schematic Powerpoint presentation: a cronological presentation of Portuguese Literary History; multiplicity of literary genres; correlation between Literature and History. 

Indication of topics to consider throughout the semester: exile and migration; travel literature; tension between authority and criticism; questioning of Portugal's national identity; tension between outside and inside.