BRAZ 201: Introduction to Brazilian Studies
Newcomb 201
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00-12:15
Christopher Dunn (cjdunn@)
Office hours: Wednesdays, 11am-12:30 and Thursdays 12:30-2:00pm
This course is designed as an interdisciplinary introduction to the history, politics, society, literature, and cultures of Brazil, the largest nation of Latin America. Students will learn about Brazil’s colonial experience as the only Portuguese colony in the Americas, its unique experiment with monarchical institutions in the nineteenth century, and the trajectory of its uneven modernization in the twentieth century. We will focus on diverse issues including slavery, abolition, contemporary race relations, gender, sexuality, environmental concerns, class conflict and conciliation, authoritarianism and the struggle for democracy, as well as key literary and cultural developments of the twentieth century.
Students are expected to attend all class meetings and participate in discussion. After five unexcused absences you may receive a WF. There will be a take-home mid-term exercise and a final exam covering the material from the reading list. In addition students will write three short papers that respond to the readings and other course materials.
Course Materials
Joseph Page. The Brazilians
Jorge Amado. Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon
Geoffrey O'Connor. Amazon Journal: Dispatches from a Vanishing Frontier
Barbara Browning. Samba: Resistance in Motion
A coursepack of additional readings is available at the Uptown Copy Center and on reserve at the Howard-Tilton Library.
Videos
Carlos Diegues. "Gabriela"
David Byrne. "Ilê Aiyê: The House of Life" (60 minutes)
Geoffery O’Connor. "Amazon Journal"
Music
I have prepared a compilation of key songs from the rich tradition of Brazilian popular music spanning from 1917 to the present entitled Brazsongs. The lyrics of these songs and their English translations are available on the Blackboard page for BRAZ 201. To access this page go to the Tulane Blackboard http://bb.tulane.edu/ and log in with your user name and pass code. Click on Intro to Brazilian Studies under the heading My Courses. Then click on Course Documents. There you will find a link to Brazsongs containing links to separate eight sections.
Requirements and Evaluation
1) preparations, attendance, and participation……..20%
2) mid-term take-home exercise............………..20%
3) three short responses.................…….….....30%
4) final exam...............................……...…..30%
Course Schedule
January 11: Introduction
January 16: Page, The Brazilians (1-117)
January 18: Page, The Brazilians (121-225)
January 23: Page, The Brazilians (229-318)
January 25: video: "House of Life"; Page, The Brazilians (321-383)
January 30: Perrone and Dunn, "Chiclete com Banana: Internationalization in Brazilian Popular Music" and Caetano Veloso, "Carmen Mirandada" (coursepack) (Brazsongs: Sections 1-3)
February 1: Page, The Brazilians (387-498)
February 6: Lecture: Anthony Pereira; Anthony Pereira, "An Ugly Democracy?: State Violence and the Rule of Law in Postauthoritarian Brazil" (coursepack)
(first reponse due)
February 8: Browning, Samba: Resistance in Motion (Introduction & Chapter 1)
February 13: Browning, Samba: Resistance in Motion (Chapter 2)
February 15: Browning, Samba: Resistance in Motion (Chapter 3)
February 20: Browning, Samba: Resistance in Motion (Chapter 4)
(Brazsongs: Sections 7 & 8)
February 22: Livio Sansone, "The Localization of Global Funk in Bahia and Rio" (coursepack)
Férias de Carnaval!!!
March 6: Lecture: Brazilian Modernism (take-home midterm due)
March 8: Jorge Amado, Gabriela (1-114)
March 13: Jorge Amado, Gabriela (115-202)
March 15: Jorge Amado, Gabriela (203-328)
March 20: Lecture: Race Relations in Brazil; Anthony Marx, "Order and Progress" and "Breaching Brazil’s Pact of Silence" (coursepack)
March 22: Jorge Amado, Gabriela (329-506)
March 27: film: "Gabriela" (second response due)
March 29: film: "Gabriela"
April 3: Lecture: Culture and Politics under Military Rule (Brazsongs: Sections 4-6)
April 5: O’Connor, Amazon Journey, (1-123)
April 10: Lecture: TBA
April 12: O’Connor, Amazon Journey, (124-232)
April 17: Lecture: Jacqueline Bishop
April 19: O’Connor, Amazon Journey, (232-363)
April 24: video: "Amazon Journey" (third response due)
April 26: Final Discussion
Final Exam: Tuesday May 8, 8:00am-Noon
*** This syllabus is subject to slight alterations during the semester***