Department: DH
Scientific area: Literature
Total contact time: 15
The course Topics in Portuguese Literature aims to provide students with a selective overview of literary production in Portuguese, structured around the unifying theme of portraits in literature. This thematic focus, intentionally broad and flexible, makes it possible to explore a range of literary texts from different periods, bringing together modern and contemporary works that enter into dialogue with tradition and address central questions of Portuguese culture.
The course will depart from an expansive notion of the portrait, in conjunction with the concept of intermediality, in order to frame the analysis of writers from diverse perspectives and foster a comparative reading that crosses genres and contexts.
The corpus of this course comprises short stories, novels, and theoretical texts, with particular emphasis on the integral reading of two central works by Almeida Garrett and Lídia Jorge.
- Portuguese Literature
- Portraits
- Characters
- Intermediality
This course aims to promote and foster:
- The ability to identify and characterize the main cultural, historical, and aesthetic-literary forces that shape the works and authors under study, from Romanticism to the contemporary period;
- A strong grasp of fundamental notions and concepts in narrative studies, as well as the critical use of the bibliography studied;
- The articulated reading of literary and theoretical texts, fostering an understanding of the dialogues between works, contexts, and different forms of representation;
- A critical reflection and interpretive analysis of the themes, authors, and texts addressed, emphasizing the development of students’ own arguments;
- The practice of clear, rigorous written expression that meets the requirements of academic discourse.
This course offers a path of reading and analysis that spans different periods and authors, inviting students to reflect on the construction of portraits and characters and on the multiple forms of dialogue between texts, the arts, and different media. The selection of works and theoretical concepts seeks to bring together references ranging from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, promoting a critical approach that values intermediality as a key to interpretation.
The course is organized around three main themes, which guide the work carried out throughout the semester:
- Itineraries and paintings;
- Intermediality;
- Voices and Portraits.
NOTE: Only a few mandatory and/or reference readings are listed here. Specific bibliography for each of the modules in the syllabus will be provided during the course.
Buescu, H. C. (Org.) (1997). Dicionário do romantismo literário português. Caminho.
Compagnon, A. (2016). La seconde main ou le travail de la citation (2. ed.). Seuil.
Garrett, A. (1821). O retrato de Vénus: poemas. Imprensa da Universidade.
Garrett, A. (2010). Viagens na minha terra (O. P. Monteiro, ed.). Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda.
Garrett, A. (2022). Frei Luís de Sousa (J. Dionísio, ed.). Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda.
Jorge, L. (2011). A noite das mulheres cantoras. Dom Quixote.
Jorge, L. (2018). Os memoráveis. LeYa.
Jorge, L. (2021). Marido e outros contos (6. ed.). Dom Quixote.
Monteiro, O. P. (2001). O essencial sobre Almeida Garrett. Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda.
Reis, C. (2018). Dicionário de estudos narrativos. Almedina.
Reis, C. (2025). Diálogos com Lídia Jorge. Publicações Dom Quixote.
Ryan, M.-L. (2006). Avatars of Story. University of Minnesota Press.
E-learning.
The preferred assessment method is continuous assessment, consisting of two written assignments in digital format (e-fólios) completed throughout the semester, and a final assessment entitled e-fólio Global (e-fólioG), to be held at the end of the semester, contributing 40% and 60%, respectively, to the final grade.
Students may, however, choose — within the established deadline — to be assessed through a single evaluation moment, by taking a final exam worth 100% of the final grade.
Regular access to internet is mandatory throughout the course.