OVERVIEW

T‘The raw word that says it all’: poetry and song in Brazil: a historical, cultural and textual journey. 

AIMS AND CONTENT

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to explore the relationship between poetry and song in 20th-century and contemporary Brazilian culture, highlighting how Música Popular Brasileira has represented one of the highest forms of Latin American literary modernity. Starting with the experience of Brazilian Modernism in the 1920s — from Mário de Andrade to Oswald de Andrade — the song is analysed as a privileged space where orality, poetic writing and social reflection converge. Modernism, in fact, sought an authentically Brazilian language, capable of uniting high and popular culture, the city and Afro-descendant traditions; this tension would find one of its most fertile expressions in urban music and singer-songwriter songs. The lecture will explore how songwriters such as Vinicius de Moraes, Chico Buarque and Caetano Veloso transform song lyrics into a complex poetic form, interweaving lyricism, political critique and cultural memory. Particular attention will be paid to the era of bossa nova and Tropicalismo, and to Vinicius de Moraes (including his collaboration with Ungaretti).

The course is intended for 2nd and 3rd year students

PREREQUISITES

There are no specific requirements

TEACHING METHODS

Lessons are held in Italian and some texts will be read in Portuguese. The lectures will be in presential mode. The course also includes a number of seminar lectures and conferences held by lecturers from other universities and the presentation of books by writers and translators.

Attendance is not compulsory and is not monitored, but is nevertheless strongly recommended, especially for those who have never had any background in Lusophone literature.

Students who have duly submitted a certificate of disability, specific learning difficulties (SLD) or other special educational needs are advised to contact both the course coordinator, Prof. Sara Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it), and the lecturer [or the lecturer] at the start of the course to agree on teaching and assessment methods which, whilst respecting the course objectives, take into account individual learning styles and provide appropriate compensatory measures.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course will examine the figure of Chico Buarque and his narrative and theatrical writing, which captures the authoritarian modernisation of urban Brazil, whilst Caetano Veloso will be analysed in terms of how he takes the modernist legacy to its logical conclusion through Tropicalismo, a movement that blends the avant-garde, pop culture, Afro-Brazilian tradition and a critique of cultural colonialism. Dorival Caymmi and the Bahian universe will be examined alongside the work of Jorge Amado: both construct a mythical and popular Bahia, shaped by the sea, religious syncretism and Afro-descendant culture, transforming Salvador and the Recôncavo into poetic symbols of Brazilianness. The final part of the course will address the transformations of musical poetry in contemporary urban peripheries, from favela samba to rap and Rio funk. Through song lyrics, novels and short stories (from Paulo Lins to Geovani Martins) and audiovisual testimonies, we will analyse how the favela becomes a space for cultural and political production, in continuity but also in tension with the modernist dream of an inclusive national culture. In this context, the Brazilian song emerges as a literary form capable of giving voice to social conflicts, Afro-Brazilian memory and new urban identities. The works of Chico Buarque, often dedicated to the excluded and the invisible in the modern city, thus engage in dialogue with the most recent expressions of subcultural life, highlighting the continuity between poetry, music and social criticism in modern Brazil

key wors: poetry, song, brazilian literature

The course is intended for 2nd and 3rd year students (54 hours, 9 cfu)

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Caetano Veloso, Verità tropicale, Feltrinelli, Milano.

Gildo di Stefano, Il popolo del samba, Rai-Eri, Roma.

Gildo di Stefano , Saudade Bossa Nova. Musiche, contaminazioni e ritmi del Brasile, Logisma, Firenze.

Giancarlo Mei, Canto Latino. Origine, evoluzione e protagonisti della musica popolare del Brasile, Stampa Alternativa

Roberto Francavilla, “Melopoetiche brasiliane” in AA.VV., Latinoamerica. Variazioni per Antonio Melis, Roma, Artemide, 2012 (a cura di R. Francavilla)

Roberto Francavilla “Tropicalisme brésilien: entre innovation et résistance culturelle”, In AA.VV, Chanson pour… Chanson contre, Aix-en-Provence, Chants sons – Presses Universitaires de Provence, 2024

Luciana Stegagno Picchio, Storia della letteratura brasiliana, Torino, Einaudi, 1997

At least two Brazilian novels of your choice from a series of titles to be discussed in the first lectures of the course for students who are required to have 6 credits and at least three novels for students who are required to have 9 credits.

Further critical materials will be provided by the lecturer during the course of the lectures

The bibliography is indicative and should be discussed with the lecturer during the module. Non-attending students are requested to contact the lecturer to agree on possible changes to the bibliography.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The first semester classes will begin on October 2026

Class schedule

PORTUGUESE LITERATURE AND CULTURE III

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam will be a conversation in Italian or Portuguese and will consist of questions on the whole course (https:// servizionline.unige.it/studenti/esami).

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Prof. Sara Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it), the Department's disability liaison.