Film Studies 397CL - ST- City/ Lusophone Lit & Film

Cinema, literature and the city are historically interrelated, and urban spaces have proved to be a rich and diverse imagetic setting and subject. Cities have been explored in a myriad of manifestations: as a character, as a fetish, as a historical document, as a cultural monument of religiosity, as a symbol of liberalism, sexuality, progress, and decay. This course provides a comprehensive view of the Portuguese-speaking countries literature and film focused on urban spaces, such as Brasilia, S?o Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Lisboa, Porto, Luanda, Benguela, Maputo, Beira, Bissau, Praia and S?o Tome). Through short readings and films, students will gain a critical understanding of many key events that have shaped Lusophone history, culture, politics, and economy. Student will be guided to discover themes related to language, cultural identity, language, ethnicity, migration, economic injustice, unhealed wounds of dictatorship, colonialism, and war. Students will specifically reflect on the following questions: how literary and filmic texts provide an urban archive or memory bank that reflects historical and cultural changes in the urban landscape? How do these texts serve to produce the cities, ideas (real or ideal) about the cities, or even multiple versions of even a single city?