Module manager: Peter Haysom
Email: P.Haysom@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
SPPO2021
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module offers students an introduction to cinema and literature from Portugal, Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa, focusing on the interpretations of primary texts and major themes in Lusophone cultures. The module will develop students' critical and analytical skills, allowing them to produce shorter close readings of texts, and then to write more substantial critical essays on the works covered. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
Students on this module will gain an introduction to key literary and filmic works from Brazil, Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Africa. Classes will prioritise depth over breadth, covering texts through multiple angles and theoretical frameworks. The lectures and seminars will encourage students to conduct close analysis and interpretation of how these works represent key cultural and social processes in the Lusophone world.
1: Demonstrate understanding of literary and cinematic cultural production in Portuguese from three continents, with insights into the contexts, societies and histories of Portugal, Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa;
2: Evidence comprehension of, and critical engagement with, selected Portuguese-language literary and cinematic texts, through direct citation and close analysis; citing
3: Employ intercultural skills and broad socio-political awareness of the Portuguese-speaking world, in preparation for your Year Abroad, as well as your post-university life (in the UK, in a Portuguese-speaking country, or elsewhere).
Skills Learning Outcomes
4: Critically analyse selected cinematic and/or literary works in terms of their generic specificity and their artistic techniques, without recourse to secondary reading/existing academic scholarship;
5: Evaluate a literary and/or cinematic work with the assistance of secondary text, such as literary criticism, contextual studies and cultural theory;
6: Advance a consistent argument, using an academic lexicon appropriate to the object(s) of study, with rigorous citation and referencing.
Syllabus and content units may vary slightly from one academic year to another, depending on staff availability and subject-specific specialisms.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Lecture | 15 | 1 | 15 |
| Seminar | 12 | 1 | 12 |
| Independent online learning hours | 31 | ||
| Private study hours | 141 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 28 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Module staff will offer extended one-to-one Office Hours to discuss your ideas for the Close Reading and Research Essay assessments. You will complete formative assessments in advance of the appointment, and you will be given oral feedback during the session.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Close Reading | 35 |
| Coursework | Essay | 65 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Resit in the same format as the original submission
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 25/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team