PRC 320E: SPECTACULAR Spring 2018; TTh 2pm-3:30pm, MEZ 1.202 Prof. Jason Borge Office hours TTh 1-2; 3:30-4pm

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course, students will be introduced to Brazil through an analysis of a wide array of cultural texts, primarily fiction film, but also literature, popular music, art & photography, history, and journalism. The reading/viewing and the course itself will focus on the global, historical, thematic, and performative aspects of Brazilian culture, challenging simplistic notions of naive exoticism, racial harmony, and pictoresque violence frequently associated with the nation. We will discuss how culture as spectacle—in the sense of performance, but also creative artiface, deceipt, resistance, and manipulation—has encompassed a large range of societal phenomena, from slavery to carnival, soccer to electoral politics, the sertão to the favela.

Grades will be based on

• Regular attendance and participation in class (15%) • Regular written participation on Canvas (15%) • One short, analytical paper (20%) • One mid-term exam (25%) • One final exam (25%)

Absences must be justified through communication with the instructor; otherwise, they will negatively impact your oral participation grade. Study questions will be made available on CANVAS two days prior to every class. Students must prepare typed answers to these questions, and have them at hand in class. Please bring notebooks and a pen or pencil for note- taking purposes. You may bring laptops and tablets to class. However, the use of such electronic devices may only be used with the permission of the instructor. Due to oral participation requirements, only light snacks and beverages are allowed in the classroom.

OTHER RULES AND POLICIES

1. The instructor will make himself available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that a student with a disability may require. Before course accommodations will be made, students will be required to provide documentation prepared by the Services for Students with Disabilities Office (SSD). To ensure that the most appropriate accommodations can be provided, students should contact the SSD Office at 471-6259 or 471-4641. For more information, read regulations for academic accommodations for students with disabilities at http://diversity.utexas.edu/disability/accommodations-and-services/

2. Scholastic dishonesty: students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from The University of Texas. Since such dishonesty harms the individual, all students, and the integrity of the University, policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced. For more information, visit Student Judicial Services (SJS) at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/ .

Assigned readings/viewings

January 16

Introduction to course

January 18

Brazil from Afar

Flying Down to Rio (dir. Thornton Freeland, 1933): selections Rio (dir. Carlos Saldanha, 2011): selections Turistas (dir. John Stockwell, 2006): selections

Tropical Conquest

January 23

Levine & Crocitti, “Origins, Conquest, and Colonial Rule” (from The Brazil Reader) Anonymous, "A Description of the Tupinambá" Davi Kopenawa/Bruce Albert, "Drawn Words" [testimonial literature] from The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman [e-resource]

January 25

Hans Staden (Luis Alberto Pereira, 1999)

The Price of Empire

January 30

Levine & Crocitti, “Slavery and its Aftermath” Anonymous, "The War Against Palmares" , "Quilombo, o Eldorado negro" (song lyrics)

February 1

Quilombo (, 1984)

The Wild, Wild Northeast

February 6

Levine & Crocitti, “Imperial and Republican Brazil” Dain Borges, “A Mirror of Progress” Franklin Machado Nordestino, "Debate between Lampião and an American tourist" (chapbook)

February 8

White Devil, Black God (, 1964)

Race, Gender, and the "New State"

February 13

Rollie Poppino, "Getúlio Dornelles Vargas" Getúlio Vargas, "New Year's Address, 1938" [radio address] Stanley R. Bailey, "Racial Democracy" João Francisco dos Santos and Others, "Madame Satã, a Grifter in Lapa"

February 15

Madame Satã (dir. Madame Satã, 2002)

Ambivalent Neighbors

February 20

Darlene Sadlier, "Good Neighbor Brazil," in Brazil Imagined Saludos Amigos (dir. Walt Disney, 1942; excerpt)

February 22

Bananas is my Business (dir. Helena Solberg, 1998)

Carnavalia

February 27

Marshall Eakin, “Communicating and Understanding Mestiçagem: Radio, Samba, & Carnaval” from Becoming Brazilians , "Remnants of Carnival" (story) and , selected sambas

March 1

Black Orpheus (dir. Marcel Camus, 1959)

March 6

Review for exam

March 8

Mid-term exam

SPRING BREAK

Dissonant sounds

March 20

Levine & Crocitti, “Seeking Democracy and Equity” Christopher Dunn, “Tropicalism and Brazilian Popular Music under Military rule” from The Brazil Reader Oswald de Andrade, "The Cannibalist Manifesto"

March 22

Tropicália (dir. Marcelo Machado, 2012)

War games

March 27

Janet Lever and José Carlos Sebe Bom Meihy, “Two Essays on Sports” Sérgio Sant'Anna, "In the Mouth of the Tunnel" (short story)

March 29

The Year my Parents went on Vacation (dir. Cao Hamburger, 2006)

Spectacles of poverty

April 3

Bryan McCann, "The Big Picture," from Hard Times in the Marvelous City

April 5

André Diniz, Picture a Favela (graphic novel)

April 10

City of God (dir. & Kátia Lund, 2002)

April 12

Bianca Freire-Medeiros and Márcio Grijó Vilarouca, "Would you be a favela tourist? Confronting expectations and moral concerns amongst Brazilian and foreign potential tourists"

Analytical paper due

Environmental Challenges and Responses

April 17

Manoel de Barros and Astrid Cabral, selected poems Sebastião Salgado, selected photography

April 19

Waste Land (dir. Lucy Walker, 2011)

Media manipulations

April 24

John Sinclair and Joseph Straubhaar, "The Dominant Markets--Brazil" from Latin American Television Industries Wagner dos Santos, "An Open Letter from a Massacre Survivor" Roberto DaMatta, “Is Brazil Hopelessly Corrupt?”

April 26

Bus 174 (dir. José Padilha, 2004)

May 1

Review

May 3

Final exam