Beyond the Centre: Transformation, Alterity and Identity in the Portuguese-Speaking World 3305-PC-U

The course is devoted to literary, autobiographical, and cultural representations of migration, refuge, transit, alterity, and identity transformation in the Portuguese-speaking world. It focuses primarily on Portuguese and Brazilian literature, as well as on Polish migratory experiences in Portuguese-speaking spaces.
The course will examine literary texts, personal documents, testimonies, and selected museum and iconographic narratives in order to approach migration as a linguistic, material, memorial, and existential experience. Particular attention will be paid to the Portuguese Colonial War and its impact on identity, internal migration and estrangement in Brazilian literature, family memory, refugee experience, and institutional forms of commemorating migration.
A separate module will be devoted to the presence of Poles in Portugal during the Second World War and to Polish migratory traces in Brazil.

Use of artificial intelligence tools
The use of artificial intelligence tools in the learning process is subject to the general guidelines of the University Council for the Quality of Education at the University of Warsaw.
In the preparation of oral presentations or other assessed assignments, auxiliary use of AI tools is permitted, provided that such use is disclosed and that the student remains fully responsible for the substantive accuracy, selection of sources, independent interpretation, and compliance with the principles of academic ethics. It is not permitted to present AI-generated content as one’s own independent analysis.

Disclaimer: Some content presented as part of the course may include elements that may be difficult for sensitive individuals to engage with, such as violence, vulgar language, or explicit sexual content. Please take this into account when deciding whether to participate in the course.

Course coordinators

Aleksandra Pajek

Type of course

elective courses

Mode

Classroom

Prerequisites (description)

The course is based on a reflection on migration, refuge, transit, and the experience of alterity as phenomena relevant to the literature and culture of the Portuguese-speaking world. Its starting point is the idea that migration does not merely involve a change of place, but also affects language, memory, the construction of identity, and the individual’s relationship with the country of origin and the host country. The course has a literary and cultural studies profile. It will be based on the analysis of selected literary, documentary, and critical texts, as well as museum, archival, and iconographic materials. The course focuses primarily on Portuguese and Brazilian literature, while also including Polish migratory experiences in Portuguese-speaking spaces. An important assumption of the course is to present the Portuguese-speaking world as a multicentred space: not only as the area of expansion of the former Portuguese empire, but also as a space of flows, returns, exile, memory, and negotiated belonging. Particular attention will be paid to Portugal as a space of wartime transit and refuge for Poles during the Second World War, and to Brazil as a space of migration, family memory, and urban forms of expression.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes for the Portuguese and Brazilian specializations
The graduate knows and understands
S3K_W01 / S4K_W01 — the subject-specific and methodological characteristics of research on Lusophone literature, autobiography, testimony and culture, with particular emphasis on migration, refuge, transit, otherness, memory and identity transformations; the graduate knows selected terminology from Iberian studies, literary studies, cultural studies and migration studies, necessary for the analysis of the texts and cultural phenomena discussed in class.
S3K_W02 / S4K_W02 — the connections between Iberian philology and other fields of the humanities and social sciences, especially history, cultural anthropology, memory studies, postcolonial studies, migration studies, refugee studies, identity studies, the study of material aspects of experience, and representations of otherness.
S3K_W04 / S4K_W04 — selected scholarly and cultural phenomena in Portugal, Brazil and other Lusophone spaces, with particular emphasis on literary, autobiographical and cultural representations of migration, refuge, otherness, family memory, identity transformations, the Portuguese Colonial War and its consequences, internal migration in Brazil, the presence of Poles in Portugal during the Second World War, and Polish migration traces in Brazil; the graduate understands the connections between these issues and new research trends in the humanities.
S3K_W05 / S4K_W05 — selected terminology, theory and methodology relevant to Iberian studies, especially in the analysis of literary and autobiographical texts, personal documents, testimonies, museum narratives and iconographic materials, as well as basic concepts related to migration, refuge, transit, otherness, memory, identity, center and periphery, postcolonialism, belonging, uprooting, representation and the experience of otherness.
The graduate is able to
S3K_U01 / S4K_U01 — use acquired research skills to critically analyze Portuguese, Brazilian and more broadly Lusophone literary and autobiographical texts, testimonies, personal documents, museum narratives and iconographic materials concerning migration, refuge, the Colonial War, otherness, memory, identity transformations, and peripheral and transnational experiences; the graduate is able to synthesize different ideas and research perspectives, select appropriate methods of interpretation, and prepare and present the results of analyses concerning complex issues relevant to Iberian studies.
S3K_U03 / S4K_U03 — use acquired language skills to understand and produce oral and written texts concerning literature, culture, memory, migration and identity in the Portuguese, Brazilian and broader Lusophone cultural sphere, using selected specialist terminology relevant to Iberian studies, literary studies, cultural studies and migration studies.
The graduate is ready to
S3K_K01 / S4K_K01 — cooperate in a group when analyzing and interpreting texts and materials concerning migration, refuge, otherness, memory, identity transformations and peripheral experiences, taking on different roles in discussion, project work and the presentation of results.
S3K_K03 / S4K_K03 — critically assess their own knowledge and skills in relation to complex migratory, historical, social, cultural and identity-related problems in the Lusophone world; the graduate understands the need for continuous improvement of interpretive, linguistic, cultural and ethical competences, especially when working with testimonies, autobiographical texts and representations of borderline, marginalized and peripheral experiences.
S3K_K04 / S4K_K04 — actively participate in Portuguese, Brazilian and Lusophone culture through various forms and media, including literature, personal documents, museum narratives, iconography and audiovisual materials; the graduate is able to work in a team, taking on different roles, and to reflect on responsible ways of speaking about migration, refuge, otherness, memory, alterity and identity.

Assessment criteria

Assessment methods
Active participation in class and preparation for discussion — 50% of the final grade
The following will be assessed: attendance, familiarity with the assigned excerpts of readings and materials, participation in discussion, formulation of interpretive questions, references to the texts and materials discussed in class, use of basic concepts introduced during the course, and responses to other participants’ contributions.
Two unexcused absences are allowed during the semester. Each additional unexcused absence must be made up in a form agreed upon with the instructor or will result in the final grade being lowered by half a grade.
Being more than 15 minutes late will be treated as an absence, unless it is occasional and has been agreed upon with the instructor.
Oral introduction to a reading, problem or cultural material — 50% of the final grade
Each student will prepare one oral presentation of approximately 15 minutes on a selected reading, concept, phenomenon or cultural material discussed in class. The presentation should include a presentation of the problem, reference to the reading or source material, situating the issue in a context discussed during the course, and 2–3 questions for group discussion.
Assessment criteria
The final grade takes into account:
familiarity with the readings and materials discussed in class;
systematic preparation for classes;
knowledge of selected concepts and contexts related to migration, refuge, otherness, memory and identity, as discussed during the course;
active and substantive participation in discussion;
ability to use basic concepts applied in the analysis of the texts and materials discussed in class;
ability to critically analyze literary, documentary and critical texts, as well as museum, archival and iconographic materials;
ability to connect the texts and materials discussed in class with the social, historical, cultural and migratory context of the Lusophone world;
clarity, structure and problem-oriented character of the oral presentation;
ability to formulate interpretive questions and initiate discussion;
critical approach to the texts, materials and ways of representing migratory experiences and otherness discussed during the course;
respect for differing viewpoints and the principles of academic discussion.

Bibliography

Primary bibliography
Almeida, Djaimilia Pereira de. Luanda, Lisboa, Paraíso. Lisboa: Companhia das Letras, 2018.
Antunes, António Lobo. Os Cus de Judas. Lisboa: Dom Quixote, 1979.
Barbosa, Mariana, Machado, Carla, Matos, Raquel, Salgueiro, Gabriela. “Cidadãos estrangeiros em Portugal: migrações, crime e reclusão”. Psicologia XXVII, nr 1 (2013): 33–45. Lisboa: Edições Colibri.
Ciechanowski, Jan Stanisław. Portugalio, dziękujemy! Polscy uchodźcy cywilni i wojskowi na zachodnim krańcu Europy w latach 1940–1945 / Portugal, obrigado! Os refugiados polacos, civis e militares nos confins da Europa Ocidental nos anos de 1940–1945 / Thank You, Portugal! Polish Civilian and Military Refugees at the Western Extremity of Europe in the Years 1940–1945. Warszawa: Urząd do Spraw Kombatantów i Osób Represjonowanych; Oficyna Wydawnicza RYTM, 2015.
Fuks, Julián. A Resistência. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2015.
Guelman, Leonardo Caravana. Brasil: Tempo de Gentileza. Niterói: EDUFF, 2000.
Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora”. W: Jonathan Rutherford, red. Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, 222–237. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1990.
Lispector, Clarice. A Hora da Estrela. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 1977.
Peixoto, José Luís. Livro. Lisboa: Quetzal Editores, 2010.
Said, Edward W. Reflections on Exile and Other Essays. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000.
Schimitzek, Stanisław. Na krawędzi Europy. Wspomnienia portugalskie 1939–1945. Warszawa: Czytelnik, 1970.

Museum, archival, iconographic materials, movies (ex. As Polices, Carandiru).
Selected museum, archival, iconographic materials and movies indicated by the instructor will also be used during the course, in particular materials related to migration, refuge, transit, and migratory memory, including materials from the following institutions:
Museu da Imigração do Estado de São Paulo.
Espaço Memória dos Exílios, Estoril.
Arquivo Histórico Municipal de Cascais.
Vilar Formoso Fronteira da Paz — Memorial aos Refugiados e ao Cônsul Aristides de Sousa Mendes.
Muzeum Emigracji w Gdyni.
conographic materials documenting Profeta Gentileza’s inscriptions in the urban space of Rio de Janeiro.

Note
Selected literary, critical, and documentary readings will be discussed in excerpts indicated by the instructor. Course materials will also include selected documentary sources as well as visual, museum, and archival materials related to the experience of migration, refuge, transit, and cultural memory.