Portuguese and Luso-Brazilian

Brazil & Portugal

The Ph.D. program in Portuguese and Luzo-Brazilian Literatures embraces all periods and genres of the literatures of Portugal and Brazil. It allows students to develop a broad knowledge of these countries' literary traditions, situating and comparing them with Hispanic literatures in general. Graduate students in Portuguese are given the opportunity to work with faculty in both areas; similarly, graduate students in Spanish may choose to minor in Portuguese literature. 

The program in Portuguese is small, allowing its graduate students to work closely with individual faculty members. Graduate seminars focus on the work and legacy of major authors such as Camões, Eça de Quiroz, Antero de Quental, Pessoa, Sophia de Melo Breyner Andresen, Jorge de Sena, Manuel Bandeira, Cecília Meireles, Clarice Lispector, Guimarães Rosa, and Carlos Drummond de Andrade. Students are encouraged to take courses and consult with faculty outside the department treating diverse historical, economic, or political aspects of the literature and culture of Brazil, Portugal, and the Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa and Asia. Classes in Luso-Brazilian literature, offered at nearby Brown University, are open to Harvard students and creditable toward a Harvard Ph.D. Information about cross registering is available on the “Course Search” page of MyHarvard under “Other Resources”. The form is available here.

The Portuguese section at Harvard, and the Nancy Clark Smith Chair of the Language and the Literatures of Portugal, in collaboration with the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, sponsor frequent colloquia and conferences on Portuguese and Brazilian Literatures and Cultures. Past distinguished speakers include Gilberto Freyre, Maria de Lourdes Belchior, Luciana Stegagno Picchio, Eduardo Lourenço, Wilson Martins, José Guilherme Merquior, Ana Luisa Amaral, Almeida Faria, Vasco Graça Moura, Eugénio de Andrade, José Blanco, and Roberto Schwarz, among others.

A number of literature faculty in Spanish have interests in Luso-Brazilian Studies. The resulting collaboration between the two sections broadens the range of topics on which students in Portuguese and Spanish may choose to focus.

Josiah Blackmore

Please see also information about our Minor in Portuguese.

 

To see our program requirements, see the GSAS Policies.

Image: Braun, Georg. Lisbona. Cascale Lusitaniæ opp. [Cölln: bey Godfrid von Kempen in verlegung Francisci Hogenbergers, 1572] (detail). MAP-LC G140 .B7 1572, Harvard Map Collection, Harvard University.