From the dawn of the 20th century, Brazil has promoted itself to the world as a particularly musical country. In addition to samba, the country is the birthplace of many well-loved genres including choro, bossa nova, and funk carioca. Brazilian popular song is considered by many to be a literary genre where songwriters such as Vinicius de Morais and Arnaldo Antunes describe themselves as poets and their lyrics are major topics of study by scholars of Portuguese literature. In this course, we will uncover the historical and cultural origins of many of the major musical developments in Brazil and explore how they express polemics around citizenship, social activism, and cosmopolitanism. Students familiar with Portuguese will have the option of additional, focused study of Portuguese lyrics and will be encouraged to compose their writing assignments in Portuguese.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 15

Crosslisted Courses:

Prerequisites: MUS 100 or permission of the instructor. Students with prior experience with World Music, Portuguese, or Latin American Studies courses are especially encouraged to register.

Instructor: Goldschmitt

Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered

Notes: