BA Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world, home to almost half of the world’s living species and hundreds of indigenous cultures. From the time when the first Europeans sailed the waters of the Amazon river, the region has also captivated the imagination of travelers, businessmen, scientists, writers, and artists from other regions. With the independence of Brazil in the 19th century, the Amazon became the subject of frontier disputes, often playing a contradictory role in the new nation’s quest for identity: it was the “savage”, “uncivilized” territory that brought both shame and pride to nationalist discourses of all ideologies, which alternated between calling it an “earthly paradise”, and “green hell”. This course will examine how the Amazon is portrayed in a variety of media and genres: indigenous narratives, travel-writing, literature, and film.

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Lectures

Task-motivated group work

Presentations given by groups of students

Active and informed  participation in seminar discussion. Each student will receive a mark for their participation in the seminars, which will consist of mid-term participation mark (50%) and final participation mark (50%).

Active contribution to online discussion forum on the Amazon forest. Each student will receive a mark for their contribution to the forum, which will consist of mid-term participation mark (50%) and final participation mark (50%). Participation in the forum will be assessed according to frequency and quality of contribution, as well as engagement with other participants.

• Have a better understanding of the history of the Amazon region
• Have a better knowledge about the Amazonian environment
• Have a better understanding of social conflicts in the Amazonian region
• Have a better understanding of how different discourses about the Amazon have been constructed

On successful completion of this course unit, students will be able to:

• Display cultural analytical skills (literary analysis, film analysis, and analysis of colonial and ecological history).

On successful completion of this course unit, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate a clear enhancement in their Portuguese vocabulary

On successful completion of this course unit, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate independent and critical thinking
• Demonstrate ability to present material and ideas individually and collectively in oral and written form.
• An ability to participate in group discussions
• An ability to participate in internet discussions

• Written feedback on presentations  
• Written feedback on essays 
• Written feedback on contribution to discussion forum 
• Additional one-to-one feedback (during the consultation hour or by making an appointment) 

• Hecht, Susana, and Alexander Cockburn. The Fate of the Forest. Developers, Destroyers and Defenders of the Amazon. Chicago. University of Chicago Press, 2011.
• Slater, Candace. Entangled Edens: Visions of the Amazon. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

Please check your ‘My Manchester’ timetables for days/times.  Any queries can be directed to salc-languages@manchester.ac.uk or the Languages Student Information Office.

This module must be passed with a minimum overall mark of 40% in order to progress. 

Following successful completion of the first part of this course, it is strongly recommended that students continue working on their independent learning dossier over the Christmas vacation and the January examination period.