Political Issues in Literature

Recommended Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of international relations and world events. Good command of English language.  

Teaching Methods

The classes will be tough in a hybrid regime, in one hand the conceptual content will be exposed by the professor, followed in the other hand by the framing of the literary works in the bibliography linking them to those concepts.   

Learning Outcomes

This seminar will analyse literary texts with key political themes to the understanding of concepts in the fields of IR and Political Science. The main objectives are (a) framing historically political concepts; (b) identifying within the texts important elements of the current IR political context; (c) contributing to an enriched comprehension of political phenomena through literature; (d) allowing through fiction the experimentation of political concepts; (e) identifying ideological debates existing in the literary world. The following concepts will be analysed through literary elements: (I) Anarchy, State of Nature and Social Contract; (II) War, (III) Anarchism, Nihilism and Liberalism; (IV) Totalitarianism; (V) Authoritarianism and populism; (VI) State Bureaucracy; (VII) Imperialism, Colonialism and Identity; (VIII) Power and biopolitics

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Anarchy, State of Nature and Social Contract.

2. War.

3. Anarchism, Nihilism and Liberalism.

4. Totalitarianism.

5. Authoritarianism and populism.

6. Bureaucracy: faceless power.

7. Imperialism, colonialism and identity.

8. Power and biopolitics. 

Head Lecturer(s)

Licínia Maria dos Santos Simão

Assessment Methods

Assessment
in-class participation (30%) and a final essay, between 2000 and 3000 words (70%), regarding one of the concepts and literary oeuvres presented by the professors.: 100.0%

Bibliography

ABULHAWA, Susan - Mornings in Jenin : a novel. New York : Bloomsburry. 2010.

DOSTOIEVSKI, Fiódor - Crime e castigo. 11ª ed.. Lisboa : Editorial Presença, 2013. [BP 316.7 DOS]

GARCÍA MARQUEZ, Gabriel - The General in his labyrinth. New ed.. London : Everyman, 2004.

GOLDING, William - O Deus das moscas : romance. 1ª ed., 2ª tiragem. Lisboa : Publicações Dom Quixote, 2007. [BP 316.7 GOL]

HUXLEY, Aldous - Admirável mundo novo. Lisboa : Livros do Brasil, 2006.

KAFKA, Franz - O processo : texto integral. 5ª ed., 3ª reimp. São Paulo : Editora Martin Claret, 2013.[BP 316.7 KAF]

MUDIMBE, Y. M. - Between tides.  New York : Simon & Schuster, 1991

ORWELL, George, pseud. - 1984. Lisboa : Antígona, 2012. [BP 316.7 ORW