Ross Karlan, Georgetown University and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
Primary Source Links:
- Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea
- Caminha Letter
- Portuguese
- English (not open source)
- The Lusiad, by Luís de Camões
Discussion Questions:
1. How do Zurara and Caminha represent the “other” in the colonial space? Are there similarities or differences between how they describe Brazil/Brazilians and Guinea/Guineans?
2. In Luis de Camões’ Lusiads, what is the role of genre? How does genre shape Camões’ authorship or audience reception? Are there moments where Camões addresses this directly?
Further reading:
Blackmore, Josiah. Moorings: Portuguese Expansion and the Writing of Africa. University of Minnesota Press, 2009.
Russell, Peter Edward. Prince Henry “the Navigator”: A Life. Yale Univ. Press, 2001.
Russell-Wood, A. J. R. The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808: A World on the Move. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
Williams, Jerry M. “Pero Vaz de Caminha: The Voice of the Luso-Brazilian Chronicle.” Luso-Brazilian Review, vol. 28, no. 2, 1991, pp. 59–72.
To Cite this Page
Karlan, Ross. “Teaching Portugal’s Age of Expansion and Exploration,” Middle Ages for Educators, April 9, 2020. Accessed[date]. http://middleagesforeducators.com/videos/teaching-portugals-age-of-expansion-and-exploration-by-ross-karlan/