Since its creation in 1994, the University of São Paulo’s graduate Program of Compared Studies in Portuguese Literatures stands out by developing investigations and culture and literature studies related to Portuguese-language communities, focusing on contents referred to nations’ cultures in which Portuguese is the official language.

In addition, the Program stands for its innovative comparative perspectives on Compared Studies in Portuguese Literatures, that have introduced in the context of Brazilian Universities the attention on cultural productions of the referred nations, communities or territories, considering its external and internal historical relations dynamics, as well as its diverse and multiples modes of social organization. Thus, along its history, the Program has always been attentive on Portuguese-spoken countries cultural productions specificities and its imbrications to the respective historical contexts in American, African, European, and, more recently, Asian continents, offering conditions to specified studies referred to literary and cultural productions of those territories, aiming to study its multiple interrelations based on the comparatist approach, as well as its socio-political and cultural contexts.

On the occasion of its creation, the Program was developed with the contribution of Professors whose researches were already a reference on their study areas. Thenceforth, the Program has been drawing the attention of others researchers interested on investigating cultural exchanges among populations that share a same language and a same historical heritage, marked by Portuguese colonialism. Nowadays, the Faculty, formed by diversified academic backgrounds, integrates different generations of researchers, allowing a permanent dialogue among multiple critical and theoretical perspectives of the Literary Studies in Brazilian Universities.

Therefore, aiming to meet the demands of the Program’s Faculty, as well as the research lines in which the Professors are enrolled, some of the broader comparative axis have found possibilities for its consolidations, directly impacting on Undergraduate researches, Master, Doctorate and Post-Doctorate supervisions’ research orientations.

Thus, the research lines have contributed to consolidate the profile of the Program, reflecting its interdisciplinary feature, as seen since its progressive organization between the 1990’s and the first years of the 21^st century, period in which the research lines were the following: Cultural history of the 12^th and 13^th centuries Luso-Brazilian literate practices; Brazil-Portugal literary relations: from the 70’s (19^th century) to the 20’s (20^th century); Modernism in Portuguese-language literatures; Neorealism: matrices and variants of the 40’s and 40 years after in Portuguese-language literatures; Literature and society in the contemporary time: Portugal, Brazil and Africa; Woman and literature (fiction, poetry and literary essay); Images of Brazil in Portuguese Literature; Child-juvenile literature in Portuguese language (Brazil, Portugal and Africa). Based on indispensable theoretical-methodological comparative assumptions, the Program emphasized the convergence of the referred fields of knowledge, aspect in which it is anchored, benefiting and nurturing an interdisciplinary perspective among Portuguese language literatures.

In 2009, aiming to adjust itself to the new demands of the Faculty and their research projects, as well as to the general articulation of the Program concerning its inner organization, the research lines were rearranged according to the following structure: Literature and society; Brazil, Portugal and Africa’s literary relations; Children’s and juvenile literature.

Through an interdisciplinary approach relatively without a precedent in Brazil, in which the common linguistic support, the Portuguese language, is preconized and seen by its potential as a historical depositary and dynamic medium in which the global cultural exchanges occur, the theoretical-methodological criteria’s, arising from the literature’s theory and from the language studies, always bonded to the human sciences, are in function of artistic and literary oeuvres that are continuously updated in terms of productiveness and constant interpretation.

Thus, the definitions of new projects which delimitations were emerging through contemporary historical questions ended up to define, in 2010, the current Program’s Research Lines:

Literature and historical experience in Portuguese-speaking countries: aims the comparative study of the Portuguese language literary productions, in order to consider the Portuguese colonial process and distinct historical experiences of societies that have been submitted to this process.

Literature and other forms of knowledge: proposes the comparative study among Portuguese-speaking countries literary productions and other forms of knowledge, in its artistic, historical and political manifestations.

The current lines have permitted a better articulation and dialogue among the different work fronts, from multiple theoretical assumptions that state the Program’s diversity and identity, enhanced by a heterogenic composition of professors, coming from several Brazilian’s Universities, but whose theoretical and methodological horizons ended up to build an interesting, systematic and dynamic dialogue. 

The University of São Paulo’s Graduate Program of Compared Studies in Portuguese Literatures aims to continue its frontiers expansion process towards the establishment of an interdisciplinary excellence center on the integrated and compared study of Portuguese language literatures amongst the social and political contexts of their origin countries.

This continuous process of research improvement (in Master, Doctoral and Post-doctoral levels; in the teaching on undergraduate and graduate levels, beyond extension courses focused on training and updating public school teachers not only on the State of São Paulo) relies on the exclusive dedication of its faculty members, through their well-succeeded academic activities, progressively resulting on social impact activities, aside from national and international agreements, by the significant number of research groups that have members from other graduation programs not only in Brazil, but also from abroad. The Graduate Program of Compared Studies in Portuguese Literatures has currently 24 research groups registered on the CNPq (Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development), receiving scholarships from Capes, CNPq, FAPESP and consolidating the interinstitutional partnerships, strengthening and expanding the possibilities of dialogue and reciprocity among the University of São Paulo’s Graduate Program of Compared Studies in Portuguese Literatures and different scholars from diverse graduation programs in Brazil and abroad. Therefore, all of the scholars from the program are dedicated to more than one research project, aside from a regular dedication for undergraduation/graduation activities and development of post-doctoral supervisions, strengthening the research bonds with scholars from different educational institutions and young doctors that are not yet attached to superior educational institutions.

Aside from other initiatives, the Graduate Program of Compared Studies in Portuguese Literatures maintain its integration activities through the PAE-USP, a program that provides qualification for graduate students for the higher education. During the program activities, graduate students work as interns in USP’s third level education activities, under the supervision of a tutor. If the student does not receive a scholarship, the activity is financially compensated. Although a mandatory activity for CAPES’ scholarship holders, the Program encourages other students to participate into the initiative, that has been an important resource for the education of new professionals for the higher education, as well as a landmark for the Program’s integration with the undergraduate level. Another relevant aspect that must be considered is the inclusion of undergraduate students in the annual meetings of the Program, occasions for them to present their scientific initiation researches, opportunities for their insertion into the context of graduate activities and the routines of Master and Doctoral researches. The scientific initiation students participate actively in the graduation’s academic activities, observing potential future opportunities for the development of research projects in the Master and Doctoral levels.

Since the beginning, the internationalization has been a part of the Program’s guideline, by means of different projects, agreements and a systematical professor’s exchange program that has increased along the years. The implementation of international cooperation agreements has enabled and encouraged the international exchanges, stablishing a productive dialogue among professors and students of different programs through research groups, events coordination and presentation of projects and researches’ results, as well as Brazilian or international publications.