Portuguese Language and Literature

Deadline for submitting applications: August 1 - November 30

Who the programme is intended for: The programme is intended for all graduates of Bachelor's studies, knowledge of the language at the C1 level according to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) is expected.

Subject matter of the entrance examination: a motivation letter in Portuguese, in which the applicant briefly describes, among other things, where they would like to direct their diploma thesis. The motivation letter must be uploaded into the e-application (rubric “Documents”) by 15 December. Applicants are required to include their full name and application number on the motivation letter.

Waiver of the entrance examination: The entrance examination can be waived for students who have completed a Bachelor’s degree field/programme Portuguese Language and Literature at the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University with the mark A-B. The entrance examination may also be waived for applicants whose overall result of the Bachelor's State Examination in programme of Portuguese Language and Literature at the MU Faculty of Arts was assessed as “passed with excellent results”. Applicants can ask for a waiver for the entrance examination via the e-application form, section "Application for waiver of the entrance examination".

Website Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.

General information on the course of the admission procedure to the follow-up Master’s degree programmes at FA MU can be found here. Documents for the current admission procedure are kept in Materials for Applicants.

Pass/fail line of the entrance examination: 50 points (out of 100).

The mission of the follow-up master's program is to prepare university students in the field of Portuguese language and literature for the performance of a profession requiring the knowledge and skills of a philologist, literary and linguistic analyst, translator and diplomatic or other professions associated with the field.

The aim of the study program / field is to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge based on the current state of scientific knowledge, research and development, to master their application and to develop skills for creative activities in the field of Portuguese language, linguistics, literature, culture and history, whether Portuguese, Brazilian or Luzo-African (ie African countries with Portuguese as their official language).

The focus of this program is to develop skills that should lead to successful linguistic or literary analysis, always with an emphasis on the factor of geographical spread of the language, because according to the current research and sources (from 2019, for example, according to the studies of CPLP, IILP, etc.), the Portuguese is the most widely used language of the southern hemisphere and the fifth most widely spoken language in the world. At the same time, the aim is to provide continuous insight into the most researched areas of science and research and inspire students to choose the topic of their thesis. From the beginning, the student is encouraged to use actively professional language, formulations and terminology typical of science and research in professional papers, and also to attend international conferences of the Society of Czech Portuguese or lectures of visiting professors from Portuguese, Brazilian or African universities (University of Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Aveiro, Minho, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rondonia, Maputo, Cabo Verde, Macau). All teaching also emphasizes the development of translation skills.

In case of talented students (identified during the bachelor's degree), it is possible to contribute significantly to the development of their talent by encouraging them to participate in various translation competitions. (Premio Iberoamericano, Hieronymitae Pragenses, Literary translation of Portuguese Literature).

The program of the follow-up Master's program is particularly suitable for bachelor's graduates who are able to develop analytical and critical thinking and creative and translation abilities.

Students can develop their skills also by using electronic resources that are readily available, both literary (Academia Lusófona Luis de Camões, Calouste Gulbenkian, Instituto Camões, digital libraries and electronic and indexed literary-scientific journals) and linguistic, for example, different language parallel and monolingual corpora (Linguateca, Corpus do Portugues, InterKorp, etc.), online diaries (Lusa, Público, Diário de Notícias), linguistic scientific journals indexed in the base of Scopus, Erih, WOS, CAPES, dictionaries (Aulete, Priberam) or didactic materials (Conversa Brasileira - University of Texas, Portal to Professor de Portugues como Língua Estrangeira ou Língua de Acolhimento), online radio and television broadcasting (RTP), etc.

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• apply theoretical knowledge and choose a suitable theoretical framework for solving specific linguistic and literary problems related to the field of study;
• appropriately comment on and interpret linguistic, literary, cultural and historical phenomena, tendencies and events related to the luzophone areas;
• produce written and spoken texts at a level appropriate to the competences of B2-C2 CEFR (see above), in a variety of areas relating to the Portuguese language and literature;
• translate different kinds of text;
• analyze literary and linguistic texts.

Graduates of the master's program Portuguese Language and Literature at the Faculty of Arts MU can work as professionals educated in the field of Portuguese language and linguistics, Portuguese literature, culture and history of Portuguese speaking countries in the following areas:

- linguistic analysis and literary criticism;

- consultancy (especially in editorial boards of magazines and publishers where

they can provide proofreading for newspapers, companies, prepare documents

and check texts);

- tourism (as guides and delegates of travel agencies in the Czech Republic and

abroad);

- diplomacy (after extending the necessary education in the Ministery of Foreign

Affairs), eventually court translating and interpreting (after the addition of the

legal minimum provided twice a year by the Faculties of Law);

- international and intercultural communication and human resources, given the

economic perspective of the Portuguese language (particularly in the African

countries);.

The graduates of this programm can offer to their potential employers an extensive linguistic, cultural, literary and socio-cultural overview and experience in evaluating research data. The master's course shows a wide range of use of the Portuguese language and therefore the student is able to use its variants at different language levels.

Professional practice is not part of the program.

In the master's thesis, the student should demonstrate the ability to correctly formulate hypotheses and goals and choose a suitable methodologically pure approach (or confront different approaches, modify the original approaches, etc.), apply the appropriate theoretical framework and terminology from selected linguistic and literary fields. ON the bases of these points, the student should be able to analyze the selected phenomenon and draw appropriate and relevant conclusions.

He will be able to justify his observations with appropriate arguments and possibly propose a solution in accordance with the standard.

At the same time, he / she should demonstrate the ability to formulate scientifically the text.

The Master's thesis is written in the range of 140,000 characters including footnotes, title page, contents, index, bibliography and annotations. The thesis is written in the Portuguese language according to the new spelling from 2009. The student should demonstrate the ability to produce a clear, professional text.

Instructions for the state final examinations and the elaboration of the diploma thesis are regulated by the Dean's Directive No. 6/2017 on the state final examinations for students of the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University.

After successful completion of the Master's program, it is of course possible to continue doctoral studies. Candidates must meet the admission criteria, such as sending a CV, motivation letter and personal interview. In addition to their research and practice, PhD students are also routinely involved in teaching at the Institute, especially within the bachelor's degree programs, in particular the teaching of practical language, but also selective courses related to their scientific profile. Doctoral students are also involved in organizing conferences and lectures by foreign teachers. For all activities extending the PhD student's duties, they are rewarded in the form of an extraordinary scholarship.