Mario Vargas Llosa, The War of the End of the World, Lecture 3 of 4, 05.08.17
The 2017 Berlin Family Lectures with Mario Vargas Llosa
The Writer and His Demons
Lecture Three: The War of the End of the World
May 8, 2017
Introductory remarks by Victoria Saramago, Assistant Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
In the third lecture of the 2017 Randy L. and Melvin R. Berlin Family Lecture Series, Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa offers a fascinating account of his own creative process through his novel The War of the End of the World.
This is the third lecture in a four-lecture series presented in the spring of 2017 at the University of Chicago.
Named for Randy L. and Melvin R. Berlin, the Berlin Family Lectures bring leading scholars, writers, and creative artists from around the world to the University of Chicago. Each visitor offers an extended series of lectures with the aim of interacting with the university community and developing a book for publication with the University of Chicago Press. Learn more at
If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to humanities@uchicago.edu.
Brazil | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Brazil
00:03:45 1 Etymology
00:05:16 2 History
00:05:25 2.1 Pre-Cabraline era
00:07:24 2.2 Portuguese colonization
00:10:06 2.3 United Kingdom with Portugal
00:11:57 2.4 Independent empire
00:15:24 2.5 Early republic
00:18:31 2.6 Contemporary era
00:22:25 3 Geography
00:25:40 3.1 Climate
00:27:47 3.2 Biodiversity and environment
00:30:11 4 Government and politics
00:32:48 4.1 Law
00:34:53 4.2 Military
00:37:24 4.3 Foreign policy
00:39:33 4.4 Law enforcement and crime
00:41:23 4.5 Administrative divisions
00:42:58 5 Economy
00:47:32 5.1 Energy
00:48:23 5.2 Tourism
00:53:33 6 Infrastructure
00:53:42 6.1 Science and technology
00:56:15 6.2 Transport
01:00:15 6.3 Health
01:01:56 6.4 Education
01:03:44 6.5 Media and communication
01:05:47 7 Demographics
01:08:03 7.1 Race and ethnicity
01:11:07 7.2 Religion
01:13:40 7.3 Urbanization
01:14:28 7.4 Language
01:18:27 8 Culture
01:19:46 8.1 Architecture
01:21:28 8.2 Music
01:23:31 8.3 Literature
01:24:49 8.4 Cuisine
01:26:42 8.5 Cinema
01:28:52 8.6 Theatre
01:30:39 8.7 Visual arts
01:32:08 8.8 Sports
01:33:58 8.9 National holidays
01:34:07 9 See also
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil Portuguese pronunciation: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers (3.2 million square miles) and with over 209 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the fifth most populous. The capital is Brasília, and the most populated city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states, the Federal District, and the 5,570 municipalities. It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas; it is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world.Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi). It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3% of the continent's land area. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, and is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection.
Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. In 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, now called the National Congress. The country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup d'état. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, after which civilian governance resumed. Brazil's current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. Due to its rich culture and history, the country ranks thirteenth in the world by number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.Brazil is considered an advanced emerging economy. It has the eighth largest GDP in the world by both nominal and PPP measures. It is one of the world's major breadbaskets, being the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years. It is classified as an upper-middle income ec ...
Spanish Empire | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Spanish Empire
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written
language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through
audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio
while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using
a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
In case you don't find one that you were looking for, put a comment.
This video uses Google TTS en-US-Standard-D voice.
SUMMARY
=======
The Spanish Empire (Spanish: Imperio Español; Latin: Imperium Hispanicum), historically known as the Hispanic Monarchy (Spanish: Monarquía Hispánica) and as the Catholic Monarchy (Spanish: Monarquía Católica) was one of the largest empires in history. From the late 15th century to the early 19th, Spain controlled a huge overseas territory in the New World and the Asian archipelago of the Philippines, what they called The Indies (Spanish: Las Indias). It also included territories in Europe, Africa and Oceania. The Spanish Empire has been described as the first global empire in history, a description also given to the Portuguese Empire. It was the world's most powerful empire during the 16th and first half of the 17th centuries, reaching its maximum extension in the 18th century. The Spanish Empire was the first empire to be called the empire on which the sun never sets.Castile became the dominant kingdom in Iberia because of its jurisdiction over the overseas empire in the Americas and the Philippines. The structure of empire was established under the Spanish Hapsburgs (1516–1700) and under the Spanish Bourbon monarchs, the empire was brought under greater crown control and increased its revenues from the Indies. The crown's authority in The Indies was enlarged by the papal grant of powers of patronage, giving it power in the religious sphere. An important element in the formation of Spain's empire was the dynastic union between Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, known as the Catholic Monarchs, which initiated political, religious and social cohesion but not political unification. Iberian kingdoms retained their political identities, with particular administration and juridical configurations.
Although the power of the Spanish sovereign as monarch varied from one territory to another, the monarch acted as such in a unitary manner over all the ruler's territories through a system of councils: the unity did not mean uniformity. In 1580, when Philip II of Spain succeeded to the throne of Portugal (as Philip I), he established the Council of Portugal, which oversaw Portugal and its empire and preserv[ed] its own laws, institutions, and monetary system, and united only in sharing a common sovereign. The Iberian Union remained in place until in 1640, when Portugal overthrew Hapsburg rule and reestablished independence under the House of Braganza. Under Philip, Spain, rather than the Hapsburg empire, was identified as the most powerful nation in the world, easily eclipsing France and England. Furthermore, despite attacks from other European states, Spain retained its position of dominance with apparent ease.
The Battle of Pavia (1525) marked the beginning of Spanish dominance in Italy. Spain's claims to Naples and Sicily in southern Italy dated back to the 15th century, but had been marred by rival claims until the mid-16th century. While Venice, the Papal States, Este, and Savoy retained their independence, the rest of the Italian Peninsula either became part of the Spanish Empire or looked to it for protection. There would be no Italian revolts against Spanish rule until 1647. The death of the Ottoman emperor Suleiman the Magnificent in 1566 and the naval victory over the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 gave Spain a claim to be the greatest power not just in Europe but also in the world. The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies of the Spanish Monarch in the Americas, Asia (Philippines),
Europe and some territories in Africa and Oceania.
The Spanish Empire in the Americas was formed after conquering large stretches of land, beginning with Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean Islands. In the early 16th century, it conquered and incorporated the Aztec and Inca Empires, retaining indigenous elites loyal to the Spanish crown and converts to Christianity as intermediaries between their communities and royal government. After a short period of delegation of autho ...