Teaching code

4S002949

Academic staff

Silvia Bigliazzi, Cristiano Ragni, Emanuel Stelzer

Coordinator

Silvia Bigliazzi

Credits

6

Language

English

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE

Period

I semestre (Lingue e letterature straniere) dal Sep 26, 2022 al Dec 23, 2022.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

The course, held in English, aims at introducing Students to the English Literature from the 16th century to the Restoration (1660), paying emphasis on some canonical literary texts. Besides, it will offer skills and abilities for the critical analysis of literary texts and their genres. The course objective is to provide a good knowledge of the literature of the period (historical context, texts, genres, literary movements and authors) and to develop in Students a capacity of analysis and argumentative abilities in relation to the various typologies of literary texts set in their literary, historical, and cultural context. At the end of the course, Student will be able to - analyse the examined literary texts setting them in their historical and cultural context; - discuss them in an argumentative way, with due consideration to contemporary literary conventions, and by applying a critical, knowledgeable, and aware approach to the specificity of the literary texts; - present the acquired competences in English, and in a coherent and clear way.

Prerequisites and basic notions

The English Literature 3 (L-11 ED) exam can only be taken after having passed the second year’s exams of English Language and Literature.

Program

“Tragedy and Epyllion in the English Renaissance: From the Printed Edition to the Digital”
The course provides students with an introduction to English Renaissance literature, with a special emphasis on the printing practices of the time and the issues related to the editing choices one makes for a modern readership, from printing the texts to a digital reproduction. In particular, students will be introduced to a number of works by Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, exemplifying the tragic genre and the epyllion of the 1590s. The course consists of three modules devoted to: an overview of English Renaissance literature and an introduction to the study of Christopher Marlowe’s The Massacre at Paris (1593) (MODULE 1); an introduction to the study of the materiality of the book in the sixteenth century, esp. considering two narrative poems – Christopher Marlowe’s Hero and Leander (posthumously printed in 1598) and William Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis (1593) (MODULE 2); an introduction to the study of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1599): from the printed edition to the digital one (MODULE 3).
Attending and non-attending students alike are required to do all the readings indicated below:
All texts in the syllabus are compulsory.
Where "optional reading" is specified within brackets, it is understood that this is functional to furthering or facilitating the study, but is not compulsory.
Further teaching material will be available for download from the Moodle repository.
(MODULE 1) Dr Cristiano Ragni:
• Christopher Marlowe, Il Massacro di Parigi. Con la morte del Duca di Guisa, edited by Cristiano Ragni, Perugia, Morlacchi U.P. 2017.
• Roger Carter Hailey, “The Publication Date of Marlowe’s Massacre at Paris, with a Note on the Collier Leaf”, in Marlowe Studies: An Annual 1, 2011, pp. 25 -40.
• Matthew R. Martin, “Introduction”, in Christopher Marlowe, The Massacre at Paris. The Revels Plays. Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2021 (optional)
• Andrew Sanders, The Short Oxford History of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 1994 (or following editions), chapters 3 (“Renaissance and Reformation: Literature 1510-1620”) and 4 (“Revolution and Restoration: Literature 1620-1690”).
(MODULE 2) Dr Emanuel Stelzer:
• William Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s Poems: Venus and Adonis, the Rape of Lucrece and the Shorter Poems, edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones and H.R. Woudhuysen, Arden 2007.
• Christopher Marlowe, Hero and Leander (selected passages will be uploaded on Moodle).
• Robert F. Darcy, “‘Under my hands . . . a double duty’: Printing and Pressing Marlowe's Hero and Leander”. Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies 2 (2), 2022: 26-56.
• Katherine Duncan-Jones, “Much Ado with Red and White: The Earliest Readers of Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis (1593)”. The Review of English Studies 44 (176), 1993: 479-501 (optional).
(MODULE 3) Prof. Silvia Bigliazzi:
• William Shakespeare, Romeo e Giulietta, edited by Silvia Bigliazzi, Torino, Einaudi 2012 (or a later edition).
• Alessandra Squeo, Print and Digital Remediations of the Shakespearean Text. A Hermeneutics of Reading from the First Folio to the Web, Pisa, ETS, 2022.
• Silvia Bigliazzi, Guida a Romeo e Giulietta, Roma, Carocci, 2022 (optional).
Be advised:
- No editions other than those indicated in the syllabus are to be used. Texts are to be read in full. In the case of articles or book chapters, read the indicated page-range. Primary texts must be read in the original language.
- Any files uploaded in moodle other than those indicated in the above list, are not intended as substitutes for the texts in the syllabus.
- Other material in moodle not indicated in the syllabus is intended as optional.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

The course consists of face-to-face lectures with the active participation of students. The course will be held in English. A written calendar of the topics that will be dealt with will be circulated in class at the beginning of the course.

If you need to isolate because you test positive for Covid, please contact the teacher to arrange for supplementary material.

Learning assessment procedures

Knowledge acquisition will be evaluated through an oral exam, which will consist in a discussion of the topics dealt with during the modules. The assessment methods will be the same for attending and non-attending students.

Evaluation criteria

The assessment of learning outcomes is aimed at verifying:
1) knowledge of the history of English literature of the Renaissance period;
2) the understanding of the primary texts in the syllabus, within their historical and cultural context;
3) the acquisition of a critical methodology appropriate to the analysis of texts and contexts;
4) the ability of textual analysis as well as expository and argumentative analysis in English.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The final mark will result from the average of the grades the student will receive for each of the three modules.

Exam language

Inglese.