Teaching code

4S002903

Academic staff

Sidia Fiorato, Yvonne Bezrucka, Silvia Bigliazzi

Coordinatore

Sidia Fiorato

Credits

6

Language

English

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE

Period

I semestre (Lingue e letterature straniere) dal Sep 28, 2020 al Jan 9, 2021.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars

Learning outcomes

The course, held in English, aims at introducing students to relevant aspects of English literature, from the Pre-Romantic to the contemporary period, through the reading of a selection of canonical texts. Primary notions about possible methodological approaches for the analysis of literary texts and genres will be imparted. Furthermore, the course will provide a sound knowledge of the English literature of the period (historical context, texts, genres, literary movements and authors) and stimulate abilities and skills for the critical analysis of texts, their discussion and analysis, in consideration of their historical, cultural, and context specificities.

At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Analyse the literary texts of the syllabus discussing them in relation to their historical and cultural context;
- Discuss the texts using an appropriate critical approach demonstrating the knowledge of the literary conventions of their time;
- Express the acquired literary and critical knowledge demonstrating an adequate competence also in the English language.

Program

The individual and society in English Literature

Prof. Sidia Fiorato , Prof. Silvia Bigliazzi , Prof. Yvonne Bezrucka

The course presents the development of the English novel from the Victorian period to Postmodernism. Its interdisciplinary perspective will focus on legal, economic, literary issues; specific attention will be devoted to the articulation of individual identity in the cultural contexts under consideration.

TEACHING METHODS

Students who attend the course: the course will be held in English through lectures and will also include parts for reflection and discussion on the part of the students upon the topics under consideration.
The critical references indicated in the programme will be available for the students. Slides related to the topics of the course and used during the lessons will be uploaded to Moodle and are part of the programme.

Students who do not attend the course: the programme remains the one indicated on the webpage. They can access Moodle and the uploaded slides which are part of the programme.

All students can ask for further references or about the topics of the course during the receiving hours (as indicated on the webpage)

A) Primary Texts

- Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897), Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University Press, 2011.
- Virginia Woolf, La Signora Dalloway (1925; testo inglese a fronte), a cura di Marisa Sestito, Venezia, Marsilio, 2012.
- John Fowles, The French Lieutennant’s Woman (1969) ed. Signet

B) Crtical Texts (compulsory)
- Stephen Arata, “The Occidental Tourist: "Dracula" and the Anxiety of Reverse Colonization”, Victorian Studies, 33.4 (1990), pp. 621-645
- Matthew C. Brennan, “The Novel as Nightmare: Decentering of the Self in Bram Stoker’s Dracula”, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 7.4 (28), 1996, 48-59
- Carol Senf, “Dracula and Women”, in Roger Luckhurst, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Dracula (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2018), pp. 114-122
- Alison Booth, “The Lives of Houses: Woolf and Biography”, in Jessica Berman, ed., A Companion to Virginia Woolf (Oxford, Wiley Blackwell, 2016), pp. 11-26.
- Paul K. Saint-Amour, “Mrs Dalloway: Of Clocks and Clouds”, in in Jessica Berman, ed., A Companion to Virginia Woolf (Oxford, Wiley Blackwell, 2016), pp. 79-94.
-Yvonne Bezrucka, “Il postmodernismo: la riscrittura ironica del doppio senso”, in Yvonne Bezrucka, Tra Passato e futuro. Assaggi di teoria dell’architettura, Trento, Autem, 1995, pp. 85-111.
- Patrick Brantlinger, Ian Adam, Sheldon Rothblatt, “The French Lieutenant’s Woman: A Discussion”, Victorian Studies, 15.3 (1972), pp. 339-356

C) History of Literature
- A. Sanders, The Short Oxford History of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 2003 dal cap. 6 al cap. 10 inclusi

Examination Methods

The lessons will be in English. The exam will be an oral discussion in English on the topic of the course and the texts in the program (parts A,B,C).
In particular:
- the ability to discuss topics (literary trends, authors, genres) within the history of English literature
- the ability to present a critical argumentation on topics related to the texts of the syllabus (making examples from scenes and passages)
- the ability to make connections between the topics of the course, on the basis of the critical texts indicated in the programme


Requirements
Students unable to attend lectures are required to get in touch before preparing for the exam. The programme and the modalities of assessment do not vary for Erasmus students
All students, possibly also the students who will not be able to attend the course regularly, are kindly invited to attend the first class of the course, when the programme will be illustrated in detail.