Teaching code

4S002903

Teacher

Sidia Fiorato

Coordinator

Sidia Fiorato

Credits

6

Language

English

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE

Period

I semestre dal Oct 1, 2018 al Jan 12, 2019.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

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, via 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

After a general introduction to literary theory and the history of modern and contemporary English literature (1780-today), the course will focus on the development of the English novel and on the relationship between literature and visual culture. The following topics will be covered during the course:
- critical literary theories
- the history of modern and contemporary English literature
- the development of the English novel
- visual culture
- in-depth analysis of three novels through an interdisciplinary approach (including the sphere of the law and advertising)

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 (any edition, but NOT abridged)

B. Stoker, Dracula
A.C. Doyle, A Study in Scarlet
P. Ackroyd, Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem

NB: the programme will be integrated at the beginning of the course

B) CRITICAL TEXTS

D. Carpi, “A Biojuridical Reading of Dracula”, in Polemos, 6.2 (2012), 169-182
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
S. Onega, “Family Traumas and Serial Killing in Peter Ackroyd’s Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem”, in Marie Luise Kohlke, Christian Gutleben, Neo-Victorian Families. Gender, Sexual and Cultural Politics, Amsterdam, Rodopi, 2011, 267-296
S. Onega, “Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem”, in S. Onega, Metafiction and Myth in the novels of Peter Ackroyd , Drawer, Camden House, 1999, 133- 147.
Ed Wiltse, ““So constant an expectation”: Sherlock Holmes and Seriality”, Narrative, 6.2 (1998), 105-122
Svetlana Bochman, “Detecting the Technocratic Detective”, in Lynnette Porter ed., Sherlock Holmes for the 21st Century Essays on New Adaptations, Jefferson, McFarland & Company, 2012, 144-154

The section of the critical texts will be integrated at the beginning of the course


C) History of Literature
- A. Sanders, The Short Oxford History of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 2003
A specific focus will be devoted to Charles Dickens

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.
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.