Teaching code

4S002903

Teacher

Annalisa Pes

Coordinator

Annalisa Pes

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 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, 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

PROGRAMME
Look Back at Empire: British Literature and (De)Colonisation
Moving from a selection of narrative texts dating from the first and second half of the nineteenth century, the module will investigate the literary, cultural, and discursive patterns that hinge on the idea of empire, from its apex to its dissolution, by critically looking at the phenomenon of colonialism and its legacy, between devotion, exaltation, protest, and problematic nostalgia.

Please be advised
Language: lectures will be in English.
Further details on required readings and general information on bibliographical material will be provided during classes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Texts
- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India (1924), any edition.
- S. Selvon, The Lonely Londoners (1956), Penguin Books
- H. Kureishi, The Buddha of Suburbia (1990), Faber and Faber

References
- Shun Yin Kiang, “Failures that Connect; or, Colonial Friendships in E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India”, Ariel, 47 (3), 2016, pp. 123-148.
- D. Bradshaw (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to E.M. Forster (CUP, 2007), cap. 12: P. Childs, “A Passage to India”, pp. 188-208.
- M. Looker, Atlantic Passages (Peter Lang, 1996): “Inventing Black London: The Lonely Londoners” (pp. 59-80)
- J. Procter, Dwelling Places. Postwar Black British Writing (Manchester University Press, 2003): Introduction (pp. 1-20) and ch. 4 (“Suburbia”, pp. 125-159).

Handbook
As regards the literary and cultural context spanning from Romanticism to Post-modernism, students will refer to:
- A. Sanders, The Short Oxford History of English Literature (Oxford University Press, 2003 - third edition), chapters 6 (“The Literature of the Romantic Period 1780-1830”), 7 (“High Victorian Literature, 1830-1880), 8 (“Late Victorina and Edwardian Literature, 1800-1920”), 9 (“Modernism and its Alternatives: Literature 1920-1945”) and 10 (“Post-War and Post-Modern Literature”).

Examination Methods

EXAM METHOD
Typology: oral exam. There will be no mid-term tests.
The exam will consist in an oral discussion (in English) that will test the knowledge of the module’s topics (texts, authors, and genres) and the literary and cultural context (Handbook; main authors and movements from Romanticism to Post-modernism). Assessment will consider: 1. the knowledge and comprehension of primary texts, 2. the development of good analytical and synthetic skill levels with regard to the main historical, cultural, textual, and critical topics of the module, 3. the use of an appropriate vocabulary. Students will have to bring their primary texts (see a. above) at the exam and they may be required to read and comment on passages taken from them.