Teaching code

4S01196

Teacher

Lisanna Calvi

Coordinator

Lisanna Calvi

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE

Period

CuCi 2 A, CuCi 2 B

Courses Single

Authorized

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

The module aims at offering an overview of English Literature, including drama, by placing it in the broader context of European literature and paying special attention to some major texts. At the same time, it wishes to present the students with the basics of textual and genre analysis; it will also foster the improvement of comprehension and analytical abilities with regard to narrative, poetic, and/or dramatic texts in English which will be acquired by foregrounding the investigation of genres and styles not only by critically looking at the literary, rhetorical, historical, and cultural tradition but also at its social and communicative aspects. Specific methodological approaches, aimed at the development of appropriate critical and argumentative skills, will also be adopted. On successful completion of the module, students will be able to produce a coherent and detailed interpretation of literary and/or dramatic texts in English and provide a plausible critical interpretation in a register and style that serve the context and intention.

Prerequisites and basic notions

A sufficient competence in English is advisable in order for students to comprehend primary texts and scholarly work in the discipline in English.

Program

“Style, not sincerity is the vital thing”: from Wilde to film.
Moving from a discussion of the notion of adaptation, the module aims at investigating two of Oscar Wilde’s most famous society comedies and two film versions produced between the 1920s and the new Millennium. If Wilde’s theatre, acidly witty with regard to Victorian hypocrisy, hinges on linguistic and rhetorical funambulism while treating "trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality”, the two films translate on screen the plays’ dialogic ebullience through different strategies that allow us to catch a glimpse at two distant but equally glamourous epochs of the history of cinema.
Please be advised
Students are required to do all the readings indicated in the three sections below: a. Primary Texts; b. References; c. References for non-attending students
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Primary texts
- Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan, in Id., The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays, ed. by Richard Allan Cave, Penguin, 2000.
- Ernst Lubitsch (dir.), Lady Windermere’s Fan, Warner Bros, 1925 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqQ9YiRUIG0].
- Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, Id., The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays, ed. by Richard Allan Cave, Penguin, 2000.
- Oliver Parker (dir.), The Importance of Being Earnest, Miramax Films, 2002.
2. Readings
- Peter Raby, “Wilde’s Comedies of Society”, in Peter Raby (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde, Cambridge, 1997, pp. 143-160.
- Russell Jackson, “The Importance of Being Earnest”, in Peter Raby (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde, Cambridge, 1997, pp. 161-177.
- Brian McFarlane, Novel To Film An Introduction to the Theory of Adaptation, Clarendon Press, 1996, pp. 1-30.
3. Supplementary readings for non-attending students
- David Davidson, “The Importance of Being Ernst: Lubitsch and “Lady Windermere's Fan”, Literature/Film Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 2, 1983, pp. 120-131.
- Julie Sanders, Adaptation and Appropriation, Routledge, 2006, pp. 17-41.
Further details on required readings and general information on the bibliography will be provided during classes.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

Language: lectures will be held in Italian; primary texts will be read in English.
Further materials (slides, images, videos, etc.) will be used in class and will later be available for download from the MOODLE e-repository.

Learning assessment procedures

Oral exam (the exam will last approximately 20/30 minutes and will consist of 5/6 questions).
Students may be required to read and comment on passages taken from primary texts (see a. above). Please bring your own books on the exam day.
There will be no mid-term tests.

Evaluation criteria

1) the knowledge and comprehension of the module’s topics (texts, authors, genres);
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.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The assessment of the three components listed above (see "Evaluation criteria") will form the final grade, awarded on a 30-point scale.
Minimum pass: 18/30
Maximum: 30/30 (cum laude)

Exam language

Italiano (o inglese, su richiesta dello studente) / Italian (or English, if preferred)