ENGLISH LITERATURE 2

This two-year course aims to perfect students’ skills and basic knowledge of English literature gained in the first year of the BA course in “Lingue, Civiltà e Scienze del Linguaggio” (Literary and Cultural Course). It will focus on a group of novels belonging to the Victorian and Edwardian Age, which have contributed to the renewal of English literature and to the vocabulary of Modernism. This course will also provide students with major critical theories and methodologies, textual analysis as well as cultural-historical context.

1) to read, understand and translate novels and to relate them to their historical and cultural contexts;
2) to analyse critically a given text;
3) to make autonomous judgements;
4) to show in academic writing that you can think critically about the topics discussed and that you can back up your points with evidence.

Students must be fully proficient in English. They are required to have certified English proficiency at level B. They are also expected to be familiar with nineteenth-century and early twentieth century English literature, and especially with the main theories of Modernism (1901-1925).

Victorian and Edwardian Fiction: The Transition to Modernist Experimentation

Through the analysis of four works, which have contributed to the crisis of representation by favouring multiplication of narrative points of view, non-linear chronological sequences and limited third-person omniscient perspective, this course aims to illustrate the transition from 19th century literary forms to early 20th century Modernism. While "Wuthering Heights" and "The Master of Ballantrae" reveal the fascination for the diabolic power of its protagonists, as well as for the Gothic theme of the doppelgänger, in "The Secret Sharer" and in "A Room with a View" the journey turns into a voyage of self-discovery. Both works trace the growth of their main characters from inexperience to maturity and self-recognition.

E. Brontë, Wuthering Heights (1847)
R.L. Stevenson, The Master of Ballantrae (1888)
J. Conrad, The Secret Sharer (1912)
E. M. Forster, A Room with a View (1908)


Secondary Readings:

Storia della letteratura inglese, a cura di Paolo Bertinetti, vol. secondo, Torino, Einaudi, 2000, pp. 67-108; pp. 114-122; pp. 164-222;

C. De Stasio, Introduzione a Stevenson, Bari: Laterza, 1991, pp. 3-40; pp. 68-76.

R. Rutelli, “Il desiderio del diverso. Saggio sul doppio”, Napoli: Liguori, pp. 11-17; pp. 65-86.

Additional readings for non attending students:

“Dal Vittorianesimo al modernismo: la cultura letteraria inglese, 1830-1950”, a cura di F. Ruggieri, Roma, Carocci, 2005.

“Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights”, ed. by Patsy Stoneman, Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1993 (è richiesta la lettura di un saggio a scelta);

F. Marucci, “Storia della letteratura inglese. Dal 1832 al 1870”, Firenze: Le Lettere, Vol. III, 2003, pp. 564-73 (Biografia delle sorelle Brontë); pp. 619-57 Emily Brontë);

F. Marucci, “Storia della letteratura inglese. Dal 1870 al 1921”, Firenze: Le Lettere, Vol. IV, 2011, pp. 527-557 R.L. Stevenson); pp. 1072-99, pp. 1117-19 Conrad);

F. Marucci, “Storia della letteratura inglese. Dal 1922 al 2000. Il modernismo”, Firenze: Le Lettere, Vol. V, 2011, pp. 147-74;

M. Curreli, “Invito alla lettura di Conrad”, Milano: Mursia, 1984, pp. 5-31; 40-63; 101-16;

A. Lamarra, “Invito alla lettura di Edward M. Forster”, 2003, Milano: Mursia, 2003 (introduzione e parte riguardante “A Room with a View”)

Students will be assessed by a final written exam either in Italian or in English consisting of:

a) one open question;
b) two critical analysis of a given passage drawn from the works indicated in the primary sources;
c) one short translation from English into Italian

Non-native English speakers are not requested to do the translation. They will write a critical analysis of the given passage

Front lessons, class discussions, and lectures by international scholars

Ideally, students should read the novels indicated in the syllabus before the beginning of the course in order to increase their participation in class discussions

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