18TH CENTURY STUDIES

The general AIMS of the module, with regard to the course of studies to which it belongs are:
1) to increase the knowledge and comprehension of English literature at higher (M.A.) level, through the study of its development in the eighteenth century;
2) to acquire a better command of theoretical approaches, hermeneutical tools for textual analysis and close reading; along with acquiring the competence to contextualise them in the historical and literary background;
3) to be able to comprehend English culture (specifically in the eighteenth century) through a better understanding of its relevant texts and documents. Students will learn the history of English literature both from a cultural and an aesthetic viewpoint, as well as in its relation with the political and social history of England and Great Britain. They will apply their hermeneutic abilities to the comprehension of complex literary texts, their relation with the cultural and socio-political background, their rhetorical strategies and aesthetic qualities. They will be able to produce a discussion of complex texts and connect them to the historical framework to which they belong.

The module will be taught entirely in English.

The module will provide the critical tools to be able, among other things,
1) to provide a detailed analysis of literary texts, and related texts;
2) to enter a dialogue with the critical state of art on texts and themes, and debate one's positions in public;
3) to work within various intercultural contexts;
4) to provide critical commentaries, and short essays in English, using the critical-hermeneutical knowledge acquired in the module, also through a personal reading of texts;
5) to conduct an autonomous bibliographic search in English

In the Joint Degree / Double Degree course the acquired competence with be implemented in an interaction with the students, and in the contexts, of the universities participating in the consortium.

Good general knowledge of the cultural and literary history of English literature.
Students are expected to have, or acquire, a general knowledge of history and cultural history in the long eighteenth century prior to the start of the module,
An excellent command of the English language (C1) will be needed in order to understand and comment on complex texts.

"Passions, Happiness and Terror in the Eighteenth-Century Fiction, from Sentimentalism to the Gothic"
The module will focus on the main issues discussed in eighteenth-century English literature, with special regard to the themes of the development of a rational thought based on the empirical-critical study of the world and self by the intellect; the rise of a philosophy and culture of the passions felt through the senses (sentiments); the development of theories of sympathy and fellow-feeling; and the urge to, and wish for, happiness understood as central in man's psychological and social nature; the role of fear in political and aesthetic thoeries of the human mind.
Those themes and issues will be analysed, discussed and commented on, by reading and interpreting as well as some chosen literary texts (as in the list below).

Students will be asked to read and be able to comment on the following texts:
1. excerpts from the philosophical and cultural background of English sentimentalism, the theory of the sublime and the Gothic (powerpoint files that will be uploaded in the moodle of the module);
2. Sarah Fielding, David Simple (Oxford Classics) (the first four Books; NOT Volume the Last)
3. Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (Broadview Press)
4. Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling (Broadview Press)
5. Ann Radcliffe, The Italian (Oxford Classics) including: "Appendix I: On the Supernatural in Poetry"
6. selected passages from Edmund Burke's A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful

Students are asked to read the following book providing an overview on the general context of the eighteenth century:
7. John Richetti, "A History of Eighteenth‐Century British Literature" (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017)
(other texts that contextualise the eighteenth century can be agreed on individually with the teacher)

All attending students are asked to read the novels in advance of their analysis and discussion in class. This is an approximate schedule of the classes:
Introductory notions on the age of feeling and sentimental literature will be given in September;
"David Simple" will be analysed from end of September through mid October;
"The Man of Feeling", between end of October and beginning of November;
"A Sentimental Journey", in November;
"The Italian", from end of November through December (preceded by a discussion on Burke's Enquiry).

Non attending students will have to contact the teacher for further, mandatory readings. All the materials provided in the moodle page of the module are compulsory for non attending students).

Written test based on the programme.
The test will be made of questions with open answers and will be divided into three parts:
A. General themes and topics (history of 18th-century literature and culture): students will choose 3 out of 6 questions (answers will have to be about 10-15 lines long) (Aim 1)
B. A short essay (one sheet long) based on one of the authors/themes discussed in class; students will choose 1 out of 2 questions (Aim 2)
C. A commentary (one sheet long) on a passage selected from one of the texts in the programme, meant to discuss the rhetorical (as well as poetic, narrative, etc.) strategies, the themes, the connections to the historical background in the text (Aim 3)

Students will be allowed to use a monlingual English dictionary. Other dictionaries or texts won't be allowed. The use of smartphones, tablets and other devices will be forbidden during the exam.
Time allowed to complete the written exam: 2 hours

Students who attend* at least 70% of classes can give a presentation on a topic relevant to the course. The relevant readings will be agreed upon with the teacher through a. guided bibliographic search. Those students who give a presentation won't be asked to answer question C in the written test.

* Attend either "in class" or "online" (watching panopto videos does not count as attending)

Front lectures that will introduce the students to the topics and the texts in the programme; seminars with students' presentations and joint discussions of the texts in the programme.

English

Both the teaching format and the exam are based on "in class" lessons and exams; should the pandemic affect teaching and examining, students will be informed on th changes in the above-described format.

Non attending students will have to contact the teacher for further, mandatory readings. All the materials provided in the moodle page of the module are compulsory for non attending students).

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development