HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIAN CULTURES

Locating the subject within the study plan of the BA-programme

Scandinavian Literature 2 module 2 is offered to students of Swedish at the second year of their BA-programme in Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures, literary-cultural curriculum. Scandinavian Literature 2 (12 ects) is divided into two modules; module 1 is held by professor Culeddu and module 2 by professor Ciaravolo, both in the autumn semester.
Scandinavian Literature 2 (12 ects) can be a freely chosen course for Swedish language students of the other curricula who wish to go deeper into Scandinavian Studies.

History of Scandinavian Culture (6 ects) is offered to students of Swedish at the second year of their BA-programme in Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures, international-political curriculum. History of Swedish Culture is also included in the literary-cultural curriculum at the third year, and as a freely chosen course it is also available to students at the linguistic-philological curriculum, being recommended to students who wish to go deeper into Scandinavian Studies.

Expected results

Scandinavian Literature 2 module 2 / History of Scandinavian Culture presents, in the first part of the course, the social, political and cultural history of the North, focusing on the last two centuries in order to outline the evolution towards modernity and democracy. The second part of the course focuses on the topic of women’s emancipation and life experience from a social, cultural and literary point of view.
The aim of the course is to enable students to connect their knowledge of the social, political and cultural history of Scandinavia with the analysis of the proposed literary works, in order to reflect upon Nordic modernity. The syllabus locates Swedish literary and essayistic texts at the centre, but includes Danish and Norwegian texts as well, to promote a comprehension of the phenomena in a wider Scandinavian context.

Prerequisites

The course is available to the students of the three curricula at Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures, who have already attended Scandinavian Literature 1. Skills in Swedish language will allow the more advanced students to work with the original texts. The study of the texts in the original language is possible but not mandatory; the proposed texts exist in Italian or English translation.

Contents

Women, society, life experience and writing in Scandinavia from the 17th century to present time

If major modern changes concerning Scandinavian women’s conditions occur during the 19th and 20th century, even the 17th and 18th centuries witness female experiences which, through literary expression, search for voice and subjectivity. With reference to the main reforms that gradually allow women to conquer rights, autonomy and freedom in family and society, the course proposes the analysis of prose and poetic texts, as well as of essays, written by Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finland-Swedish female writers who have reflected upon these issues, combining a historical and political perspective with an existential focus. Love relations become a particularly interesting point of intersection in this respect.

References

PROSE, ESSAYS AND POETRY

Leonora Christina Ulfeldt [1673-85], Memorie dalla Torre blu, a cura di Angela Zucconi. Milano: Adelphi 2002 (or previous editions) / Jammers Minde

Cora Sandel [1945], Caffè Krane: interno con figure, trad. Maria Valeria D’Avino. Varese: Giano 2002 / Kranes konditori

Eva Moberg [1961], ”Kvinnans villkorliga frigivning”, in Hans Hederberg (red.), Unga liberaler: nio inlägg i idédebatten. Stockholm: Bonniers 1961, pp. 68-86 (pdf available)

- Märta Tikkanen [1978], The Love Story of the Century, trans. Stina Katchadourian. Dallas: DeepVellum 2020 / Århundradets kärlekssaga

- Lena Andersson [2013], Sottomissione volontaria: un romanzo sull’amore, trad. Carmen Giorgetti Cima. Roma: E/O 2016 / Egenmäktigt förfarande: en roman om kärlek

All works will be presented and discussed at the course. A selection of poems will be produced before course start, gathered in an anthology, and uploaded on Moodle to be used in class.

CULTURAL AND LITERARY HISTORY


Elisabeth Åsbrink 2018, Made in Sweden. Le parole che hanno fatto la Svezia, Milano: Iperborea 2021 / Orden som formade Sverige

Massimo Ciaravolo 2022, Profilo di storia culturale, sociale e politica del Nord (dagli inizi del 1800 ai giorni nostri), (course notes, pdf on Moodle)

da Massimo Ciaravolo (a cura di) 2019, Storia delle letterature scandinave, Milano: Iperborea 2019:
- all the first paragraphs, called “Introduzione”, in the eight chapters (1.1: 19-29; 2.1: 105-12; 3.1: 161-4; 4.1: 207-13; 5.1: 281-4; 6.1: 385-90; 7.1: 533-41; 8.1: 621-9They are written by Massimo Ciaravolo, except 2.1, written by M. Ciaravolo and Andrea Meregalli
- the parts on the studied authors: (to be completed)

Additional syllabus for students who have not attended the course

Students who have not attended the course must talk to the professor during his office hours in order to agree on the syllabus before taking the exam.

Assessment

The examination is oral, it is generally in Italian and lasts approximately 25 minutes. Two questions deal with the cultural, social and political history of the North: one more general question is about one period from the origins to the Enlightenment, and one more specific question is about the last two centuries and the progress towards modernity and democracy. Two more questions will discuss some of the literary works that were presented in the course, connecting them to their historical, cultural and social contexts, and to the sources included in the syllabus.
Students not attending the course must study the additional materials that have been agreed upon. They must come and talk to the professor at least once before the oral examination.

Didactic methods

The course offers mainly frontal lectures, but with moments of participatory learning, as students may, on a voluntary basis, present in class one of the works included in the syllabus. When a student presents a work in class, she/he does not have to prepare it again for the examination. Italian is the language used in teaching, and the works will be basically presented and studied in Italian translation; the poems and Eva Moberg’s essay will be presented both in the original Scandinavian language and in Italian.
It must be pointed out that it will not be possible, during the presentation and analysis in class, to omit parts of the plot, not even the end of the novels, in order not to “spoil” the reading. The suggestion is, therefore, to read the novels in advance.

Italian

More information

If you have questions or need further explanations, please write to massimo.ciaravolo@unive.it. Booking time with an e-mail is recommended if you want to meet the professor. Student who cannot attend the course must contact the teacher in order to discuss the syllabus with the supplementary reading.

oral

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