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, 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 of the linguistic-philological curriculum, being recommended to students who wish to go deeper into Scandinavian Studies.

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. This year, the second part of the course focuses on the environmental question - especially in the light of climate change and the Green economies adopted by Scandinavian countries during the last decades - , and on how this situation is reflected in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish literary production.
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 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 translation or in English.

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. his year, the second part of the course focuses on the environmental question - especially in the light of climate change and the Green economies adopted by Scandinavian countries during the last decades - , and on how this situation is reflected in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish literary production.
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 climate issue, central historically, culturally, economically and politically for Scandinavian countries, appears in different forms in the literature and cinema of the northern countries, spanning genres and themes. The module will address the study of contemporary Scandinavian literary texts and television and film productions through different articulations of the most recent developments in ecocriticism. In particular, we will discuss the relationship between man and nature, the concepts of posthuman and dystopian in relation to the critical environmental and climatic issues.

References

1) General part: 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 2023, Profilo di storia culturale, sociale e politica del Nord , (pdf-file available on Moodle)

2) Materials on eco-criticismo and literature
· Garrard G., Ecocriticism, Routledge (2nd edition)
· Iovino S., Ecologia letteraria. Una strategia di sopravvivenza
· Henning R., Jonasson A.K., Dagerman P. (2018), Nordic narratives of nature and the environment. Ecocritical approaches to northern European literatures and cultures.
· Malmio K., Kurikka K. (2020), Contemporary Nordic Literature and Spatiality, Palgrave Macmillan (cap.1 e 5).
· Altri contributi saranno forniti dal docente e caricati su Moodle

3) Literary works
· Testi scelti di Jacobsen R. (dispensa fornita dal docente)

a)
· Vesaas T., Gli uccelli
. Hamsun K., I germogli della terra
· Magnason A.S., Il tempo e l'acqua
· Lunde M., La storia delle api
· Niemi M., Musica rock da Vittula
· Sjöberg F., L'arte di collezionare mosche

Optional
b)
· Ekman K., Il buio scese sull'acqua
· Høeg P., Il senso di Smilla per la neve
· Berg Holm I., La rabbia dell'orsa

4) Film and television
· Ragnarok (Serie TV)
· Okkupert (Serie TV)
· Lamb (Johánsson V., film, 2021)

N.B.: It is necessary to read at least 3 works chosen from part a), or 3 + 1 if including part b) as well.

The examination is oral, it is generally in Italian and lasts approximately 25 minutes.
Students not attending the course are asked to 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 students present a work in class, they do 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.

Italian

More information

Should you have questions or need further explanations, please email the lecturer andrea.romanzi@unive.it. Students' meetings should be booked in advance via e-mail.

oral

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