HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIAN CULTURE

[LM6530] History of Scandinavian Culture / [LMH110] Humans, The Natural Environment and The Animal Other in Scandinavian Literature is offered at the Second year of the Master Degree Program in European, American and Postcolonial Languages and Literatures (LLEAP) and at the Second year of the Master Degree in Environmental Humanities; for both curricula, this course is a type C activity. The course can also be attended as a freely chosen subject by students of the Master Degree in Environmental Humanities, of the MA-programme in Language Sciences and of the MA-programmes in European, American and Postcolonial Languages and Literature.

This course will examine the relationship between humans and the natural environment, with a special focus on the relationship between human and non-human animals in Swedish, Norwegian and Sámi Modern and Contemporary Literature.
Students are expected to be able to comment and discuss four novels of Scandinavian literature from a philosophical and theoretical perspective focusing on the relationship between humans and the natural environment, and especially between humans and other animals. Concepts such as speciesism, racialization and metamorphosis will be taken into account.
The course is meant to develop the individual orienting and summarising ability with regards to the addressed subject, as well as the understanding of how this subject can relate to the aesthetic, social, existential and environmental issues of our time.
Students will be required to expose their knowledge and their considerations on the texts using the proper terminology during examinations as well as in class.
Students are expected to have the appropriate skills to take notes and potentially to share them as well as to critically consult the reference bibliography.

No pre-requirements are expected for [LM6530] History of Scandinavian Culture / [LMH110] Humans, The Natural Environment and The Animal Other in Scandinavian Literature

This course examines the relationship between humans and the natural environment, and especially between humans and other animals in Scandinavian literature.
Cues will be taken from the tools of contemporary philosophical reflection: from Becoming-Animal by Deleuze and Guattari and The Open by Agamben to post humanist theories and Eco critical sources, especially Scandinavian ones. These critical tools will be applied to the reading of four novels of Scandinavian literature, in order to track those changes in man's relation to the natural environment that, since the 19th Century to present day, both follow and inspire the mutation of humans' self perception.
Images of humans dominating the natural environment (such as farmers, breeders and scientists) keep fading in the course of a progressive and problematic discussion over the border between the human self and the animal other, often conveyed by the literary theme of metamorphosis.

Most materials will be provided by the professor.

August Strindberg, Tchandala (1889)
Knut Hamsun, Markens grøde (1917, eng. Growth of the Soil)
Kerstin Ekman, Hunden (1986, eng. The Dog); Löpa varg (2021)

The Palgrave Handbook of Animals and Literature (2021)
Squirrelling: Human–Animal Studies in the Northern-European Region (2022)

Students will sit an oral exam, in English, lasting approximately 20 minutes. The exam will focus on some of the works presented during the course. Students will have to show a thorough knowledge of the course topics, as well as the ability to present them in an appropriate form and to easily relate the specific texts to their context. Students at an advanced level of Swedish language might be asked to translate, contextualize and analyse short passages from the original texts.
Students not able to attend the class should come to office hours at least once before sitting the exam.

The course offers both frontal lectures and interactive lessons, with moments of voluntary participatory learning. Students may also present in class one of the works included in the syllabus.
Though the course will be held in English, some texts can be partially presented in their original language (i.e. Swedish, Danish or Norwegian), depending on the audience.

English

If you have any questions or need further explanations, please write to sara.culeddu@unive.it.
Booking office hours with the professor by email is highly recommended (a weekly timetable will be provided).
Student who cannot attend the course must contact the teacher in order to discuss supplementary learning material.

oral

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