SOCIETA' E CULTURE DI LINGUA INGLESE

L’insegnamento fa parte degli insegnamenti caratterizzanti le Lingue insegnate nel Corso di Laurea in Lingue, Civiltà e Scienze del Linguaggio e ha lo scopo di arricchire la conoscenza del patrimonio linguistico, letterario e culturale della Gran Bretagna con la conoscenza delle principali caratteristiche della sua storia e della sua cultura sociale e politica, allargando ulteriormente, attraverso la lettura di testi nella lingua originale, la padronanza lessicale della lingua inglese.

Il corso si propone di approfondire, sulla base di letture di classici e di testi critici, le specificità e le peculiarità della storia e della cultura sociale e politica britannica, e le loro evoluzioni storiche nel più vasto panorama della storia europea.
Gli studenti svilupperanno le loro capacità critiche di analisi di tali fenomeni, e la coscienza delle rivelanti questioni sociali, scientifiche o etiche in essi implicate. Attraverso l’analisi dei testi in programma si consoliderà la loro capacità di elaborazione critica, formazione e argomentazione del giudizio in un linguaggio insieme specifico e comunicativo, e in una prospettiva comparativa che coinvolga la loro conoscenza ed esperienza della storia e della cultura nazionale italiana.

A very good knowledge of the English language; a good knowledge of modern and contemporary literature and culture.

"The Postmodern Novel in England"
The module will discuss the rise of postmodernism both a historical phenomenon (postmodernity) and its literary and cultural aspects (postmodernism). Starting from the socio-cultural analysis of the "postmodern condition" in the works of Jean-François Lyotard, Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, Fredric Jameson, and other scholars, we will analyse the ways in which English writers used the main concepts of postmodernism in their works, thorugh a discussion of two important novels as specimens of postmodern fiction, and of two films that were adapted from them.
The module will provide:
- a good knowledge of the historical and cultural context from which postmodernism has emerged;
- the capacity to analyse postmodern texts with regard to their use of techniques such as irony, parody, intertextuality, metafiction, self-reflexiveness, deconstruction, mise en-abyme;
- the ability to recognise the postmodern treatment of social complexity, indeterminacy, gender difference, cultural dialogue, mimesis and simulacrum, hermeneutics, the carnivalesque, psychological, existential and social identity, plural identity, poliphony.

Students will have to read the following books:

A Novels:
A1. compulsory reading for all students: John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman, London: Vintage Books
A2. optional reading: Ian McEwan, Atonement, London: Vintage Books

B. These are texts about the overall context and cultural background of postmodernism (compulsory reading):
1. Bran Nichol, The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction, Cambridge U.P.: read the Introduction and chapter 1, pp. 1-49 (the book is available at the BALI library, at Palazzo Cosulich: EF Nic/Cam)
2. Simon Malpas, The Postmodern, London: Routledge (available at the BALI library, Palazzo Cosulich: EX8 Mal/Pos)
or, alternatively: Brian McHale, The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodernism, Cambridge, Cambridge U.P (non-attending students must read both Malpas and McHale)

C We'll see together the film that has been adapted from John Fowles' novel, and compare it to the original texts:
Karel Reisz (director), The French Lieutenant's Woman, MGM (screenplay by Harold Pinter)

The examination will consist in a written test on the programme, taken 'in presence'.


It will comprise:
A. 3 questions with open answers on the main concepts and notions of "postmodernity" and postmodernism" discussed in class and in the texts in the programme (0-16 points);
B. A 40-to-60 line essay on the novel "The French Lieutenant's Woman", and/or a commentary on a selected passage taken from it, also compared to the filmic adaptation (0-15 points).

C. An optional question on a passage taken from the novel "Atonement" (not compulsory; up to 4 points, awarded to students who have obtained at least 24/30 in sections A and B)

The examination will be in English. Students will be allowed to use a monolingual dictionary of English; no other dictionaries, books, nor tablets, smartphones etc. will be allowed during the exam.

Students will be informed by the teacher, in class and through announcements on his unive.it webpage, of any change to the exam format depending on the covid19 emergency.
Students officially exempted from 'in presence' participation can take the exam in a different format. They must apply to the University officers to check their status with regard to this.

The written exam will last 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Front lectures, seminars, presentations.

Italiano

Non attending students are requested to contact the teacher for supplementary readings, which they may find in the moodle materials (signalled as "for non attending students").

Students who do not participate to lessons (either in class or online) are non-attending students. Students who simply watch the panopto videos and do not interact in class are non-attending students.

orale

Questo insegnamento tratta argomenti connessi alla macroarea "Povertà e disuguaglianze" e concorre alla realizzazione dei relativi obiettivi ONU dell'Agenda 2030 per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile