26028 - Women's Travel Literature

Academic Year 2020/2021

  • Docente: Gino Scatasta
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: L-LIN/10
  • Language: English
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Modern, Post-Colonial and Comparative Literatures (cod. 0981)

Learning outcomes

The student acquires historical and literary knowledge of women's popular culture with specific reference to travel literature and critical utopias, within a gender perspective.

Course contents

Icons of the Sixties

The title of the course is WOMEN'S POPULAR CULTURE and even though the title of this single module is WOMEN'S TRAVEL LITERATURE, the topic of the lessons will not be women's travel literature but the representation of women in popular culture,  more specifically in English society and culture during the decade of the Sixties. Some relevant female figures in the cultural and social context of the period will be introduced and analyzed: fashion designers like Mary Quant and Biba (Barbara Hulanicki), models, actresses, writers and singers, but also women involved in well-known scandals or trials of the decade, like Christine Keeler.

Readings/Bibliography

Selected passages from the following texts (soon available on IOL):

 

Mary Quant, Autobiography

From A to Biba: the autobiography of Barbara Hulanicki

Marianne Faithfull, An Autobiography

Christine Keeler, Secrets and Lies

Jane Birkin, Munkey Diaries

Pattie Boyd, Wonderful Today

Edna O'Brien, Country Girl

Teaching methods

Due to the Covid-19 emergency, the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures has decided that all courses taught in the first semester will combine two teaching methods: live online followed by live on-site and online according to a fixed timeline.

More in details:

a) Live online (first month). All students will attend online. Classes will run live on the Microsoft Teams platforms (no recording allowed).

b) Live on-site and online (following weeks). Due to the Covid-19 emergency, rooms cannot be used to their full capacity. Students who wish to attend live on-site will have to confirm this in due time, following the instructions they will receive from the University. They will then be required to alternate on-site and online shifts (on Microsoft Teams), based on the room capacity, in order to ensure the necessary form of social distancing.

Further details will be given during the first week of class.

Assessment methods

Final oral exam. The submission of an essay may be agreed with the lecturer.

Attendance and class participation will also be assessed as a component of the final overall mark.

Office hours

See the website of Gino Scatasta

SDGs

Gender equality Reduced inequalities

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.