22211 - English Literature C - Second Module (P-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will be acquainted with the lineaments of XX century English literary history, will be able to read and understand texts from English into Italian, and will be also acquainted with some basic critical methods and tools, with the aim to enable them to interpret the works of major authors, contextualising them against the background of XX century culture and society.

Course contents

Nineteen Eighty-Four: 1948/1984/2009

George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four will enable us to juxtapose two periods of English culture and society, with their own fears and obsessions: the years following the end of II World War and Margaret Thatcher's Eighties. It will be also analyzed the relevance of this text for our present time.

Readings/Bibliography

Primary texts:
George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
George Orwell, “Why I write”

George Orwell, “The Frontiers of Art and Propaganda”

George Orwell, “Literature and Totalitarianism”

George Orwell, “Literature and the Left”

George Orwell, “Writers and Leviathan”

Secondary texts:

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Aldous Huxley, Brave new World Revisited
Jonathan Coe, What a Carve Up!
Alan Moore e David Lloyd, V for Vendetta

Critical sources:

Historical background:

R. Bertinetti, Dai Beatles a Blair: la cultura inglese contemporanea, Roma, Carocci, 2001, pp. 62-86.

A. Marzola, “Il neoliberismo thatcheriano” in Englishness, Roma, Carrocci, 2001, pp. 257-267 e pp. 370-72.

 

On Nineteen Eighty-Four:

Crispin Aubrey, “The Making of 1984”, in C. Aubrey and P. Chilton, Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1984, Comedia, London, 1983, pp. 7- 14

Beatrice Battaglia, “Guerra reale e guerra simulata. Orwell illustra Baudrillard”, in V. Fortunati, D. Fortezza, M. Ascari, Conflitti, Roma, Meltemi, 2008, pp. 339-344.

Harold Bloom, “Introduction”, in George Orwell's 1984, Mew York, Chelsea House, 1987, pp. 1-7

Vita Fortunati, “'It Makes No Difference': A Utopia of Simulation and Transparency”, in George Orwell's 1984, Mew York, Chelsea House, 1987, pp. 109-120

Paul Lashmar, “Information as Power”, in Aubrey and Chilton, Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1984, pp. 79- 88

Thomas Pynchon, “Introduction”, in G. Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, London, Penguin, 2003, pp. v-xxv.

Jenny Taylor,” Desire is Thoughtcrime”, in Aubrey and Chilton, Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1984, pp. 24- 32

Raymond Williams, “1984 nel 1984” in Orwell, Milano, Mondadori, 1990, pp. 105-38.

Teaching methods

Assessment methods

Oral exam.

Teaching tools

Formal lectures.

Films.

Office hours

See the website of Gino Scatasta