30030 - English Literature 1 (LM)

Academic Year 2012/2013

  • Docente: Gino Scatasta
  • Credits: 9
  • SSD: L-LIN/10
  • Language: English

Course contents

The Swinging Sixties

The 1960s was a decade of great social and political upheavals in the United Kingdom. How did they influence and were influencedby the literature of the decade? We will look for an answer to this question in some novels and plays of the Sixties, in the context of the history, films, music and youth subcultures of the period.

Readings/Bibliography

Students are required to read five novels from the following list:

Alan Sillitoe, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1959)

Ian Fleming, Goldfinger(1959)

Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)

Angus Wilson, The Old Men at the Zoo (1961)

Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange (1962)

James G. Ballard, The Drowned World (1962)

John Le Carré, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)

Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)

Nell Dunn, Poor Cow(1967)

Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop (1967)

John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969)


Students are also required to read the texts in English from the following list and if they have enough knowledge of Italian, the texts in Italian as well:

Roberto Bertinetti, Dai Beatles a Blair: la cultura inglese contemporanea, capp. 1, 2, 3, Roma, Caroccci, 2001, pp. 7-61 (F)

Paola Colaiacomo e Vittoria C. Caratozzolo, “Transiti”, in La londra dei Beatles, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 1996, pp. 9-71 (F)

Malcolm Bradbury, “Crossroads: Fiction in the Sixties”, in The Modern British Novel, London, Penguin, 1994, pp. 361-415 (F)

David Lodge, “The Novelist at the Crossroad”, in The Novelist at the Crossroads and Other Essays on Fiction and Criticism, London, Ark, 1971, pp. 3-34 (F)

Ian MacDonald, “I leggendari quattro. L'illusione di un decennio”, in The Beatles. L'opera completa, Milano, Mondadori, 1997, pp. 9-48 (F)

Further material on the single works or on the Sixties in general will be available from Ecrire or Master Copy in via Cartoleria.

Assessment methods

Oral examination at the end of the course. The oral exam or part of it could be substituted by an essay.


Office hours

See the website of Gino Scatasta