31146 - English Literature 2 (A-L)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will be acquainted with the lineaments of English literary history. They will be able to read, understand and translate texts from English into Italian, and to deal with some basic critical methods and tools, in order to elaborate comments and critical opinions on the literary texts read during the course.

Course contents

Literary Circles, Networks, and Intellectual Debates in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century English Literature

This course explores the role of literary circles, authorial networks, collaborative practices, and intellectual debate in shaping English literature from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century. Rather than viewing literary production as the achievement of isolated individuals, the course examines the dynamic exchanges that developed through salons, clubs, coteries, correspondence, periodicals, publishing networks, and informal communities of writers and intellectuals.

Particular attention is devoted to the ways in which collaboration, friendship, rivalry, and public debate influenced literary innovation and the circulation of ideas across different genres and historical contexts. By adopting a historicist and interdisciplinary approach, students will investigate how literary communities contributed to the emergence of aesthetic movements, political thought, and cultural identities during a period marked by profound social and intellectual transformation.

The reading list includes works by Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Robinson, William and Dorothy Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, John Polidori, members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning. These texts serve as case studies for examining different forms of literary collaboration, cultural coteries, and intellectual networks from the eighteenth to the late nineteenth century.

The course includes introductory lectures dedicated to the history of English literature from the Eighteenth century, the Romantic to the Victorian Period.

Readings/Bibliography

Extracts from the texts on the syllabus, along with additional material discussed during lectures, will be made available to students on the online platform Virtuale.

Primary texts:

Female rights and education: M. Wollstonecraft, (extracts); M. Robisnon (extracts);

The lake school: William and Dorothy Wordsworth (extracts); S.T. Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner";

The Satanic School; P. B. Shelley (extracts); Lord Byron (extracts); Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (entire novel); J. Polidori "The Vampyre".

Victoian literature: Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning (extracts).

Secondary reading:

History of English Literature - Reference:

S. Baiesi, Shaping British Romantic Literature in Context, Peter Lang, 2026.

Critical essays will be notified at the beginning of the course.

Teaching methods

Lectures in English: from an introduction to the literary periods spanning the eighteenth century to the Victorian age, to close reading and critical commentary on the primary texts; supported by videos and film adaptations of literary works.

Assessment methods

During the academic year, two exam sessions are scheduled per exam period in the following months: January–February; May–July; September–October.

The final exam is written in English for all exam sessions, for both attending and non-attending students including Erasmus+ exchange students.

The exam consists of two parts: the first part, to be completed in 40 minutes, includes short-answer and multiple-choice questions on literary history and the cultural context from the 18th to the 19th century; the second part, lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes, includes open-ended questions about the authors and texts covered during the course, as well as commentary on selected excerpts.

The evaluation of the students' competencies and abilities acquired during the course consists in a written exam at the end of the course for those students who attended classes regularly as well as for those who do not attend classes.

The exam is split in two parts: the first part, lasting 40 minutes, will consist of short-answer and multiple-choice questions concerning the literary history and cultural context from the 18th to the 19th century; the second part, lasting 1 hour, will include open questions concerning the authors and texts covered during the course with also commentary on selected extracts.

Those students,who are able to demonstrate a wide and systematic understanding of the issues covered during classes, are able to use these critically and who master the field-specific language of the discipline will be given a mark of excellence. Those students who demonstrate a mnemonic knowledge of the subject with a more superficial analytical ability and ability to synthesize, a correct command of the language but not always appropriate, will be given a satisfactory mark. A superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a scarce analytical and expressive ability that is not always appropriate will be rewarded with a ‘pass' mark. Students who demonstrate gaps in their knowledge of the subject matter, inappropriate language use, lack of familiarity with the literature in the program bibliography will not be given a pass mark.

 

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.Any requests for adjustments must be made within 15 days of the exam date by sending an email to the lecturer and entering the email address disabilita@unibo.it (in case of a disabling condition) or dsa@unibo.it (for students with DSA) in Cc.

Teaching tools

Online resourses available for student online; film and videos show during lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Serena Baiesi