31055 - Anglo-American Literature 1

Learning outcomes

Students will learn the literary history of the period at stake; they will acquire useful literary tools to analyze fictional productions and question them in relation to the complex and heterogeneous North American realities.

Course contents

THE LITERARY IDENTITY OF NORTH AMERICA: UNITED STATES & CANADA (PERIOD: XVII-XIX CENTURIES).

The course is an introduction to North American literature (USA and Canada) written in English, with a special focus on identity issues and the making of "national" literatures. Classic and funding texts will be cross read to outline the symbolic and mythological patterns that have moulded the US and Canadian realities, from the European colonization till the end of the 19^th century.

In this class, literature is investigated through a constant dialogue with other arts, including media, cinema, photography, and the visual arts. The concepts of identity, memory, community, inner/outer landscape will constitute the thematic paradigms to approach the evolving mentalities underpinning the evolution of complex identity processes in the so-called New World.

These are some of the topics that we will address in class:

• Discovering / Conquering / Inventing “North America”: USA and Canada.
• USA Melting Pot versus Canadian Multiculturalism
• Puritan roots of American literary discourses.
• American Pioneers: mapping the frontier(s).
• Canadian travelogues: female voices of the origins and contemporary interpretations.
• American Transcendentalism: Eco-Criticism, Self-Reliance, New Canons.
• Civil War: Slavery, Freedom, Human Rights.
• American Proto-Modernism: Literary Impressionism, New Realism
• Native voices of/from Canada

Please Note: This course is organized as part of the sustainability phase of the European Project “PERFORMIGRATIONS: People Are the Territory” (www.performigratios.eu ), in the frame of the research project “WeTell: Storytelling and Civic Awareness” (https://site.unibo.it/wetell/en ) and in collaboration with the literary portal www.canadausa.net. The main goal is to encourage a new global mentality, deeply rooted in the humanities, so to reorient today geopolitics and create a happier and more just world. No knowledge is useful if it leads to satisfy only a few people’s urgent needs, be that material or emotional; knowledge is useful if it induces us to question our communal existence, helping us to learn how to act upon our community in responsible ways, in turn leading to a truly shared happiness.

Important: EVERYBODY IS WELCOME AND DIVERSITY (IN ALL ITS FORMS) IS WELCOME TOO.

This course will feature a series of guest scholars and professionals to encourage the dialogue between literature and civic society so to widen our knowledge of learning and training opportunities available nationally or internationally. The list of featured guests will available when classes start.

Readings/Bibliography

i) Bibliography for the brief statement:

Students must choose two among the suggested readings here below (one for the US reality; one for the Canadian reality), either in Italian or in English, to prepare their the brief statement (see A, assessment methods here above):

In Italian

• C. Iuli, P. Loreto (eds), La letteratura degli Stati Uniti. Carocci Editore, 2017 (capitoli 1-6; 8).

• G. Fink, M. Maffi, F. Minganti, B. Tarozzi, Storia della letteratura americana (nuova edizione), Firenze: Sansoni (1991) 2013 (dalle origini al 1915)

• Gebbia Alessandro, “La letteratura Anglocanadese”, in Lombardo A. (a cura di) Le Orme di Prospero. Le Nuove letterature di lingua inglese: Africa, Carabi, Canada, Roma, La Nuova Italia Scientifica, 1995, pp. 141-219;

• Capone Giovanna, Canada. Il villaggio della terra, Bologna, Patron (chapters 1,2,3).

In English:

• The Columbia Literary History of the United States, Columbia U.P., 1988 (Part 1, Chapters I, III; Part 2, Chapters II, III, IV; Part 3, Chapter IV).

• Richard J. Lane, The Routledge Concise History of Canadian Literature, Routledge, 2011 (Chapters 1, 2, 3)

• The Cambridge Companion to Canadian Literature, Edited by Eva-Marie Kroller, Cambridge U.P. 2004 (Chapters 1, 3, 4).

ii) Bibliography for the Final Essay

In view of the final exam (see B, assessment methods), students will be able to create and customize their reading list, as well as their theme for their essay under the supervision of the course director.

For the essay, students must work on at least three (3) primary sources (novels, memoirs, poem collections, travelogues); students must choose at least two (2) secondary sources(critical essays and books) consistent with the chosen topic.

IMPORTANT: the list of primary and secondary sources will be implemented every week, based on the discussed topics and authors.

Teaching methods

Due to Covid-19 emergency and based on the mandatory decision of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, all courses taught in the first semester will combine two teaching modalities (online and live/streaming) following a precise timeline. This course will therefore run accordingly. More in details:

a) Online (week 1-5). All students will attend online. Classes will run live on the Microsoft Teams platforms (no registration allowed).

b) Live + Streaming (week 5-10). Classes will be hosted at the Department (live classes), but not all students will be granted access at the same time. In fact, due to Covid-19 emergency, rooms cannot be used up to their full capacity. Students who wish to attend live, will be selected according to the instructions given by UNIBO in due course (September 2020). All other students can follow the same class via streaming (live on the Microsoft Teams platform; no registration allowed).

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

Both online and live/streaming classes will strongly encourage students’ active participations (weekly reading; Question/Answer time; etc.).

Assessment methods

The FINAL EXAM consists of three parts, two written, one oral:

A) Brief statement (1000-1500 words or a 5-minute video, in Italian or English) on differences/affinities between Canadian and American literary roots.

B) Short essay (3000-3500 words, in Italian or English) on a literary topic chosen among those discussed in class.

C) Oral exam (15-minute interview in Italian AND English to test the student’s ability to comment on/ expand their statement and essay).

Teaching tools

Traditional and Multimedia tools

Links to further information

https://site.unibo.it/wetell/en

Office hours

See the website of Elena Lamberti