31031 - English Literature 1 (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students are aware of the main lines of literary history. They are able to read, understand and translate texts in foreign language, and they are acquainted with the fundamental methods and analytical tools that are needed to interpret the works of the major authors, contextualising them against the cultural and historical period of reference.

 

Course contents

NB This course is divided into two modules. Module 1 (30 hours), which will be taught by Prof. Maurizio Ascari, needs to be taken in conjunction with module 2 (30 hours), which will be taught by Prof. Alessia Polatti.

Module 1: Wizards and witches in the English Renaissance theatre: knowledge, power and gender identity

Magic played a key role in early-modern society and culture. Suffice it to think of figures such as Cornelius Agrippas or John Dee, who was astrologer and mathematician at the court of Queen Elizabeth. King James's obsession with witches is also well-known. The persecution of 'witches' commenced in Scotland around 1590, under the reign of James VI (later James I of England), and was followed by the publication of his famous treatise Daemonologie (1597).

The cultural representation of magic enables us to deal with subjects of great interest, such as the way in which knowledge was articulated between the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, when new experimental disciplines developed, marking the transition towards modern science. Moreover, this theme also enables us to assess some of the forms of control to which knowledge was subject, notably on the part of ecclesiastical authorities, for knowledge and power – as the French philosopher Foucault reminded us – are closely connected.

Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (ca 1588-92) is a case in point, since in this play faith and knowledge are contrasted according to the Biblical archetype of the tree of knowledge, whose fruit caused the exile of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden. The protagonist of this tragedy is a theologian from the University of Wittemberg, the city where Luther lived and where the Protestant reformation started. Faustus’ decision to make a deal with the devil in order to gain access to unbound knowledge, however, results only in damnation.

The course will also delve into the gender dimension of these plays, where two forms of 'magic' can be identified: a masculine and a feminine approach to esoteric knowledge, whose treatment in Renaissance drama differs considerably. In Macbeth (ca 1603-6) and The Masque of Queens (1609) witches are depicted as repugnant and abominable beings. The importance witches acquired in the British imagination of those years is proved by Ben Jonson's choice to include these figures precisely in a masque, that is to say in an allegorical spectacle that was staged at court to celebrate royal power. Here witches embody disorder and are vanquished by the harmonious authority of the sovereigns – James I and his wife Anne of Denmark.

On the other hand, in The Tempest (ca 1610-11) Prospero is portrayed as a benevolent patriarch. Thanks to his magic powers, Prospero has imposed his authority on the island which had been previously governed by the evil witch Sycorax, Caliban's mother, and he will also ultimately shape the destinies of all the other characters in the play. In the epilogue, Prospero is even presented as an alter ego of the dramatist, strengthening the analogy between magic and theatre that was a recurring theme in Renaissance drama.

Another aim of the course is to approach a variety of theatrical genres, ranging from tragedy (Dr. Faustus and Macbeth) to romance (The Tempest), the masque (The Masque of Queens) and the domestic tragedy (The Witch of Edmonton), with its combination of crime and the supernatural.

Module 2:“Far more fair than black”: confronting Blackness and Whiteness in XVII century literature

The course will provide students with an overview on the representation of the so-called “subaltern” subjects and on the concepts of Englishness, Whiteness, Otherness, and Blackness in the English Literature of the XVII century. Starting from an introduction to the English social and cultural context of the XVI and the XVII century, the course will focus on the complex interrelationship between literature and the colonial enterprise.

Then, we will start from the first decade of the XVII century and from the analysis of two works by William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Othello and Antony and Cleopatra. Both these works have often been read in relation to racial questions; therefore, the course intends to go in depth into the relationship between white subjects and the black “Other” protagonists of the works. We will consider how stereotypes and racism characterised the complex interrelationship between “them” and “us”. This is particularly evident in Aphra Behn’s pre-novel Oroonoko: particular emphasis will be laid on the relationship between literary texts and their historical and socio-cultural contexts in order to understand how literature has been vehicle of a whole nation devoted to the colonial empire. Moreover, we will examine and discuss the essential elements of the protagonists’ identities: Othello the Moor, queen Cleopatra, and Oroonoko, the Royal Slave actually had a strong impact on the western imaginary. A special emphasis will eventually be laid on the construction and the representation of the characters’ racial and gender identities, as well as on the relationship between colonisers and colonised men in the Early Modern period.

Readings/Bibliography

Module 1

Primary sources

Students are expected to study in view of the exam two of these texts, which will be discussed in class:

Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (ca 1588-92)

William Shakespeare, The Tempest (ca 1610-11)

William Rowley, Thomas Dekker e John Ford, The Witch of Edmonton (1621)

NB: Students are also expected to know the extracts from literary texts we will discuss in class. These texts will be made available through the slides that will be posted on the Virtuale platform.

Critical sources

Compulsory reading:

Yates, Frances A., Cabbala e occultismo nell’età elisabettiana, Torino, Einaudi, 1982, pp. 3-118. (Biblioteche: Sala Borsa, Archiginnasio, Discipline Storiche, Filosofia, Scienze dell’Educazione, Italiana delle donne)

Students will also have to read two of these three essays:

Coronato, Rocco, introduzione a William Shakespeare, La tempesta, con testo a fronte, cura, introduzione e note di Rocco Coronato, trad. di Gabriele Baldini, Milano, Rizzoli, 2008, pp. 5-44.

Lucking, David, “Our Devils Now Are Ended: A Comparative Analysis of The Tempest and Doctor Faustus”, The Dalhousie Review, Vol. 15, 2000, pp. 151-167.

Nicol, David, “Interrogating the Devil: Social and Demonic Pressure in The Witch of Edmonton”, Comparative Drama, Vol. 38, N. 4, Winter 2004-5, pp. 425-445.

Module 2

Primary sources

Students are expected to study two of these texts, which will be discussed in class:

W. Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Othello (1603)

W. Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra (1606)

A. Behn, Oroonoko (1688)

NB: Students are also expected to know the extracts from literary texts we will discuss in class. These texts will be made available through the slides that will be posted on the Virtuale platform.

Critical sources

Compulsory reading:

Giorgio Melchiori, Shakespeare. Genesi e struttura delle opere, Edizioni Laterza (1994) (extracts on Virtuale)

Students will also have to study two of these three essays (according to the elected primary works):

Keith Rinehart, “Shakespeare's Cleopatra and England's Elizabeth”, in Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Winter, 1972), pp. 81-86, Oxford University Press

Thorell Porter Tsomondo, “Stage-Managing ‘Otherness’: The Function of Narrative in ‘Othello’”, in Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal, Vol. 32, No. 2 (June 1999), pp. 1-25

Banani Biswas, “Oroonoko: A ‘Royal Slave’ and/or a Master of Dignity”, in Advances in Language and Literary Studies, Vol 6, No 4 (2015), pp. 208-215.

Literary history: students will also have to know the history of English Literature from the Medieval era to the XVII century. The text is:

Manuale di letteratura e cultura inglese, a cura di Lilla Maria Crisafulli e Keir Elam, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2009, JUST pp. 1-138.

Teaching methods

Compatibly with the Covid Emergency, the course will include

1) face to face classes, aiming to provide participants with the critical tools they need to interrogate and understand literary texts, both in terms of linguistic analysis and of historical/cultural contexts;

2) the viewing and discussion of films.

If students prove interested in this, some classes will be taught entirely in English.

Assessment methods

The course of English Literature 1 M-Z is composed of two modules and that students will consequently have to sit two different oral exams - the first with Prof. Maurizio Ascari and the second with Prof. Alessia Polatti.

Each oral exam - which will be in Italian and will last around 15 minutes - aims to evaluate the students' critical and methodological skills. In order to assess these skills, students will be invited to discuss the literary and critical texts that will have been presented during the two modules.

Teaching tools

The Powerpoint slides that will be shown during the course will be made available for students on the Unibo Virtuale platform: https://virtuale.unibo.it/my/

Office hours

See the website of Maurizio Ascari

See the website of Alessia Polatti