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 compared to outline the symbolic and mythological patterns that have shaped the US and the 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 will be addressed:

• Discovering / Conquering / Inventing “North America”
• Puritan roots of American literary discourses.
• American Mythmaking: The Frontier
• American Transcendentalism/Renaissance: Eco-Criticism, Self-Reliance, New Canons.
• Civil War: Slavery, Freedom, Human Rights.
• The Gilded Age.
• Canadian travelogues: female voices of the origins and contemporary interpretations.
• The Residential School System
• North American counternarratives of today: Resurgent Indigenous Voices

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 spin-off research project “WeTell: Storytelling and Civic Awareness” (https://site.unibo.it/wetell/en ) and in collaboration with the literary portal https://site.unibo.it/canadausa . 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 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

Preparation for the oral exam combines materials from two different bibliographical lists: i) mandatory texts to acquire knowledge of the North American literary history (general knowledge); ii) mandatory texts to acquire critical knowledge of selected authors and themes. For details, see the two lists here below:

i) General knowledge:

In view of the final exam 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:

In Italian

• C. Iuli, P. Loreto (eds), La letteratura degli Stati Uniti. Carocci Editore, 2017 (capitoli 1-6; 8).
• The Columbia Literary History of the United States, New York: Columbia U.P., 1988 (Part 1, Chapters I, III pp. 3-44; pp. 99-135; Part 2, Chapters II, III, IV, pp. 227-462; Part 3, Chapter IV pp. 607-689)
• 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) Thematic knowledge:

In view of the final exam, students must also select at least three (3) primary sources (novels, memoirs, poem collections, travelogues) and at least two (2) secondary sources (critical essays/books; films; multimedia sources. IMPORTANT: one of the two sources MUST be either an essay or a book) from the list that will be provided in due course.

 

Teaching methods

Students’ active participations is strongly encouraged. 

Assessment methods

The FINAL EXAM consists of an interview (circa 15/20 minutes, either in Italian or in English)). Students must demonstrate good knowledge of the main lines of development in the history of North American literature (Canada and the United States); they must also demonstrate the ability to critically read the literary works examined and to be able to contextualize them in the North American scenarios.

 

Teaching tools

Traditional and Multimedia tools

Links to further information

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

Office hours

See the website of Elena Lamberti