31146 - English Literature 2 (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the students will acquire an adequate knowledge of the general problems and individual aspects of the history of English literature. They will be able to understand and translate texts in the original language; they will be able to apply specific methodologies to the analysis and interpretation of literary texts and provide an appropriate critical commentary.

Course contents

Romantics and Victorians: from Jane Austen to Oscar Wilde

The course examines the current debate in the field of nineteenth-century studies about the relationship between Romantic and Victorian literature and the persistence of a “Romantic” tradition throughout the nineteenth century. During the course, the two literary periods will be analyzed, questioning the usefulness of a traditional periodization. We will compare texts from both periods belonging to different literary genres - such as poetry and the novel - and we will analyze the way in which these texts relate and influence each other. Starting from an overview of the writers who shaped modern English literary culture, in particular the fathers and mothers of the novel, the course will focus on Jane Austen's masterpiece Pride and Prejudice(1813), on the poets of the first and second Romantic generation with particular attention to the work of John Keats and Lord Byron. In the second part of the course, we will assess the legacy of their themes and ideas (Keats's aesthetic theories, the figure of the Byronic hero, gender issues and the representation of women in Austen) in authors of the Victorian period: from Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre) to Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray).

Readings/Bibliography

For the history of English literature, students are expected to read the following textbook:

L. M. Crisafulli and K. Elam (eds), Manuale di letteratura e cultura inglese, Bologna, BUP, 2009 (from the eighteenth century to the end of the Victorian age: pp. 139-326).

International students and non-native speakers of Italian may read the relevant sections (from the eighteenth century to the Victorians) of the following: 

English Literature in Context, ed. P. Poplawski, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008 (chapt. 3 "The Restoration and eighteenth century, 1660-1780"; "The Romantic period, 1780-1832"; "The Victorian Age, 1832-1901").

The Cambridge History of English Romantic Literature, ed. James Chandler, Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 427-506.

Primary texts:

Extracts from the following primary texts, that will be read and analysed in class, will be made available online on the Virtuale websource:

D. Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (extracts)

H. Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (extracts)

W. Wordsworth, Preface to the Lyrical Ballads; The Idiot Boy

S.T. Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

G.G. Byron, Manfred (extracts)

J. Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn, La Belle Dame sans Merci 

A. Tennyson, Ulysses

J. Austen, Pride and Prejudice (any reliable edition) 

C. Brontë, Jane Eyre (any reliable edition)

O. Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (any reliable edition)

Critical readings:

1) C. L. Johnson, "Pride and Prejudice and the Pursuit of Happiness", in Jane Austen. Women, Politics, and the Novel, Chicago-London, The University of Chicago Press, 1988, pp. 73-93.

2) Sandra M. Gilbert and S. Gubar, "A Dialogue of Self and Soul: Plain Jane's Progress", in The Madwoman in the Attic. The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination, New Haven-London, Yale University Press, 1979, pp. 336-371.

3) D. Denisoff, "Decadence and Aestheticism", in The Cambridge Companion to The Fin de Siècle, ed. by G. Marshall, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 31-52. 

Non-attending students:Non-attending studentswill be also required to read:

A. Stein, " 'A Fire and Motion of the Soul'. Nineteenth-Century Origins", in The Byronic Hero in Film, Fiction, and Television, Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press, 2004, pp. 8-34.

 

Teaching methods

Lectures

Assessment methods

1. Written exam: At the end of the course there will be a written exam which will include: one section of multiple-choice and open questions on English literary history, a second section of analysis and commentary of selected primary texts studied during the course.

   Markers will assess: knowledge of set texts and contents of the course; standard of language and expression; structure of argument; quality of critical reflection; ability to discuss the contents of the course; ability to provide clear and accurate interpretations of the texts; ability to use the specialist language of literary criticism.

2. Oral exam (approx. 30 min.) The students who do not pass the written exam, or are not able to attend it, will take an oral exam divided in two parts: one dedicated to the relevant period of English literary history, and a second one dedicated to the set texts, in which students will be required to discuss their readings and (for attending students) the contents of the course. Markers will assess: knowledge of the contents of the course; standard of expression; ability to provide clear and accurate interpretations of the texts; ability to discuss the contents of the course; ability to use the specialist language of literary criticism; quality of critical reflection.

Assessment Criteria: To be awarded a final mark between 27 and 30 cum laude students are expected to: show the ability to analyse in depth literary texts following the methodology introduced by the lecturer and/or in the set critical readings; possess and be able to present a thorough and organic knowledge of the topics discussed in class and/or in the set readings; show an excellent standard of expression; show the ability to use properly the technical language of philology and literary criticism. A mark between 23 and 26 will be awarded to students who will show: a good knowledge of the course contents; the ability to provide an accurate analysis of literary texts (although there might be some minor imperfections); a good standard of expression (with occasional minor flaws in the presentation and/or in the use of technical language). Students obtaining a mark between 18 and 22 will typically show: an adequate but superficial knowledge of the contents; a basic understanding of the texts and a limited ability to analyse them, an acceptable standard of expression with a fairly competent (although not always accurate) use of technical language. Poor knowledge of the set texts and course topics, inadequate ability to analyse literary texts; inaccurate and inappropriate expression with major problems in the use of technical language will result in a fail.

Teaching tools

Literary and critical texts, power point presentations, web—based resources.

Office hours

See the website of Carlotta Farese