67173 - English Literature / Literature of English-speaking Countries 1(LM)

Learning outcomes

The student has huge knowledge of the history of modern English literature and the development of non-European literatures in English, with particular attention to the relationship between literary texts and the historical, artistic and linguistic context. He knows and can use practical methodologies for the analysis and interpretation of literary texts.

Course contents

Examples of “Literary Anthropophagy”: The Postcolonial Rewriting of the Brontë Sisters

The course will revisit the canonical texts of Charlotte and Emily Brontë (Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights) through the lens of contemporary postcolonial Caribbean fiction. In particular, the syllabus will include classroom readings and discussions not only of the now-classic rewriting of Jane Eyre (1847), Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) by Dominican author Jean Rhys, but also of three other novels that reinterpret the private lives of the two sisters and the characters they created, through a series of intertextual references that weave together the Victorian Brontëan canon and contemporary postcolonial literature.

In Guerrillas (1975), V. S. Naipaul attempts an act of “cannibalization” of the canon, deconstructing and dismantling the existence and ultimate meaning of the protagonists of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights (1847). In The Lost Child (2015), Caryl Phillips updates the story of the orphan Heathcliff, transposing it into the present day and intertwining it with the (destructive and self-destructive) story of both the Brontë family and of modern migrants. Finally, in A View of the Empire at Sunset (2018), Phillips returns to and fictionalizes central aspects of Jean Rhys’s life, turning her into a character and thus closing the circle of this journey through postcolonial rewriting and intertextuality.

As will be seen, the aim of rewriting in these cases is linked to an act of "literary anthropophagy"—that is, an attempt by postcolonial authors to "cannibalize" the canon and themselves, with the ultimate goal of coming to terms with and "digesting" the horrors of the colonial past along with the complexities of their own hybrid existences. During the course, we will reflect on the deeper meaning of the act of rewriting, which in the postcolonial context takes on not only artistic and cultural significance but also political and social value. In the case of the works selected for the course, this involves exploring key issues such as the condition of women, the social conventions that have shaped and transformed gender relations from the Victorian period to the present day, migration, post-war youth and social rebellion, as well as the theme of "home" in both migratory and broader contexts. Each of these themes will be explored in dialogue with the personal lives of the authors and the historical events they experienced.

Readings/Bibliography

Primary sources

Rhys Jean, Wide sargasso Sea (1966)

Naipaul V.S., Guerrillas (1975)

Phillips Caryl, The Lost Child (2015)

Phillips Caryl, A view of the Empire at the Sunset (2018)

Critical sources

Compulsory reading:

McLeod John, Beginning Postcolonialism, Manchester; New York: Manchester University Press, 2000 (chapter 5 only).

Spivak Gayatri, “Three Women's Texts and a Critique of Imperialism”, Critical Inquiry, Vol. 12, No. 1, “"Race," Writing, and Difference” (Autumn, 1985), pp. 243-261.

Articles about the novels:

Ledent Bénédicte, “‘There is always the other side, always’. Britain, the Caribbean and the Ghost of Jean Rhys in Caryl Phillips’s Writing”, in Wasafiri, 34.1, 2019, pp. 61-66.

Ledent Bénédicte, O’Callaghan Evelyn, “Caryl Phillips’ The Lost Child: A Story of Loss and Connection”, in Ariel: a Review of international English Literature, Vol. 48 No. 3–4, Johns Hopkins University Press and the University of Calgary, 2017, pp. 229-247

Maurel Sylvie, “The Other Stage: from Jane Eyre to Wide Sargasso Sea”, in Brontë Studies, Vol. 34 No. 2, July 2009, pp. 155–161.

Tiffin Helen, “Travelling Texts: Intertextuality and Resistance in V.S. Naipaul's Guerrillas and Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea”, in Journal of West Indian Literature, Vol. 6 No. 1, 1993, pp. 58-66.

In class, we will also read together selected passages from other literary and critical sources that will help students become familiar with the primary texts. These will include excerpts from The Empire Writes Back, Homi Bhabha, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, and Voyage in the Dark by J. Rhys. Students who cannot attend lessons should contact the lecturer via e-mail.

Students with SLDs or temporary or permanent disabilities: please contact the relevant university office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and the professor immediately to work together to find the most effective strategies for attending classes and/or preparing for exams.

Any requests for accommodations must be made at least 15 days before the date of the exam, by sending an email to the lecturer and copying (Cc) the email address disabilita@unibo.it (in case of disability) or dsa@unibo.it (for students with Specific Learning Difficulties).

Teaching methods

Reading and analysis of the primary works; slides and extracts from movies or on-line representations; halfway moments to assess the learning. Debates in class and student’s engagement: possible formation of groups of students who will be actively involved into discussions about the books.

Assessment methods

The oral exam - which will last around 20/30 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 course.

Grades:
Excellent: Students' high capability to elaborate on the existing debates on the topics chosen, originality of thought and excellent knowledge of the theories and of the texts chosen for the exam, their ability to read them within an intersectional perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, accurate and appropriate language.
Very good level: Students' capability to elaborate on the existing debates on the topics chosen, originality of thought and very good knowledge of the theories and of the texts chosen for the exam, their ability to read them within an intersectional perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, and accurate and appropriate language.
Good level: Students' capability to elaborate on the existing debates on the topics chosen, knowledge of the theories and of the texts chosen for the exam, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, and appropriate language.
Pass: Mnemonic and superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a sufficient analytical ability, non-satisfactory use of appropriate language.
Fail: Student's lack of knowledge of the theories employed during the course, incapability to critical reading of the novels, inappropriate and inaccurate language.

Teaching tools

The Powerpoint slides that will be shown during the course will be made available for students on Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Alessia Polatti