30030 - English Literature 1 (LM)

Learning outcomes

The student has a deep knowledge of British Modern Literatures with particular regard to the relationships between literary texts and history, language and the arts. She/he is able to use critical methodologies to read and analyze literary texts.

Course contents

Literature, politics and society between the wars (1914-1939).

The course will explore the relationship between literary writing, ethical and political engagement, and social issues in British culture between World War I and World War II. After discussing trench poetry (1914–1918) and the condemnation of the horrors of war, we will turn to the postwar period with Virginia Woolf’s great modernist classic Mrs. Dalloway (1925), in which Septimus Warren Smith, a veteran suffering from shell shock, and an entire nation strive to overcome the trauma of the Great War. The course will then focus on George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) and Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin (1939). Through different narrative perspectives, both works offer unique insights into the contradictions of the postwar years: on the one hand, the Weimar Republic and Berlin, marked by the cultural vibrancy of the 1920s but also by the rise of Nazism; and on the other, Paris and London during the Great Depression, approached through the direct experience of poverty, precarious work, and social exclusion. We will discuss some crucial recurring themes: from the physical and mental trauma (shell shock) suffered by combatants to the experiences of civilians; from the role of women to class and gender inequalities; and from the crisis of European democracies to the role of writers and intellectuals as witnesses and interpreters of reality. Our journey will conclude with Virginia Woolf’s essay Three Guineas (1938), which provides a prophetic analysis, from a feminist and pacifist perspective, of the role of violence and oppression within the society of her time.

Readings/Bibliography

Primary texts:

Poems by the following authors:

Rupert Brooke, Charles Sorley, Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg, Wilfred Owen, Charlotte Mew, in Poetry of the First World War. An Anthology, ed. by Tim Kendall (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).

All poems will be read and analyzed in class and will be made available online on the Virtuale platform. 

Novels and essays:

• Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, 1925 (any reliable edition)

• George Orwell, Down and Out Paris and London, 1933 (any reliable edition)

• Christopher Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin, 1939(any reliable edition)

• Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas, 1938 (any reliable edition, chapter 3)

Critical readings:

• Santanu Das, Reframing First World War Poetry: An Introduction, in The Cambridge Companion to the Poetry of the First World War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), pp. 3-34.
• Ben Shephard, A War of Nerves. Soldiers and Psychiatrists 1914-1994 (London: Pimlico, 2002), pp. 1-32, 83-95.
• Karen L. Levenback, Virginia Woolf and Returning Soldiers: The Great War and the Reality of Survival in Mrs. Dalloway and The Years, in "Woolf Studies Annual, volume. 2 (1996), pp. 71-88.
•  Michael Amundsen, George Orwell's Ethnographies of Experience: The Road to Wigan Pier and Down and Out Paris and London, in "Anthropological Journal of European Cultures", vol. 25, n. 1 (2016), pp. 9-25.
•  Andrew Monnickendam, Goodbye to Isherwood: The Rise and Fall of a Literary Reputation, in "Atlantis", vol. 30, n. 2 (2008), pp. 125-137.
  

All critical readings will be provided by the lecturer during the course and uploaded to the Virtuale platform.

Teaching methods

Lectures and seminars, reading and discussion of primary and secondary texts in class; viewing of video and media material.

Assessment methods

The course will be assessed by an oral exam which will evaluate the knowledge of the course contents and the critical skills of the student. The knowledge of primary texts and the use of critical and interpretative methods will be tested as well as the ability to engage with secondary readings and the quality of oral expression. The ability to establish links between primary texts, their historical-cultural context and the theoretical background will receive a positive evaluation.

The submission of an essay (about 5,000 words) on a topic relevant to the course may be agreed with the lecturer and will substitute a part of the oral exam.

Evaluation criteria: To obtain a final score between 27 and 30 cum laude, students are asked to: demonstrate their ability to independently analyze literary texts applying the methodology introduced by the lecturer and / or by the critical readings and develop a critical reflection with some original insights; possess and be able to demonstrate a thorough and organic knowledge of the topics covered in class; show an excellent level of expression; show the ability to correctly use the technical language of literary criticism. A grade between 23 and 26 will be assigned to students who will show: a good knowledge of the course contents; the ability to provide an accurate analysis of literary texts (although there may be some minor imperfections) while placing them in their cultural context; a good level of expression (albeit with occasional flaws in presentation and / or use of critical language). To achieve a score between 18 and 22, students must demonstrate: adequate knowledge of the most important content of the course; a basic understanding of the texts and a sufficient ability to analyze them autonomously according to the proposed methodologies, an acceptable standard of expression with a fairly competent (although not always accurate) use of critical language. Poor knowledge of the texts and topics of the course, insufficient ability to analyze literary texts; inaccurate and inappropriate expression with significant problems in the use of technical language will result in an insufficient outcome.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination. Any requests for exam accommodations must be made at least 15 days before the date of the exam, by sending an email to the teacher and copying (Cc) the email address disabilita@unibo.it (in case of disability) or dsa@unibo.it (for students with Specific Learning Difficulties).

Teaching tools

Power point presentations; multimedia, video and audio supports.

Office hours

See the website of Carlotta Farese