30811 - History of English Culture (LM)

Learning outcomes

Students have in-depth knowledge of the cultural, political, philosophical, religious and socio-economic history of English civilisation. They possess a high level of understanding and critical analysis of the cultural specificities of the area studied. They are able to carry out complex analyses and formulate independent reflections on specific research topics

Course contents

Black Britain: Crossing Borders, Rewriting Subjectivities and Cultural Identities

Black Britain can be understood as a diaspora space (Avtar Brah) whose cultural and political experiences engage not only with settlement and belonging within British society, but also with the negotiation of complex identities shaped by transnational and transcultural connections. Focusing on diverse cultural experiences (literature, cinema, art, activism) from the second half of the twentieth century to the present, the course critically examines the evolving and contested notion of "Black Britain", reflecting on the meanings and implications of both "black" and "British". Moving beyond migration as the sole interpretative framework, the course explores what it means to be both black in Britain and black and British, highlighting how these experiences have contributed to reshaping the very idea of Britishness. Adopting an intersectional perspective, it considers blackness not as a fixed or homogeneous category, but as a dynamic and heterogeneous performance shaped by the interaction of gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, age, education, inequality, oppression and violence. The course investigates how these intersecting dimensions have influenced both Black British cultural production and wider social and political debates, redefining at the same time the very category of ‘Britishness’.

The program is in progress. Please do check this webpage for further notice.

Readings/Bibliography

Primary Sources

Novels:

Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners, 1956

Buchi Emecheta, Adah's Story, 1983 [unione dei suoi primi due romanzi In the Ditch (1972) Second Class Citizen (1974)]

Zadie Smith, White Teeth, 2000

Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, 2019.

Short Stories:

Farrukh Dhondy, “Go Play Butterfly”, Come to Mecca, 1978

Hanif Kureishi “My son the Fanatic”, 1994

Poetry:

Linton Kwesi Johnson, “Dread Beat an Blood”, “Five Nights of Bleeding”, “Inglan Is a Bitch”, “Di Great Insohreckshan”, “Mekkin Histri”, Tings an Times. Selected Poems, 1997

Film:

My Beautiful Laundrette, dir. Stephen Frears, screenplay Hanif Kureishi, 1985

Critical Theories

All the Critical Theories are available on the Virtuale page of the course

Amos, Valerie, and Parmar, Pratibha, “Challenging Imperial Feminism”, Feminist Review, No. 17, 1984, pp. 3-19.

Brah, Avtar, “Diaspora, Border and Transnational Identities”, in Id., Cartographies of Diaspora. Contesting Identity, London and New York, Routledge, 1996, pp. 178-210.

Carby, Hazel, “White Woman Listen! Black Feminism and the Boundaries of Sisterhood”, in Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, The Empire Strikes Back: Race and Racism in 70s Britain, London and University of Birmingham, Routledge and Centre Contemporary Cultural Studies, 1994, pp. 212-235.

Cattani, Francesco, “La letteratura black British”, in S. Albertazzi, La letteratura postcoloniale. Dall’impero alla World Literature, Roma, Carocci, pp. 169-175.

Chambers, Eddie, Black Artists in British Art: A History since the 1950s, I. B. Tauris & Company, London and New York, 2014 (extracts).

Hall, Stuart, “Minimal Selves”, in ICA Documents 6. Identity, 1987.

---, “New Ethnicities”, in ICA Documents 7. Black Film/Black Cinema, 1989.

---, “Cultural Identity and Diaspora”, in Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, edited by J. Rutherford, 1990.

hooks, bell, “Choosing the Margin as a Space of Radical Openness”, Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, No. 36 (1989), pp. 15-23.

Mercer, Kobena, “Introduction: Black Britain and the Cultural politics of Diaspora”, Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural Studies, New York and London, Routledge, 1994, pp. 1-31.

--, “Black Hair/Style Politics”, Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural Studies, New York and London, Routledge, 1994, pp. 97-128.

Parmar, Pratibha, “Gender, race and class: Asian women in resistance”, in Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, The Empire Strikes Back: Race and Racism in 70s Britain, London and University of Birmingham, Routledge and Centre Contemporary Cultural Studies, 1994, pp. 236-275.

Rushdie, Salman, “Imaginary Homelands”, “The New Empire Within Britain”, in Imaginary Homelands, London, Granta Books, Penguin, 1991.

Bibliography will be provided also during the lessons (and then published in Virtuale). Students are requested to check the online program also during the course for further notice and information.

A tentative calendar with the dates and the topics will be published on Virtuale after the first lessons.

Non-attending students: There is no different programme for students who cannot attend lessons, but they are kindly asked to contact the lecturer via e-mail in order to help them in the choice of texts.

B.A students are not admitted.

Exchange students: are requested to contact the lecturer before enrolling in the course.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities: we suggest that you contact the relevant university office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ) and your teacher immediately to work together to find the most effective strategies for attending classes and/or preparing for exams. 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 methods

Lessons and discussions. Language: English

Assessment methods

The final exam will be an oral exam in presence: a discussion (about 20-30 mins.) on the topics dealt with during the course and the texts chosen by the candidate from the reading list.

More specifically, for the final exam students are requested to study and analyse:

- 3 novels from the primary sources (a novel can be substituted with the short stories)

- the film My Beautiful Laundrette;

- Linton Kwesi Johnson’s poems;

- articles/essays/chapters (about 150 pages) from the Reading list of the Critical Thoeries.

The modalities of the oral exam will be explained in class during the first lessons.

AI: the use of AI is prohibited to summarise novels and essays (students should develop a personal and independent critical thinking and ability in argumentation), as well as during oral exams. Any use constitutes a breach of academic integrity.

Active participation in class discussions: 30%.

By participation in class we mean the ability of the student to enter the debates, contributing with questions and/or elaborations of the topics proposed by the lecturer. This participation does not aim at testing students' specific preparation in the field, rather, to favour their ability to take part in discussions and their capability to discuss in group.

Final oral exams: 70%.

The final oral exam will test the student's critical capability, their knowledge of the methodologies employed, their ability to combine theories with the analyses of the case studies chosen. The close reading of the texts aims at showing the student's critical ability, their knowledge not only of the texts but also of their context of creation together with the cultural politics that inform them. Students are requested to use an appropriate language, to be able to articulate their thought in English (high level) and to have an accurate knowledge of the bibliography chosen for the exam.

Grades:

Excellent: Students' high capability to elaborate on the exiting 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 exiting 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 exiting 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

Slides; videos

Office hours

See the website of Francesco Cattani