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

"Oh, What a Lovely War!" The English literature of the first World War: texts and contexts 

The course aims to provide an in-depth knowledge of the literary representation of the First World War and its role in the British culture of the twentieth century, examining texts belonging to different genres (poetry, novel, short story) and exploring their main thematic and formal features. After an historical and literary overview of the Edwardian age, we will examine trench poetry (1914-1918), short stories, novels and memorials. In addition to the texts produced in wartime and in the following years, we will also examine the representation of the Great War in the neo-historical novel Regeneration (1991). We will focus on a selection of recurring themes: from the physical and mental trauma (shell shock) experienced by the combatants to the experiences of the civilians, from the role of women to colonialism, from class inequalities to gender.

Readings/Bibliography

Primary texts:

Poems by the following authors:

Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg, Wilfred Owen, Charles Sorley, Charlotte Mew, Margaret Postgate Cole, 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.

Short stories:

Mary Borden: Blind (1929); Joseph Conrad: The Tale (1917); Rudyard Kipling: Mary Postgate (1915); Katherine Mansfield: The Fly (1922) in The Penguin Book of the First World War, ed. by Barbara Korte and Ann-Marie Einhaus (London: Penguin, 2007).

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

Novels:

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

Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That, 1929 (any reliable edition)

Pat Barker, Regeneration, London: Viking, 1991 (and following reprints).

Critical readings:

• Pericles Lewis, Introduction in The Cambridge Introduction to Modernism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 3-36.
• Paul Fussell, “Oh What a Literary War” (chapter 5) in The Great War and Modern Memory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975), pp. 155-190.
• Sandra M. Gilbert, “Soldier’s Heart: Literary Men, Literary Women, and the Great War”, in Behind the Lines. Gender and the Two World Wars, eds M.R. Higgonet, J. Tenson, S. Michel and M. Collins Weitz (Yale University Press, 1987), pp. 197-226.
• 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.
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Possible further 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.

Non attending students are required to contact the lecturer to agree their reading list.

Teaching tools

Power point presentations; multimedia, video and audio supports.

Office hours

See the website of Carlotta Farese