- Docente: Gino Scatasta
- Credits: 9
- Language: Italian
- Moduli: Gino Scatasta (Modulo 1) Carlotta Farese (Modulo 2)
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Foreign Languages and Literature (cod. 0979)
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students should know the general outline of literary history. They shall be able to read, understand and translate texts from English into Italian and be acquainted with the methods and analytical tools that will enable them to interpret the works of the main authors, contextualising them within their cultural and historical period.
Course contents
(Re)reading Shakespeare
In the history of British literature from its origins to the end of the XVII century, Shakespeare’s works are undoubtedly at the centre of the canon. The course will analyze his most famous plays, showing how and why they can be interpreted in different ways, and their continuous request to be considered not only as literary works but also as plays that need to be performed.
Readings/Bibliography
Students will read two plays and the following critical texts:
Richard III
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Merchant of Venice
Hamlet
King Lear
The Tempest
Critical texts:
Margreta De Grazia and Stanley Wells, edited by, The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001: E. Honigmann, “Shakespeare’s life”, pp. 1-12; John H. Astington, “Playhouses, players, and playgoers in Shakespeare’s time”, pp. 99-113
Stephen Greenblatt, “General Introduction”, in The Norton Shakespeare, New York, Norton, 1997, pp. 1-65
John Peck and Martin Coyle, How to Study a Shakespeare Play, London, Macmillan, 1985, pp. 3-15
For the single plays:
Richard III
Jan Kott, “The kings”, in Shakespeare our contemporary, London, Routledge, 1988
Michael Taylor, “Introduction”, in Richard III, London, Penguin, 2005, pp. xxi-lviii
Romeo and Juliet
Stephen Greenblatt, “Romeo and Juliet”, in The Norton Shakespeare, New York, Norton, 1997, pp. 865-871
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Harold Bloom, “A Midsummer Night's Dream”, in Shakespeare. The Invention of
The Merchant of Venice
Leslie Fiedler, “The Jew as Stranger”, in The Stranger in Shakespeare, New York, Stein and Day, 1972
Hamlet
Stephen Greenblatt, “Hamlet”, in The Norton Shakespeare, New York, Norton, 1997, pp. 1659-1667
King Lear
Jan Kott, “ King Lear, or Endgame”, in Shakespeare our contemporary, London, Routledge, 1988
The Tempest
Stephen Greenblatt, “The Tempest”, in The Norton Shakespeare, New York, Norton, 1997, pp. 3047-3053
Teaching methods
Assessment methods
Erasmus or Overseas students could sit the exam as the Italian
students or write an essay (about 10-15 pages), whose topic must be
approved by the teacher.
Teaching tools
Office hours
See the website of Gino Scatasta
See the website of Carlotta Farese