27466 - English Culture and Literature LM

Learning outcomes

Students are given the tools (information, methods and strategies) to analyze cultures and literatures in English in depth and are enabled to apply them on semiotically different texts; they are enabled to increase their cultural and literary knowledge and competence so that they can apply them to a large number of different texts.

Course contents

The first part of the course aims at discussing Joyce's revolution of the word, with specific reference to Ulysses. It will examine specific aspects of  the novel such as the subversive nature of the different styles adopted by Joyce in each chapter, in order to focalize the attention on the notion of "Irishness" and highlight questions related to Irish identity. After a general introduction on Joyce's works, closely linked with Irish history and culture, a close reading of parts of the novel will follow, with specific attention to political and cultural references, literary allusions, and the notion of "re-writing" Dublin, projecting it into a universal dimension. In the second part Shakepspeare's plays Hamlet, Macbeth  and The Tempest will be read and analysed as milestones of English culture, with specific attention to their "presence" in Joyce's Ulysses.

Readings/Bibliography

Textbooks:

James Joyce,  Ulysses, Penguin edition 1992 (recommended edition)

William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Macbeth e The Tempest, Arden edition (recommended edition)

Other editions:
 
J. Joyce, Ulysses, Annotated Students' Edition, London, Penguin, 1992
J. Joyce, Ulysses, ed. with an introduction by Jeri Johnson, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1993
J. Joyce, Ulisse, trad. di G. De Angelis, prefazione di R. Ellmann, Milano, Mondadori, 1988
 
Other editions for consultation:
 
Blamires, H., The New Bloomsday Book. A Guide Through Ulysses. Revised Edition Keyed to the Corrected Text, London and New York, Routledge, 1988
G. De Angelis, J. Joyce Ulisse. Guida alla lettura , Milano: Mondadori, Oscar narrativa, 1989
Gifford, D. & Seidman, R. Ulysses Annotated, University of California Press, 1988 2nd ed. 1994.
 
Secondary Readings:
 
Beja, Morris, James Joyce. A Literary Life, London: Macmillan, 1992 (general introduction on Joyce's art and life)
Bosinelli, R. M. et al., eds. The Languages of Joyce, Amsterdam and Philadelphia: Benjamins, 1992 (collection of articles representing current trends in Joyce criticism)
Brown, Richard, James Joyce. A Post-Culturalist Perspective, London: Macmillan, 1992 (general introduction to the works)
Budgen, F. James Joyce and the Making of Ulysses, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1960 rev. ed. 1974.
Ellmann, Richard, James Joyce, New York, Oxford University Press, 1982 (Joyce's most complete biography)

Gibson, Andrew James Joyce, with an introduction by Declan Kiberd, London Reaktion Books, 2006
Gilbert, S. James Joyce's Ulysses: A Study, New York: Vintage Books, Random House, 1952.
Kenner, H. Ulysses, London: George Allen and Unwin, 1982.
Lawrence, K., The Odyssey of Style in Ulysses, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.
Norris, M. ed. A Companion to James Joyce's "Ulysses", Boston, New York: Bedford Books, 1998
Pierce, David. Reading Joyce, London: Longman, 2008

Teaching methods

The course will consist of frontal lectures to illustrate general topics and contextualize the analysed texts, but  students will be asked to actively participate with group work on specific passages. They will also be requested to give oral presentations on assigned subjects.

Assessment methods

One written test at the end of part 1 and one at the end of part 2: both texts aim at evaluating students ability of contextualizing significant quotations from the texts discussed in class.  The final exam will consist in an oral discussion of the two texts passed during the course. In case of failure of one or both texts, the final exam will be an oral interview on the whole program.

Teaching tools

video projector connected with a notebook and a screen, for ppt presentations and film viewing

Office hours

See the website of Rosa Maria Bollettieri