The course focuses on the most significant literary and cultural movements in the XXth and XXIst centuries. We will consider in particular the relation between literature and the arts (cinema, theater, television, music, etc.) by selecting specific case studies.
teacher profile teaching materials
"The last tycoon", Francis Scott Fitzgerald (To Episode 11 included)
"The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas", Gertrude Stein (Chapter 7, plus passages discussed in class)
"Midnight in Paris", Woody Allen
2) The Fifties
"Death of a Salesman", Arthur Miller
3) Postmodernism
"White Noise" Don DeLillo (Third Part, plus passages discussed in class)
"Recitatif", Toni Morrison
4) Post-postmodernism e the contemporaneity
"E Unibus Pluram: television ans U.S. fiction", David Foster Wallace
"Citizen, An American Lyric", Claudia Rankine
"White Noise", Don DeLillo, any edition
"Citizen, An American Lyric", Claudia Rankine, Graywolf, 2014
The other texts will be provided by the professor
Programme
1) Between the world wars and the oceans: the "Lost Generation"."The last tycoon", Francis Scott Fitzgerald (To Episode 11 included)
"The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas", Gertrude Stein (Chapter 7, plus passages discussed in class)
"Midnight in Paris", Woody Allen
2) The Fifties
"Death of a Salesman", Arthur Miller
3) Postmodernism
"White Noise" Don DeLillo (Third Part, plus passages discussed in class)
"Recitatif", Toni Morrison
4) Post-postmodernism e the contemporaneity
"E Unibus Pluram: television ans U.S. fiction", David Foster Wallace
"Citizen, An American Lyric", Claudia Rankine
Core Documentation
"The Last Tycoon", Francis Scott Fitzgerald, any edition"White Noise", Don DeLillo, any edition
"Citizen, An American Lyric", Claudia Rankine, Graywolf, 2014
The other texts will be provided by the professor
Reference Bibliography
"A Brief History of American Literature", Richard Gray, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011 "Fitzgerald, Gatsby, and The Last Tycoon: the "American Dream" and the Hollywood Dream Factory", Joss Lutz Marsh, in "Literature/Film Quarterly", Vol. 20, No. 1,(1992), pp. 3-13. "The Unfinished Business of "The Last Tycoon", John F. Callahan, in "Literature/Film Quarterly", Vol. 6, No. 3 (1978), pp. 204-213 "White Noise and Everyday Technologies", Susana S. Martins, in "American Studies", Vol. 46, No. 1 (Spring 2005), pp. 87-113 "Simulacra and simulation", Jean Baudrillard, 1981 "Kinds of Blue: Toni Morrison, Hans Janowitz, and the Jazz Aesthetic", Jürgen E. Grandt, in "African American Review", Vol. 38, No. 2 (2004), pp. 303-322 "Introduction: #BlackLivesMatter and the Mediatic Lives of a Movement", Charles “Chip” P. Linscott, in Black Camera, Vol. 8, No. 2 (2017), pp. 75-80Type of delivery of the course
The 30 hours of in-class teaching will have to be integrated by the individual reading of the texts. It'll be possible to attend online via TEAMS. Teaching will also include showing of PPT slides, audiovisuals, and other materials which will be provided by the professor. More details about the way the course is structured will be given the first day of class.Attendance
Attendance is optional but highly recommended.Type of evaluation
The written exam consists of three open questions. Students will be asked to elaborate complex answers, proving they have put critical thought into the analysis of the texts and they are able to read them against the background of the theoretical framework discussed in class.