20710218 - English Literature I

One of the main aims of this Course of Study is to provide students with advanced knowledge of two foreign literatures related to the two languages of their choice, paying special attention to intercultural and transcultural dynamics. The course also aims at refining their ability to interpret cultural phenomena, using the tools and methodologies of literary, cultural and historical analysis. The English Literature I course is among the core courses of the “Foreign Literatures” area and aligns with the objective outlined above. It introduces students to English literary culture through the study of exemplary texts, with a particular focus on intercultural dynamics and diverse cultural, artistic, and social contexts. Students will also become familiar with key analytical tools and methodologies in literary, cultural, and historical studies. They will develop the ability to read and interpret literary texts in their original language, applying the critical methodologies acquired; additionally, they will enhance their communication skills to effectively engage with and articulate subject-specific content.

Canali

teacher profile | teaching materials

Mutuazione: 20710218 Letteratura inglese I in Lingue e letterature per la comunicazione interculturale L-11 R A - E ESPOSITO LUCIA

Programme

The course explores the theme of psycho-emotional closure and the opposite desire for affective (re)connection with the world in works from different historical periods and literary genres. Starting with some early modern short poems by William Shakespeare and John Donne, in which the human need to be in loving communion with others is dealt with, the course focuses, first, on two works set on two physical islands, Shakespeare’ s drama The Tempest (1610), whose protagonist moves from physical and mental segregation to compassionate feelings, and Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe (1719), dedicated to a lonely castaway hungry for human company, then on the short drama by Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape (1958), which focuses on the conflict between life, affection and artistic narcissism, and Margaret Atwood’s novel Hag-seed (2016), a contemporary rewrite of The Tempest set in a real prison, in which the relationship between imprisonment and liberation (not only from one’s own demons) becomes literal. The very recent drama Girl in the machine (2017) by Stef Smith, describing the damages produced on a real love relationship by the immersive isolation in the virtual, will be considered within a workshop-based path.

Core Documentation

William Shakespeare, Sonetti 8, 29, 30, 62 [1594-1600], disponibili online.
John Donne, No Man Is an Island [1624], disponibile online.
William Shakespeare, The Tempest / La Tempesta [1610], Milano, Feltrinelli, 2019.
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe [1719], Milano, Feltrinelli, 2014.
E.M. Forster, "The Machine Stops" [1909], available online.
Samuel Beckett, L’ultimo nastro di Krapp [1958], disponibile online.
Margaret Atwood, Seme di strega, Milano, Rizzoli, 2016.



Attendance

Attendance is optional, but strongly recommended.

Type of evaluation

The examination will be oral. The course includes an ongoing assessment that is an integral part of the assisted teaching and final assessment.

teacher profile | teaching materials

Mutuazione: 20710218 Letteratura inglese I in Lingue e letterature per la comunicazione interculturale L-11 R F - M PENNACCHIA MADDALENA