Programme

History, Memory, and Trauma in U.S. Literature from the Late 19th Century to the Early 21st Century

The various articulations of the notion of memory will be examined through the recurrence of the figure of the ghost in representative texts of the U.S. literary canon, from the turn of the 19th to the beginning of the new millennium, in which official history is problematized, recontextualized, and rewritten. In addition to analyzing the themes and formal characteristics of the texts, issues related to the processes of (de)construction of ethnic and gender identities as a result of wars, diasporas, and migrations will be explored. We will then look at the specificities of literary genres (fiction, poetry, nonfiction) and phenomena such as intertextuality and intermediality.

Core Documentation

T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”;
----, “Tradition and the Individual Talent”;
----, The Waste Land (New York: Norton Critical Edition, 2001).
Alain Locke, "Enter the New Negro", Survey Graphic, Vol. VI, No. 6 (March 1925)
Nella Larsen, Passing, in Quicksand and Passing, ed. Deborah E. McDowell (New Brunswick, NJ, and London: Rutgers UP, 1986, disponibile alla Petrocchi Library).
Toni Morrison, Beloved (New York: Vintage International, 2004, ebook, disponibile online).
Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Percival EVERETT, James (London: Mantle, 2024)
Henry JAMES, The Turn of the Screw
Frank NORRIS, McTeague. A Story of San Francisco (si discuterà in classe sull'edizione da prendere)
Charlotte PERKINS GILMAN, The Yellow Wallpaper (pdf)
Saranno, inoltre, discusse le trasposizioni cinematografiche di due dei testi adottati: The Innocents di Jack Clayton e Greed di Erich von Stroheim.

Reference Bibliography

1) Selected essays from the critical editions of the works by Eliot and Larsen. 2) The following journal articles/book chapters: Caroline Rody, “Toni Morrison's Beloved: History, ‘Rememory,’ and a ‘Clamor for a Kiss’". American Literary History, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 92- 119. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/489799 Gabrielle McIntyre, "Toward a Narratology of Passing: Epistemology, Race, and Misrecognition in Nella Larsen's 'Passing'", Callaloo, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Summer 2012): 778-794 (disponibile in Roma Tre Discovery). Sabrina Vellucci, "Transnational and Intergenerational Uncertain Legacies in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close", in Precarity in Culture: Precarious Lives, Uncertain Futures, eds. Elisabetta Marino and Bootheina Majoul (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2023), pp. 360-371 (il PDF del saggio sarà reso dispobile tra i materiali didattici). 3) Literary History Richard Gray, A Brief History of American Literature. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011 (chapters 4 and 5). Selected chapters from Greil Marcus and Werner Sollors (eds.), A New Literary History of America (Harvard UP, 2019).

Attendance

To be considered as regularly attending the course, students must attend at least 75% of classes. Students who cannot attend classes are invited to contact the instructor at least two months before the date on which they intend to take the exam in order to agree on the required additions to the program.

Type of evaluation

Students who regularly attend the course are required to read the texts assigned in class. Active participation in class discussions is an integral part of the final evaluation. Students who have attended at least 75% of classes will take two written tests: 1) 5 open-ended questions (in-class; time: 2 hours); 2) a short research paper (5-7 pages - to be done on your own) on a subject related to the program 3) a short final oral exam. Students who cannot attend classes are invited to contact me at least two months before the date on which they intend to take the exam.

Programme

The course content focuses on authors and texts from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, with the exception of a contemporary rewriting of Huckleberry Finn—one of the foundational texts of American literature as a whole—which will serve as a link between contemporary U.S. literature and that of the 19th century.

Core Documentation

Percival EVERETT, James (London: Mantle, 2024)
Henry JAMES, The Turn of the Screw
Frank NORRIS, McTeague. A Story of San Francisco (the edition to be used will be decided later)
Charlotte PERKINS GILMAN, The Yellow Wallpaper (online text)

Film adaptations of two texts of the syllabus will be discussed: The Innocents by Jack Clayton and Greed by Erich von Stroheim.

Reference Bibliography

- Donahue James, Voicing His Objections: Narrative Voice as Racial Critique in Percival Everett's God's Country , Johns Hopkins University Press, African American review, 2019-04, Vol.52 (1), p.75-86 -David McGlynn, McTeague's "Gilded Prison", Rocky Mountain Review, Vol. 62, No. 1 (Spring, 2008), pp. 25-44 (20 pages) -Valero Redondo, María, “Craving to be frightened”: Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw as a Sinister Parody of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey Miscelánea - Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana, Universidad de Zaragoza, 2023, Vol.67 (67), p.71-90. The articles are available in the university library catalog, accessible with personal credentials. Literary History: Richard Gray, A Brief History of American Literature. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011 (chapter 3). Further references will be given during classes.

Attendance

Attendace is not compulsory but strongly recommended.

Type of evaluation

The oral exam will be preceded by a written exemption with 2-3 questions on the course texts to facilitate a more effective oral discussion, in which part of the program will already be considered assessed. Students are expected to give presentations on specific sections of the texts and engage in participatory discussions, where they are encouraged to contribute to a reasoned assimilation of the content.