Programme

Monstrous Bodies in English Literature from Shakespeare to Contemporary Fiction

This course examines key texts of English literature from the early modern period to the twenty-first century to explore the theme of the monstrous, understood as a privileged tool for decoding the culture that produces it. The course will focus in particular on the concept of the deviant body in its many forms, exploring how different historical and cultural contexts have produced – and subsequently marginalized – various types of ‘monsters’ through mechanisms of exclusion that literature has often articulated and brought to light. By analysing texts that span drama, the novel, and short fiction, the course will also provide an introduction to various literary genres.

Core Documentation

Students are required to read the primary texts for the course, preferably in the editions listed below:
- William Shakespeare, The New Oxford Shakspeare: The Tempest, Oxford World Classics, 2024.
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, Penguin Classics, 2003.
- Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Penguin English Library, 2012 (Chapters 26–27, 36–38).
- Selections of poems by Charlotte and Emily Brontë from Anne, Charlotte, Emily Brontë, Poesie, a cura di Silvio Raffo, Mondadori, seconda edizione 2022 (Italian edition with facing-page translation; the texts will be uploaded to Moodle).
- Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Penguin Classics, 2015 (the selected short story will be uploaded to Moodle).
- Ali Smith, Gliff, Hamish Hamilton, 2024 (or Penguin Books 2025 edition).

Students enrolled in the L-11 and L-12 degree programmes must read the original English versions of these texts, using bilingual editions where available and necessary. Students enrolled in other degree programmes may read the Italian translations. Recommended Italian editions are as follows:

- William Shakespeare, La tempesta, traduzione e cura di Agostino Lombardo, Feltrinelli, 2004 (o riedizioni successive).
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, traduzione a cura di Luca Lamberti, Einaudi, 2016.
- Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, edizione Feltrinelli, BUR o Einaudi.
- Selections of poems by Charlotte and Emily Brontë from Anne, Charlotte, Emily Brontë, Poesie, a cura di Silvio Raffo, Mondadori, seconda edizione 2022 (Italian edition with facing-page translation; the texts will be uploaded to Moodle).
- Angela Carter, “Lupo-Alice”, in Angela Carter, Nell’antro dell’alchimista, traduzione di Susanna Basso e Rossella Bernascone, Fazi Editore, 2019, pp. 362-73.
- Ali Smith, Gliff, traduzione a cura di Federica Aceto, SUR, 2025

Reference Bibliography

Both attending and non-attending students must read the following critical texts (additional secondary readings will be made available during the course via Moodle): - Marco Canani, Francesca Chiappini, Sara Sullam (a cura di), Introduzione allo studio della letteratura inglese, Carocci editore, 2020. - Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”, in Monster Theory: Reading Culture, edited by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, University of Minnesota Press, 1996, pp. 3–25 (available on Moodle). - Michela Compagnoni, I mostri di Shakespeare, Carocci, 2022, pp. 11-18, 31-77 (excluding sections on Richard III, available on Moodle). - Giorgio Melchiori, “Shakespeare e il mestiere del teatro”, “The Tempest”, in G. Melchiori, Shakespeare, Editori Laterza, 2008 (1994), pp. 3-25,614-26 (available on Moodle). - Nadia Fusini, “Introduzione”, in Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, transl. by Luca Lamberti, Einaudi, 2016 (available on Moodle). - Oriana Palusci, “Jane, lo specchio e la luna”, Introduction to Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, BUR Classici, 2003, pp. I-XXXVI (available on Moodle). - Silvio Raffo, “Le sorelle Brontë: il dono della parola alata”, Introduction to Anne, Charlotte, Emily Brontë, Poesie, edited by Silvio Raffo, Mondadori, second edition 2022, pp. V-XIX (available on Moodle). - Barbara Lanati, “Introduzione”, in Angela Carter, La camera di sangue, Feltrinelli, 1995, pp. VII-XVI (available on Moodle). - Materials on Ali Smith will be provided on Moodle.

Attendance

Attendance is not compulsory but strongly recommended.

Type of evaluation

Final assessment will be through an in-person oral examination. Additional midterm assessments, either written or oral, may be introduced during the course at the instructor’s discretion.

Programme

The Art of Words: Enchantment, Artifice, Satire, Remedy
Starting with an introduction to literature and the literary text, the course aims to provide a historical and cultural overview of English literature through the contextualization and analysis of selected canonical texts in the fields of drama, narrative, and poetry. From the dramatic and sonnet-writing art of William Shakespeare, through the satirical universe of Jonathan Swift, the visionary lyricism of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, to the remedial writing of Virginia Woolf, the course seeks to analyze the specificity of the literary code and to show how literature represents reality while also reflecting on itself and its meanings.
The examination of contexts, contents, and formal strategies related to each text aims to demonstrate how such representations are also, and always, marked by epistemological significance.

Core Documentation

PRIMARY SOURCES
All the volumes and articles indicated below (primary and secondary sources) are compulsory reading and will be discussed during the final exam. Students should buy the following editions of the texts and are expected to have them in class and, possibly, to read them before the beginning of the course.
1. William Shakespeare, “The Tempest/La tempesta”, introduzione e traduzione di Alessandro Serpieri, note di Clara Mucci, con testo a fronte, Marsilio, Venezia, 2006, ISBN: 9788831789837; a selection from Shakespeare’s “Sonnets” will be provided as learning materials in Moodle.
2. Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal/Una modesta proposta”, a cura di Luciana Pirè, Marsilio, Venezia, 2019, ISBN: 9788831722537.
3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner/La ballata del vecchio marinaio”, a cura di Rocco Coronato, con testo a fronte, Marsilio, Venezia, 2018, ISBN: 9788831749893.
4. Virginia Woolf, “To the Lighthouse/Al faro”. English edition: Penguin classics, edited by Stella McNichol with an Introduction and Notes by Hermione Lee; OR Wordsworth Classics, with Introduction and Notes by Dr Nicola Bradbury. Italian translation by Nadia Fusini in: “Al faro”, in “Romanzi”, a cura di N. Fusini, Mondadori, Milano, 2005, pp. 401-610 (notes pp. 1312-1340); or in Feltrinelli edition.

Reference Bibliography

SECONDARY SOURCES (context and criticism) - Canani, Chiappini, Sullam eds., “Introduzione allo studio della letteratura inglese”, 2020, ISBN: 9788843085620. - For all the primary bibliography works mentioned above, students are required to study the introductions, introductory notes, and any afterwords included in the specified editions. Additionally, specific instructions for individual authors follow. - Shakespeare: Giorgio Melchiori, Part fifth, ch. “I drammi romanzeschi” (introductory part to 1.1 excluded and “The Tempest” 1.4) and “Poemi, liriche, sonetti” (introductory part and “Shake-speares Sonnets” 1.3), in G. Melchiori, “Shakespeare. Genesi e struttura delle opere”, Laterza, Bari, 2019 (first ed. 1994), pp. 560-569, 614-626, 233, 242-250. - Swift: Attilio Brilli, “La ‘Modesta Proposta’ di Swift fra satira e ideologia”, in “Critical Dimensions: English, German and comparative literature essays in honour of Aurelio Zanco”, a cura di Mario Curreli et al., SASTE, Cuneo, 1978, pp. 283-289; Virginia Woolf, “Swift’s ‘Journal to Stella’”, in “The Second Common Reader”, A Harvest Book, Harcourt, Brace & World, INC., New York, 1960 (1932), pp. 58-67. - Coleridge: Marcello Pagnini, “Il clima filosofico” e “La Rima dell’Antico Marinaio”, in Samuel T. Coleridge, “I poemi demoniaci”, a cura di M. Pagnini, con testo a fronte, Giunti, Firenze, 1996, pp. XI-XXIX. - Woolf: Auerbach, “Il calzerotto marrone”, in E. Auerbach, “Mimesis. Il realismo nella letteratura occidentale. vol. II”, Torino, Einaudi, 1956, pp. 305-338. STUDENTS WHO DO NOT ATTEND lessons are ALSO requested to: 1) study authors and historical contexts in the relevant volumes of “Storia della civiltà letteraria inglese” a cura di Franco Marenco, Utet, Torino, 1996; 2) read the following: - about Shakespeare: Giorgio Melchiori, Introduzione “Shakespeare e il mestiere del teatro”, in G. Melchiori, “Shakespeare. Genesi e struttura delle opere”, Laterza, Bari, 2019 (prima ed. 1994), pp. 3-25; Introduction to the “Sonnets”. - about Swift: Attilio Brilli, “Introduzione”, in J. Swift, “Una modesta proposta e altre satire”, Bur/Rizzoli, Milano, 1994, pp. 5-24. - about Coleridge: T. Kemeny “Al di là del ‘testo di piacere’: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, in Id., Letteratura e seduzione, Schena, Fasano, 1984 (Pavia, 1983), pp. 47-54. - about Woolf: S. Sullam, “Romanzo ed elegia: Al faro”, in S. Sullam, “Leggere Woolf”, Roma, Carocci, 2020, pp. 72-90. N.B. FOR ALL STUDENTS All secondary bibliography materials will be loaded on Moodle before the beginning of the course. In case of changes in the programme contents, students will be promptly informed. Students who do not attend are kindly invited to contact me during the year.

Attendance

Non-mandatory attendance. Students who do not attend are kindly invited to contact me during the year.

Type of evaluation

Oral exam in person. If needed oral and/or written tests might be assigned during the course. The exam will cover all issues and is aimed to assess expected learning outcomes. In the exam students will have to show that they have become proficient in understanding and analysing works, and relating literary texts to their historical and cultural contexts.