Programme

The climate emergency demands new forms of linguistic and conceptual inventiveness, in literature and in politics. Focusing on the vulnerability and value of human and non-human life on a warming planet, this module will discuss the climate emergency as a dynamic opening: an invitation to re-think categories of place and space, and to re-imagine the future not in terms of eschatological closure, but as a state of protracted uncertainty that necessitates new political and epistemic modes. We will read recent novels by Niccolò Ammaniti, Antonia Honeywell, Emily St John Mandel, Lydia Millet and Nnedi Okorafor. We will also discuss two precursors: Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006) and H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds (1896). A variety of critical approaches will be considered, including decolonial theory, psychoanalytic criticism, posthumanism, Anthropocene Studies, deconstruction, critical animal studies and genre theory.

Core Documentation

Primary Texts:

Niccolò Ammaniti, Anna (Turin: Einaudi, 2015), translation, Anna (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2017).
Antonia Honeywell, The Ship (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2015).
Emily St John Mandel, Station Eleven (London: Picador, 2014).
Cormac McCarthy, The Road (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006).
Lydia Millet, A Children's Bible (New York: W.W. Norton, 2020).
Nnedi Okorafor, Lagoon (London: Hodder and Stoughton 2014).
H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds [1898], ed. by A. Sawyer (London: Penguin, 2005), or any other available edition.

Reference Bibliography

Secondary reading will be provided by the module tutor in due course.

Type of delivery of the course

The course will be taught in English. Primary literature should be read in the original language, where possible.

Type of evaluation

Assessment will consist of a compulsory coursework essay in English (2.500 words), which must be submitted to the course tutor at least one week prior to the oral examination. The oral examination will focus on the coursework essay, and may take place in English or in Italian, depending on the student’s preference.

Programme

Dystopia from M (1984) to Z (zombies) and the Question of Textualities

«Utopia is an idyllic world described by the hero and considered perfect, in contrast to the world he has left. The dystopia paints a nightmare world, apprehended as such in opposition to a better world known to the hero thanks to his personal experience, thanks to the memories of a bygone age, or thanks to the reading of forbidden books dedicated to a distant past» (Hélène Greven-Borde, Formes modernes du roman utopique en Grande Bretagne (1918- 1960), in «Etudes Anglaises», 1, 1977: 20). The course starts by tracing a genealogy of dystopia in literature and culture, and then looks at theories of adaptation examining a wide variety of examples drawn from the radio, opera, cinema, and television.
The core syllabus consists of twelve dystopian texts, in the broader meaning: we will read and discuss George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, Niccolò Ammaniti’s Anna, Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven and their adaptations for different media: film, television, opera, radio. We will approach the notions of intertexuality thanks to Alan Moore’s graphic novel V. for Vendetta, and of intermediality through Simon Armitage’s radio drama The Raft of Medusa.
In analysing the texts, a variety of critical approaches will be considered, including theory of adaptation, media studies, intermedial studies, and genre theory. The course will also take into consideration the significance of dystopia in relation to social transformations, technological change, totalitarianism, and capitalist modernity.

Core Documentation

Bibliography:

Theory:
1. Linda Hutcheon, A Theory of Adaptation, New York-London, Routledge 2006 (trad. it. Teoria degli adattamenti, Roma, Armando 2011); OR Henry Jenkins, Convergence culture. Where old and new media collide, New York, New York University Press, 2006 (trad it. Cultura convergente, Milano, Apogeo 2007).
2. Massimo Fusillo et al. (a cura di), Oltre l’adattamento? Narrazioni espanse, Bologna, il Mulino, 2020.
3. Irina O. Rajewsky, Intermediality, Intertextuality, and Remediation: A Literary Perspective on Intermediality. In «Intermédialités / Intermediality», n. 6, 2005, pp. 43-64.
4. Francesco de Cristofaro (a cura di), Letterature comparate [nuova ed.], Roma, Carocci 2020.
5. Gregory Claeys, Dystopia: A natural history. A study of modern despotism, its antecedents, and its literary diffractions, Oxford, Oxford University Preess 2017; OR Patricia McManus, Critical theory and dystopia, Manchester, Manchester University Press 2022; OR Francesco Muzzioli, Scritture della catastrofe: Istruzioni e ragguagli per un viaggio nelle distopie, Milano, Meltemi 2021; OR Fátima Vieira (ed.), Dystopia(n) Matters : On the Page, on Screen, on Stage, Newcastle Upon Tweed, Cambridge Scholars Publisher 2013.
Primary texts and media adaptations:
George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four [1948], any available edition (trad. it. ogni traduzione accreditata)
 Medial transpositions:
• [Film] Nineteen Eighty-Four, directed by film Michael Radford, UK 1984;
• [Opera] Nineteen Eighty-Four, composed and directed by Lorin Maazel, libretto by J. D. McClatchy and Thomas Meehan, premiered in London, May 3 2005, Royal Opera House;
• [Radio Drama] Nineteen Eighty-Four, dramatised by Jonathan Holloway, directed by Jeremy Mortimer, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 10th and 17th February 2013


Cormac McCarthy, The Road, New York, Alfred A. Knopf 2006
 Film: The Road, directed by John Hillcoat, USA 2009

Emily St John Mandel, Station Eleven, London, Picador, 2014
 Station Eleven, created by Emily St. John Mandel and Claire Welland, HBO, USA 2021-2022

Niccolò Ammaniti, Anna, Torino, Einaudi 2015
 Miniseries: Anna, created by Niccolò Ammaniti, Sky Studios, Italia 2021

Intertexuality:
Graphic novel: Alan Moore and David Lloyd, V. for Vendetta [1982-1989], any available edition (trad. it. V per Vendetta, Milano, Rizzoli 2006)

Intermediality:
Radio drama: The Raft of Medusa, written by Simon Armitage, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 18th April 2015

Optional Primary Sources:
H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds [1898], ed. by A. Sawyer, London, Penguin 2005
 Radio: The War of the Worlds, directed by Orson Welles, CBS, USA 1938

Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale [1985], London, Vintage Classics 2017 (trad. it. Il racconto dell'ancella, Milano, Mondadori 1988)
 Series: The Handmaid’s Tale, created by Bruce Miller, Hulu and MGM, USA-Canada 2017–

P.D. James, Children of Men, London, Faber and Faber, 1992
 Film: Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, UK-USA 2006

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 [1953], any available edition (trad. it. ogni traduzione accreditata)
 Fahrenheit 451, directed by François Truffaut, France 1966

Other sources to be agreed (Z is for Zombies too…)

Reference Bibliography

Bibliography: Theory: 1. Linda Hutcheon, A Theory of Adaptation, New York-London, Routledge 2006 (trad. it. Teoria degli adattamenti, Roma, Armando 2011); OR Henry Jenkins, Convergence culture. Where old and new media collide, New York, New York University Press, 2006 (trad it. Cultura convergente, Milano, Apogeo 2007). 2. Massimo Fusillo et al. (a cura di), Oltre l’adattamento? Narrazioni espanse, Bologna, il Mulino, 2020. 3. Irina O. Rajewsky, Intermediality, Intertextuality, and Remediation: A Literary Perspective on Intermediality. In «Intermédialités / Intermediality», n. 6, 2005, pp. 43-64. 4. Francesco de Cristofaro (a cura di), Letterature comparate [nuova ed.], Roma, Carocci 2020. 5. Gregory Claeys, Dystopia: A natural history. A study of modern despotism, its antecedents, and its literary diffractions, Oxford, Oxford University Preess 2017; OR Patricia McManus, Critical theory and dystopia, Manchester, Manchester University Press 2022; OR Francesco Muzzioli, Scritture della catastrofe: Istruzioni e ragguagli per un viaggio nelle distopie, Milano, Meltemi 2021; OR Fátima Vieira (ed.), Dystopia(n) Matters : On the Page, on Screen, on Stage, Newcastle Upon Tweed, Cambridge Scholars Publisher 2013. Primary texts and media adaptations: George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four [1948], any available edition (trad. it. ogni traduzione accreditata)  Medial transpositions: • [Film] Nineteen Eighty-Four, directed by film Michael Radford, UK 1984; • [Opera] Nineteen Eighty-Four, composed and directed by Lorin Maazel, libretto by J. D. McClatchy and Thomas Meehan, premiered in London, May 3 2005, Royal Opera House; • [Radio Drama] Nineteen Eighty-Four, dramatised by Jonathan Holloway, directed by Jeremy Mortimer, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 10th and 17th February 2013 Cormac McCarthy, The Road, New York, Alfred A. Knopf 2006  Film: The Road, directed by John Hillcoat, USA 2009 Emily St John Mandel, Station Eleven, London, Picador, 2014  Station Eleven, created by Emily St. John Mandel and Claire Welland, HBO, USA 2021-2022 Niccolò Ammaniti, Anna, Torino, Einaudi 2015  Miniseries: Anna, created by Niccolò Ammaniti, Sky Studios, Italia 2021 Intertexuality: Graphic novel: Alan Moore and David Lloyd, V. for Vendetta [1982-1989], any available edition (trad. it. V per Vendetta, Milano, Rizzoli 2006) Intermediality: Radio drama: The Raft of Medusa, written by Simon Armitage, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 18th April 2015 Optional Primary Sources: H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds [1898], ed. by A. Sawyer, London, Penguin 2005  Radio: The War of the Worlds, directed by Orson Welles, CBS, USA 1938 Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale [1985], London, Vintage Classics 2017 (trad. it. Il racconto dell'ancella, Milano, Mondadori 1988)  Series: The Handmaid’s Tale, created by Bruce Miller, Hulu and MGM, USA-Canada 2017– P.D. James, Children of Men, London, Faber and Faber, 1992  Film: Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, UK-USA 2006 Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 [1953], any available edition (trad. it. ogni traduzione accreditata)  Fahrenheit 451, directed by François Truffaut, France 1966 Other sources to be agreed (Z is for Zombies too…)

Type of delivery of the course

This course aims at providing knowledge of the topics of adaptation, intermediality, and intertextuality, and understanding of the cultural debate that surrounds these topics. It is also designed to refine students’ ability to analyse different media and to familiarise with dystopian literature, as a genre, and with dystopian studies as a theoretical framework. To increase students’ ability to manage information and to engage with secondary bibliography the course is organised by integrating lectures with small-group seminar, discussion groups, and individual presentations. More specifically, lectures are supplemented by: Three Seminars:  one in the 4th Week of the Course (Discussion Groups)  one in the 7th Week (A Guided Discussion on the Topic of Mediality)  one in a TBA Week (with Prof. Florian Mussgnug) One pair (or small group – max 3 students) presentation:  about 20 minutes for each pair, 30 minutes for each small group, followed by a 10-minute discussion on one of the chosen optional primary sources.

Type of evaluation

The course will (or could) be taught in English. Primary literature should be read in the original language, where possible. Assessment will consist of a compulsory coursework essay in English (2.500 words), which must be submitted to the course tutor at least one week prior to the oral examination. The oral examination will focus on the coursework essay, and may take place in English or in Italian, depending on the student’s preference.