BERGAMO
Dati Generali
Periodo di attività
Syllabus
Obiettivi Formativi
At the end of the course, the student:
a. has a critical knowledge of the literary and cultural history of the United Kingdom in the nineteenth and the twentieth century through the reading in the original language and the analysis of the set literary texts;
b. has some basic methodological strategies for the critical reading of novels, poems and essays;
c. can apply critical skills to literary texts;
d. describes and discusse literary complexity;
e. makes independent evaluations of literary texs.
Prerequisiti
Successful completion of the course English Language I (first year).
Intermediate knowledge of the English language.
An outline of the history of English literature.
Metodi didattici
Lectures, films. Lessons will include PowerPoint slides, as well as audio-video materials.
Students will be asked to actively participate in these activities, with discussion and debate.
Guest lecturers may contribute to focus on specific topics
Verifica Apprendimento
Attending students: the first session is a written exam (six questions on the course with open answers, including a brief translation. max. five points for each answer ). The remaining sessions are oral.
Abilities required for the exam:
1. a basic knowledge of the 19th and 20th century cultural and literary issues engaged in the course.
2. students must be able to read all the texts addressed in English and to translate them into Italian.
3. students must be able to develop a critical argument on the issues engaged with adequate references to the texts addressed.
The result of the written exam is visible in the student's webpage. A mail is sent by the system to inform about publication.
Grading scale:
a.Outstanding (30 e lode ): excellent knowledge of all of the contents of the course. Excellent ability to analyze the texts and to contextualize them in an appropriate way. The student uses the academic writing register/style with appropriate linguistic terminologies. The translation if required is correct.
b. Very good (30 to 27): very good knowledge of all of the contents of the course. Very good ability to analyze the texts and to contextualize them in an appropriate way. The translation if required contains hardly any mistakes.
c. Good (26-24): Good knowledge of the contents of the course. Adequate ability to describe the texts. The language used is simple but correct. The translation if required is good.
d. Fair/sufficient (23-18): The exam show sufficient knowledge, coherence, use of appropriate resources and quality of presentation to warrant a basic pass. The ability to analyze the texts is not wholly satisfactory. The answer is very descriptive and does not fully address the issues raised by the question. The translation if required is not wholly satisfactory.
e. Fail (below 18): The student demonstrates only a basic awareness of the contents of the course. The answer is frequently confused and incoherent, contains inaccuracies and major errors.
Contenuti
In addition to introducing fundamental methodological strategies for analyzing different literary genres, the course will offer an overview of the cultural and historical contexts of the selected works.
Primary texts (Complete reading or selected passages, as indicated by the lecturer during the course)
MODULE A (Lecturer: Nicora – 3 CFU)
(Primary Texts)
• William Shakespeare, Othello (1603-4; 1622)
• Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1958)
(Secondary Texts)
• Nicora, Flaminia. "Contro-mappe: letterature e territorio nel romanzo postcoloniale." In Luoghi e identità: geografie e letterature a confronto (2004);
• Raffel, Burton. “Introduction.” In Othello (2005)
• Whittaker, David. “Introduction.” In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: 1958–2008 (2011)
MODULE B (Lecturer: Rozzoni – 6 CFU)
(Primary texts)
• Ghosh, Amitav. “Wild Fictions” in Wild Fictions (2025 [2008])
• Kisuule, Vanessa. Hollow (2020)
• Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)
(Secondary texts)
• Ashcroft, Bill, G. Griffiths, and H. Tiffin. “Cutting the Ground: Critical Models of Post-Colonial Literatures.” In The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures, 2nd ed., Routledge, 2002 (selected chapter);
• Ashcroft, Bill, G. Griffiths, and H. Tiffin. Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2013 (selected chapters)
• Ashworth, Andrea. “Afterword.” In Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea. Penguin, 2019.
• Bhabha, Homi. "Introduction." In The Location of Culture (1994)
• Nünning, Vera, and Ansgar Nünning. An Introduction to the Study of English and American Literature (2014) (selected chapters)
• Poplawski, Paul. "Postcolonial Literature in English." In English Literature in Context (2017)
• Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Can the Subaltern Speak?”, 1988 (selected sections)
• Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Three Women's Texts and a Critique of Imperialism.” Critical Inquiry 12, no. 1 (1985)
For the complete reading list (including primary and secondary texts), please visit Leganto or the course’s eLearning (Moodle) page.
Altre informazioni
The syllabus is the same for both attending and non-attending students. In both cases, please refer to the course Moodle page when preparing for the exam.
Coursebooks are available in the University Library.
MODULE A classes will take place in the 1st period (primo sottoperiodo), while MODULE B classes will be held in the 2nd period (secondo sottoperiodo). The exam covers the content of both MODULE A and MODULE B.