ENGLISH LITERATURE

This course in included in the various similar teachings of the English and American Studies Curriculum for the Specialization Degree in European, American and Post-Colonial Languages Degree. Coherently with its targets and the various areas of knowledge for this field, this course will allow our students to get:
1. Knowledge and understanding – in English – of the major literary aspects of various countries, such as Scotland, South Africa, England, etc. The course will look more deeply at the theoretical aspects previously learnt about in the three-year degree, including hermeneutics, textual analysis, the periods and authors of the various literary histories, and their links with social and cultural history. History, cultural history, cinema, the theatre and the arts will all be studied.
2. Knowledge and understanding of the terminology of textual analysis and criticism.
3. Knowledge and understanding of the historical contexts of various cultures so as to understand the critical relevance and interpretative power of literary documents.

The main aim of this module will be that one of introducing the students to the similarity which exists between the art of writing lyrics for a song to that one of composing poetry in particularly critical contexts. It will discuss the writing process of songs / poems, not only by breaking down the entire procedure of creation but also by offering a complete overview on historical and formal aspects, such as: orality and performance, ways to find inspiration, telling a story, propaganda, the strength of titles, etc. Presenting lyrics and poems from various socio-cultural contexts, this module will analyse the various forms in which one can claim and struggle, in verse to be read or sung, for his/ her human and civil rights, freedom, a warless world, etc. The main geographical areas under focus will be related to some of the British ex-Empire territories, such as South Africa; Canada; England; Ireland; Jamaica; USA.

A good knowledge both of the English language and the literary and cultural history of Great Britain and its ex-colonies.

This module will offer a general overview on the art of the songwriting of the last 40 years, insisting on leading authors such as Linton Kwesi Johnson, Mzwakhe Mbuli, Hamish Henderson, Bob Dylan, and others. Special attention will be paid to all those songs-poems written to be sung or / and performed with a musical accompaniment, and which have represented a strategic, sincere and acclaimed stand against war, injustices, dictatorships, military abuses, disrespect of human and civil rights. The works of the above-mentioned songwriters and poets will offer the possibility to analyse and discuss the literary, political and social contexts of various countries, such as England, Scotland, USA, Jamaica, South Africa, etc.
The main areas and topics under focus will be some of the countries involved in the post-decolonization process and in those interested by particular civil and human struggles against corruption and dictatorships.
A reasonable amount of lectures will be dedicated to the various aspects of poetic technique, insisting on technical terms such as rhyme, onomatopoeia, meter, ballad, repetition, internal pattern, association, etc. Some special guests will be invited to release specific lectures and talks to the students.

PRIMARY SOURCES

CANON READINGS:
WILLIAM BLAKE, Songs of Innocence and Experience (A Selection of 5 Songs).
ROBERT BURNS (A Selection of 5 Songs).

SCOTTISH FOLK:
HAMISH HENDERSON.
SEE: AILIE MUNRO, The Democratic Muse: Folk Revival in Scotland (Edinburgh: Scottish Cultural Press, 1996).
Chapters: 2, 3 (pp. 9-48). (See PDF in Materiali ISA: Munro).
TIMOTHY NEAT, Hamish Henderson. A Biography. Selected pages.

BRITISH PROTEST POETRY AND SONGWRITING:
BILLY BRAGG, LINTON KWESI JOHNSON, JOHN LENNON
DANIEL RACHEL, Isle of Noises. Conversations with Great British Songwriters (Picador, 2013): chapter on Billy Bragg, pp. 297-318.

SOUTH AFRICA:
M. MBULI, SLAM e SPOKEN WORD REVOLUTION

AMERICAN POETRY AND FOLK MUSIC:
WOODY GUTHRIE; PETE SEEGER; BOB DYLAN.
WOODY GUTHRIE: Some Folk (Booklet from CD Set). (See PDF in Materiali ISA).
PAUL ZOLLO, Songwriters on Songwriting (Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2003). Interviews with Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan.

SECONDARY SOURCES:
1. PAUL ZUMTHOR, Oral Poetry: An Introduction, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1990). Selected pages (chapters 9 and 10): pp. 126-152. (See PDF in Materiali ISA: Zumthor)
2. MARCO FAZZINI, (a cura di), Canto un mondo libero: poesia-canzone per la libertà (Pisa: ETS, 2012). Selected chapters: Intro (pp. 14-24); on “Folk Revival” (pp. 115-122); on “John Lennon” (pp. 171-188).
3. MARCO FAZZINI, The Saying of It. Conversations on Literature and Ideas with 13 Contemporary English-Language Poets (ETS, Pisa, 2017). Selected chapters: Derek Walcott, Margaret Atwood, George Elliott Clarke, Edwin Morgan, etc.
4. IAN PEDDIE, The Resisting Muse (Ashgate, 2006). Selected pages: 139-148 (su Bragg).
5. DORIAN LYNSKEY, 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs (London: Faber & Faber, 2010). Chapters: 2 (on Guthrie); 4 (on Bob Dylan); 18 (on Linton Kwesi Johnson); 25 (on Billy Bragg).
6. JAMES FENTON, An Introduction to English Poetry (London: Penguin Books, 2003). Selected pages: chapters 2 (Where Music and Poetry Divide); 17 (Rhyme); 21 (Song).

VIDEO /DVDs
1. MARTIN SCORSESE, The Blues. Feel Like Going Home (2003).
2. WOODY GUTHRIE: This Machine Kills Fascists (Snapper Music, 2005);
3. MARTIN SCORSESE, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (Spitfire Pictures, 2 DVD, 2005);
4. Dylan Speaks: The Legendary 1965 Press Conference in San Francisco (Jazz Casual Prod., 2006, DVD).
5. BILLY BRAGG, Video DVD in “THE INTERNATIONALE” (CD BOX).
6. LKJ, Live in Paris (DVD)
7. "I nostri semi" (sulla Spoken Word Revolution in South Africa)

* A detailed bibliography will be communicated to the students at the end of the course. It will include all the topics/writers covered in 3 months and extra materials suggested by possible guests.

Starting from the reading, comment and discussion (and possible translation) into Italian of a poem/song from one of the primary texts (chosen by the lecturer), the exam will be devoted to evaluating the student's capacity to comment on the passage/s, in a larger discourse involving the whole poem, other passages from the same work or from the other texts on the syllabus, and in the light of the problematical issues (related to the history and the literary and cultural questions of the period) discussed in class or in the critical set texts.

Lectures. Films. CDs. Foreign guests, writers and poets.

English

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development