ENGLISH LITERATURE 1

The course is part of the triennial teaching of English. Besides furnishing tools to improve the language competence of English (starting from a B2 level), it will introduce students to the main literary and cultural movements in England of the last three centuries. Students will enhance their skills in cultural and literary analysis as well as reading and translation skills.
In particular, the module described below will focus on the culture, literature, society and history of the Twentieth century and the new Millennium.
Students will
- be able to relate texts to their historical and cultural contexts and communicate their comments and critical reflections on them with appropriate language;
- acquire the relevant methodological competence with regard to the proposed texts;
- comment on the texts with critical precision and an increasingly appropriate language, as well as on the historical-cultural background.

The module will improve the students' critical abilities, their reading skills, their capacity to understand and interpret complex texts that are historically and culturally determined, including the texts' rhetorical and stylistics features. The students' abilities will comprise:
- the ability to contextualise a cultural object in its context;
- the ability to apply critical methods to understand the society and culture producing the given objects;
- the ability to read and translate (into Italian) a literary work and comment it through an adequate language and methodology;
- the ability to understand the historical sources within a relevant contextualisation and through a critical analysis, having in mind the historical development of cultures.

Acquired knowledge ef English, at B2 level in the European framework. A knowledge of English history and literature at school level will be helpful to better understand the front lectures.

Students must enlist in the moodle of the course in order to attend it.

"English literature from the rise of the Welfare to the angry young men"
The module will deal with the culture of England from the end of WW2 and the advent of Welfare society to the crisis of the 1970s and the rise of Thatcher's neoliberal politics
In particular, we shall consider:
- the development of English culture, in particular through the rise of Welfare society, mass-culture, Thatcherite politics and economics;
- the ways in which writers, novelists, poets, playwrights have portrayed the most important events and the social and political atmosphere of the years between 1945 and 1980;
- the rise of youth culture, the outbreak of mass society, the rebellion of the youth until the punk culture.

A. Primary texts (to read, analyse and translate), mandatory reading:
1. John Osborne, "Look back in Anger" (Faber&Faber) BALI library E 8 OSB/Loo
2. Alan Sillitoe, "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" (Vintage Books) BALI library E 8 SIL/Sat
3. the poems by
Philip Larkin:
-"High Windows" ( https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48417/high-windows )
-"Cut Grass" ( https://allpoetry.com/Cut-Grass )
-"Annus Mirabilis" ( https://allpoetry.com/Annus-Mirabilis )
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/philip-larkin

optional:
Caryl Churchill, "Top Girls" (Bloomsbury) BALI library E 8 CHU/Pla 2 or CHU/Top

B. Critical essays for the context of post-war and contemporary culture and literature (to read and know):
- R. Bertinetti, "Dai Beatles a Blair : la cultura inglese contemporanea" (Carocci) - BALI library ECS BER/Dai - mandatory reading
- P. Poplawski, "English Literature in Contexts", from chapters 6 and 7: "The Twentieth Century: 1901-1939", "The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: 1939-2015", the following sections:
"Historical Overview", "Literary Overview", "Texts and Issues", pp. 479-519, and pp. 550-593. BALI library ELH POP/Engl

Mandatory reading only for non attending students:
- Silvia Albertazzi, "Questo è domani. Gioventù, cultura e rabbia nel Regno Unito, 1956-1967" (Paginauno, 2020) and Stephen Ross, "Youth Culture and the Post-War British Novel : From Teddy Boys to Trainspotting" (Bloomsbury, 2018), chapters 1 and 2

C. One work by William Shakespeare:
"Macbeth" (suggested edition by P. Bertinetti, Einaudi);
critical reading: L. Tosi, "Shakespeare: Guida al Macbeth" (Carocci, 2021)

In addition to the above, on attending students must read the texts that will be uploaded or signalled in the moodle page of the course.
Non-Italian speaking students can ask the teacher for alternative critical texts and manuals in English.

Written test, in 4 parts:
A) Questions on the literary history of the twentieth century and the contemporary novel (based on the texts described in part 2. Criticism), including 10 multiple choice questions (Aim 3)

B) A short essay on one of the texts that must be read (Part A. Primary texts); the essay will have to be about one page long. (Aim 2)

C) Translation into Italian of a short passage (about 200-250 words) from one of the texts in the programme (part 1. Primary texts), and a commentary that will contextualise the passage. (Aim 1)

D) 1 question on the plot, characters, main themes, of Shakespeare's "Macbeth".

Time allowed: from 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours and 30 mins max. (depending on the length and complexity of the text to read in question B)

Italian students will give their answers in Italian (A, C, D) and either in Italian or English ( B).
Non-native speakers of Italian and Erasmus students can answers all questions in English, in which case they will be exempted from translating the passage (C) into Italian, and will be asked to provide a one-sheet commentary on the passage (C).

Answers in languages other than Italian and English will not be accepted.

Students will be allowed to use a monolingual Dictionary of English and English synonyms.
No other dictionaries are allowed during the examination.
The use of other texts, and smartphones and other devices is forbidden during the examination.

Front lectures concerning the main themes above described; seminars for the discussions of texts and videos.

Italian

written

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