CULTURES AND SOCIETIES OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD

The course is part of the Core educational activities [B] of the literature and culture and of the international politics curricula of the Bachelor's Degree Programme in Language, Civilisation and the Science of Language.

The course investigates central features of British (and Anglophone) societies and cultures within the wider context of European and global history. Students will develop their critical capacity for analysis of these phenomena and their awareness of the implied social, political, ecological and ethical issues. Through the analysis of novels and essays on the syllabus, the students’ capacity for critical understanding and judgment will be enhanced, also within a broader comparative perspective. Moreover, students will improve their close reading skills through in-depth analysis of a variety of texts, genres and styles.

Advanced knowledge of oral and written English (C1).

Title: Antifascist imaginaries in British and Anglophone cultures

The course investigates how a variety of British and Anglophone novelists have addressed Nazism and fascism throughout the 20th and 21st century. It explores their different antifascist poetics and politics as a way to shed light on and provide critical tools against recent waves of extreme right-wing and ethnonationalist resurgence, showing the continuities and transformations of fascist ideologies (and antifascist resistance) across various historical phases and contexts. It adopts a comparative approach that aims to discuss the entanglements of the British and American nations (and liberal democracies at large) with fascism. It juxtaposes realist and non-fictional writing with speculative modes to explore a variety of antifascist modes and genres.
The course will begin with a theoretical and historical introduction on fascism and its varieties, with special attention to recent developments in British and American politics. It will first discuss British writer Christopher Isherwood’s 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin, a series of sketches from the Weimar Republic from the perspective of an English expat. Amidst glamorous cabaret performers and transgressive sexual politics, Isherwood's autobiographical protagonist becomes a witness to the rise of the Nazi party. We will then move to British speculative fiction writer China Miéville’s The Last Days of New Paris (2016). This alternative history/weird urban fantasy novella envisions a Nazi-occupied Paris inhabited by extremely aggressive living artworks, as well by anti-fascist guerrilla fighters empowered by the power of surrealist imagination. Finally, after Miéville fantastical rethinking of antifascist resistance, we will tackle Black American writer Octavia Butler’s dystopia Parable of Sower. Written in 1993, this portrayal of California plagued by climate devastation, social and racial injustice, democratic disintegration, rising religious fundamentalism, and corporate city-states will provide a portal into the politics of the Trump era, allowing us to discuss what Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor have called End Time Fascism.
Through these novelists and a series of essays on fascism and antifascism, we will tackles questions like: how are genocidal and authoritarian ideologies normalized? What is the relationship between fascism, empire, capitalism and culture? How does fascism intervene in migration politics? How are fascism, environmentalism and the climate crisis connected? Which forms of resistance to fascism are available, both in literature and beyond? Which forms, poetics and imaginaries can antifascist writing take? And, finally: Can divine decadence save us from fascism? Can you shape God? How do you stop a genocidal watercolour?

Novels:
Christopher Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin, Vintage, 1939
China Miéville, The Last Days of New Paris, Picador, 2016
Octavia Butler, Parable of Sower, Headline, 1993

Essays:
China Miéville, The Limits of Utopia, https://salvage.zone/mieville_all.html
Arundhati Roy, Azadi; Freedom, Fascism, Fiction, Penguin, 2020 (Selection)
Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, The Rise of End Times Fascism, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk

The written exam (in English) lasts 2 hours and consists of four questions on the topics of the course, including the analysis of short passages from the texts presented in class. In the exam, students are expected to demonstrate knowledge of the content of the texts discussed in class (including the plot of the short stories/novels), to compare them with each other and discuss them independently, to know the cultural-historical context of the texts, and to be able to reflect on the theoretical debates addressed in the course.

written

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

The minimum grade is 18, the maximum grade is 30 cum laude. The grades will be assigned as follows:
A. band 18-22: sufficient content knowledge; limited ability to discuss independently, limited knowledge of theoretical tools, limited knowledge of the cultural-historical contexts and debates.
B. band 23-26: decent content knowledge; decent ability for independent discussion, decent knowledge of theoretical tools, decent knowledge of the historical-cultural contexts and debates.
C. band 27-30: good content knowledge; good ability for independent discussion; good knowledge of theoretical tools; good knowledge of the cultural-historical contexts and debates.
D. Cum Laude: awarded in case the content knowledge, independent discussion skills and knowledge of the theoretical tools, historical-cultural context and debates are excellent.

Lectures. Class discussions. The Moodle e-learning platform will be used for communication with the students and to distribute teaching materials (slides; parts of the bibliography).

Students can (and are encouraged to) view the written exam by asking for an appointment.

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