SCANDINAVIAN LITERATURE

Locating the subject within the study plan of the BA-programme

The course Scandinavian Literature 1 (6 ects) is offered at the first year of the MA-programme in European, American and Postcolonial Languages and Literature (LLEAP), and is addressed to students who choose Scandinavian Studies, with Swedish as a language of specialisation. As Scandinavian Literature 2 (6 ects) the same course is offered to students at their second year at the LLEAP-programme. And with the name “Scandinavian Literature” (6 ects), the same course is offered to students who choose Swedish as their language of specialisation at the MA-programme in Language Sciences. Students of Scandinavian studies at both MA-programmes, at their first or second year, form a common class.
The course proposes an in-depth study of common themes in Scandinavian literature from the 19th century to present time. As to the forms, each year the course focuses on different genres and media: novel and narrative; poetry; drama; literature and film.

Expected results

The course “Love and lack of love. Familiar conflicts in contemporary Scandinavian theatre and cinema” aims to study plays by three major contemporary Scandinavian playwrights, translated and staged in Scandinavia and worldwide: the Swedish Per Olov Enquist and Lars Norén and the Norwegian Jon Fosse. The study of the film (with its screenplay) Festen by the Danish director Thomas Vinterberg will be included.
The objectives of the course are an in-depth knowledge of the primary sources in their original languages, in Swedish, Norwegian (Nynorsk) and Danish; learning to contextualise the studied works in terms of literary and cultural history; and learning to critically analyse their contents and forms. The investigation intends to grasp the ways in which the playwrights and the director and screenplay author stage the condition of contemporary men and women in their intimate sphere, their love relationships, and their relationships within the family and in society.

Prerequisites

The course is addressed to former students of Scandinavian studies at BA-level and is held in Swedish for the most part. To give Scandinavian literature 2, students must have passed Scandinavian literature 1. Texts will be examined in the original language, but translations will help. The professor will assist students when reading texts in Norwegian and Danish.

Contents

“Love and lack of love. Familiar conflicts in contemporary Scandinavian theatre and cinema”

Literary works that are examined in the course and included in the syllabus

Per Olov Enquist 1975, Tribadernas natt, in Dramatik. Kammarspelen, Norstedts 2017 (pdf on Moodle) / Per Olov Enquist, La notte delle tribadi, in “Teatro contemporaneo” 1983:3 (pdf on Moodle) / Per Olov Enquist, The Night of the Tribades, in Plays: 1, Methuen Drama 2004 (pdf su Moodle)

Lars Norén 1982, Natten är dagens mor, in Tre pjäser, Bonniers 2024 (pdf on Moodle) / Lars Norén, La notte è madre del giorno, in Tre quartetti, Ubulibri 1995 (pdf on Moodle)

Jon Fosse 1999, Draum om hausten, in Teaterstykke, 2, Samlaget, 2007 (pdf on Moodle) / Jon Fosse, Sogno d’autunno, in Teatro, Editoria & Spettacolo 2006 (pdf on Moodle)

Thomas Vinterberg 1998, Festen. Dogme#1, Per Kofod Film/Bog 1998 (pdf on Moodle) / Festen, adapted for the stage by David Eldridge, Methuen Drama 2004 (pdf on Moodle)

References

Critical essays included in the syllabus

Egil Törnqvist 1997, ”Playwright on Playwright: Per Olov Enquist’s Strindberg and Lars Norén’s O’Neill”, in Documentarism in Scandinavian Literature, eds P. Houe – S.H. Rossel, Rodopi, pp. 155-164 (pdf on Moodle)

Rikard Loman 2016, from Drama- och föreställningsanalys, Studentlitteratur, p. 33-35 (pdf on Moodle)

Other critical and theoretical references

Lars Norén, En dramatikers dagbok 2000-2002, Bonniers 2009

Lars Norén, En dramatikers dagbok 2002-2005, Bonniers 2009

Lars Norén, Diario di un autore drammatico, trad. Giovanni Za, CUE Press 2025

Elisabeth Åsbrink, Smärtpunkten: Lars Norén, pjäsen Sju tre och morden i Malexander, Polaris 2024

Jon Fosse, Saggi gnostici, a cura di Franco Perrelli, CUE Press 2018

Sven Åke Heed, Teaterns tecken, Studentlitteratur 2002

Rikard Loman, Drama- och föreställningsanalys, Studentlitteratur 2019

Franco Perrelli, Il teatro scandinavo, Carocci 2024

Tomas Forser – Sven Åke Heed (red.), Ny svensk teaterhistoria, 3, 1900-talets teater, 2007

Alfred Fidjestøl, Trass allt. Det norske teatret 1913-2013 (2013)

Claire Thomson, Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen The Celebration (2014)

Assessment

The examination is oral, it lasts about 45 minutes, and it is in Swedish (unless otherwise agreed upon, according to the needs). Some of the texts dealt with in the course are analysed and discussed from the point of view of forms and contents, and they are referred to their significant biographical, authorial, historical, cultural and literary contexts. One question may include reading and translating a passage from one of the works in the syllabus from Swedish / Scandinavian.

oral

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.

Grading scales

28-30 cum laude: the student masters the topics presented in the course and in the assigned readings and is capable of ordering information and making use of a convenient terminology;
26-27: the student has a good knowledge of the topics presented in the course and - to a lesser extent - in the assigned readings; he/she generally succeeds in ordering information and is familiar with terminology;
24-25: the student does not fully master the topics presented in the course and in the assigned readings; his/her oral presentation is clear, although concepts are not always expressed through a convenient terminology;
22-23: the student has a rather superficial knowledge of the topics presented in the course and in the assigned readings; his/her oral presentation is not always clear and generally lacks terminology;
18-21: the student has a superficial knowledge of the topics presented in the course and in the assigned readings; his/her oral presentation is confused and does not resort to terminology.

The correspondence with the European grading scales (from A to F) is the following: less than 18 = F; 18-21 = E; 22-25 = D; 26-28 = C; 29-30 = B; 30 cum laude = A.

The course offers mainly frontal lectures, but with moments of participatory learning, as students may, on a voluntary basis, present and discuss in class and in Swedish one of the works included in the syllabus (as a literary work; as a film; both things). If students present a book / a film in class, they will not have to prepare it again for the examination.

More information

For questions and explanations about the course please write to massimo.ciaravolo@unive.it and agree upon a meeting at office hours.