67245 - LETTERATURA INGLESE / LETTERATURA DEI PAESI DI LINGUA INGLESE 2 (LM)

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

Lo studente possiede conoscenze approfondite sulla storia della letteratura inglese moderna e sullo sviluppo delle letterature extraeuropee in lingua inglese, con particolare attenzione al rapporto tra i testi letterari e il contesto storico, artistico e linguistico. Possiede elevate capacità di comprensione e di analisi critica delle specificità culturali delle aree geografiche studiate, nonché delle dinamiche politiche e dei condizionamenti ideologici tra i diversi Paesi, con particolare attenzione ai rapporti tra l'Europa e le sue ex-colonie. Conosce e sa utilizzare le metodologie pratiche per l’analisi e l'interpretazione del testo letterario. E' in grado di elaborare analisi complesse e di formulare riflessioni autonome su tematiche di ricerca specifiche.

Contenuti

Against ‘Identity': Re-readings of the Imaginary in Narratives of the Self and/as Other in Dystopian and Postcolonial Fiction Within a Gender and Postcolonial Perspective.
The course will analyse strategies of representations of self and otherness, the relationship between human and non-human in texts (literary and visual) in English. Lessons will be carried out through gender and postcolonial methodologies. The texts chosen articulate the relationship between identity and otherness as an ambiguous and controversial one and as a projection of the Western (male) imaginary. A close reading of the novels (with specific reference to The Passion of New Eve and Disgrace) will also show how myths and mythological elements have been employed as substitute for the representation of violence (especially violence against women), foregrounding how myths (both classical and more recent ones) have served to construct and stabilize a rhetoric of violence based on a normative notion of identity and otherness.  The narratives expose fear, love, (self) deception, violence and (im)possible reconciliation (with specific reference to Under The Skin and Never Let Me Go) as key elements to subvert the normative relationship between identity and difference/human-non human.

Lessons will be introduced by the study of the methodologies and theories of gender studies, postcolonial critique, ambiguous dystopias/utopias, trauma and memory studies.

This course shares with other programs of the Laurea Magistrale in Letterature moderne, comparate e postcoloniali (M.A in Comparative and Postcolonial Modern Literatures) the analysis of the intersections between “identity, otherness, differences and diversity”

 

Testi/Bibliografia

Primary sources :

M. Faber, Under the Skin, 2000 (translation in Italian Sotto la pelle, Einaudi, 2004)

K. Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go, 2005 (translation in Italian Non lasciarmi, Einaudi, 2006)

J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace, 1999, (translation in Italian Vergogna, Einaudi, 2000)

A. Carter, The Passion of New Eve, 1977 (Translation in Italian La passione della nuova Eva, Feltrinelli, 1984)

Movies:

The Village, U.S.A, Director M. Night Shyamalan, 2004

Under the Skin, Director Jonathan Glazer, Great Britain, 2013

Never Let Me Go, Director Mark Romanek, U.S and Great Britain, 2010

Bibliography of Secondary texts (essays, articles, volumes). Lesson will make reference to the following critical sources:

(Students will be requested to choose texts/essays/articles from the following list and the ones proposed during the course in accordance with the lecturer).

BIBLIOGRAPHY IN PROGRESS: Please do check this web page for further notice and information.

Baccolini, Raffaella and Tom Moylan (ed.) Dark Horizons. Science Fiction and The Dystopian Imagination. London and New York: Routledge, 2003. (selected chapters) (available in the Library)

Braidotti, Rosi “Difference, Diversity, and Nomadic Subjectivity” online document, http://women.ped.kun.nl , 2000.

Butler, Judith, 1993, Bodies that Matter. On the Discoursive Limits of “Sex”. New York and London: Routledge, 1996, Corpi che Contano. I limiti discorsivi del “sesso” Trad. S. Capelli. Milano: Feltrinelli. (selected chapters and Italian Introduction by A. Cavarero) (available in the Library)

Cooper, Pamela, “Metamorphosis and Sexuality: Reading the Strange Passions of Disgrace” in http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ral/summary/v036/36.4cooper.html (also available in the Reader)

Ferreccio, Giuliana e Carmen Concilio (a cura di) J. M Coetzee, percorsi di lettura tra storia e narrazione, Iesa: Gorée, 2009 (available in the Library)

Fortunati, Vita, Gilberta Golinelli, Rita Monticelli (a cura di) Studi di genere e memoria culturale. Women and Cultural Memory. Bologna: Clueb, 2004. (selected chapters) (available in the Library)

Foucault, Michel, Utopie eterotopie (Les Héterotopies Les corps utopique) a cura di A. Moscati. Napoli: Cronopio, 2006, (available online and in the Reader)

Gilroy, Paul, "Urban Social Movements, 'Race' and Community" in P. Williams and L. Chrisman, eds, Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory. A Reader, New York: Columbia UP, 1994, pp. 404-420 Graham, Lucy Valerie “Reading the Unspeakable: Rape in J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace” (available online [JSTOR] and in the Reader)

Gymnich, Marion (ed.), Who's Afraid of…? Facets of Fear in Anglophone Literature and Film (Representations and Reflections), V&R Unipress Gmbh, Bonn University Press, 2012. pp. 294. (chapters on Never let Me Go, and Introduction) (available in the Reader)

Gymnich, Marion, Segão Costa, Alexandre, “Of Humans, Pigs, Fish, and Apes: The Literary Motif of Human-Animal Metamorphosis and its Multiple Functions in Contemporary Fiction” in http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/lesprit_createur/v046/46.2gymnich.html

Herron, Tom “The Dog Man: Becoming Animal in Coetzee's Disgrace”, (available online [JSTOR] and in the Reader)

Lefanu, Sarah, In the Chinks of the World Machine. Feminism and Science Fiction. London: The Women's Press, 1988. (available in the Library)

Lamb, Jonathan “Modern Metamorphoses and Disgraceful Tales” (available online [JSTOR] and in the Reader)

McDonald , Keith “Days of Past Futures: Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go As ‘Speculative Memoir'”, in http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/biography/v030/30.1mcdonald.html

Mediazioni online, Special issue on The Village(available online) www.mediazionionline.it

Monticelli Rita, 2006, “‘Nei "giardini delle nostre madri': memorie e riscritture del corpo”. Postfazione. In Gatti come angeli. L'eros nella poesia femminile di lingua inglese, a cura di Loredana Magazzeni e Andrea Sirotti. Milano: Medusa, pp. 209 - 232. (available in the Library)

Monticelli, Rita, 1997, sezione "Soggetti corporei", in Critiche femministe e teorie letterarie, Bologna: Clueb, pp. 205-255 (selected essays) (available in the Library)

Monticelli, Rita “Crossing the boundaries between identity and otherness: an analysis of Michael Faber's Under the Skin”, (paper available in the reader)

Rivisiting Feminism: Cultural trajectories ed. Kalpana Das and Fréderique Apffel Marglin. iim, InterCulture, Intercultural Institute of Montreal, n. 150. INTERCULTURE. vol. 150. anno 2, n. 6. Edizione italiana della rivista canadese dell'Intercultural Institute of Montreal. (selected essays, GEMMA students only), (available in the Library)

Salgueiro Seabra Ferreira, Maria Aline, "Shelley Jackson's Patchwork Girl and Angela Carter's The Passion of New Eve: A Comparative Reading". Online document

Sargent, Lyman Tower, The Problem of the « Flawed Utopia »: a Note on the Costs of Eutopia » in Baccolini, Raffaella and Tom Moylan (ed.) Dark Horizon. Science Fiction and The Dystopian Imagination . London and New York: Routledge, 2003 (available in the Library and in the Reader)

Spillers, Hortense J. “Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book”, in Diacritics. A Review of Contemporary Criticism 17 (2), 1987, pp. 65-81. “Figli/e di madre, del padre forse: una grammatica Americana” in Critiche femministe e teorie letterarie . A cura di Raffaella Baccolini; M. Giulia Fabi, Vita Fortunati, Rita Monticelli. Bologna: CLUEB, 1997, pp. 255-279, trad. Lucia Gunella e Rita Monticelli. (available in the Library and in the Reader)

Spivak, Gayatri C., 1981, “French Feminism in an International Frame”, in Yale French Studies, No. 62, Feminist Readings: French Texts/American Contexts. (available in the Reader)

Spivak, Gayatri C., 1985, “Imperialism and Sexual Difference”, in Oxford Literary Review 8, pp. 224-240 (available in the Reader)

Gli studenti e le studentesse di Letteratura Inglese/Letteratura dei Paesi di lingua inglese 2 LM dovranno analizzare 3 testi primari (da scegliersi tra quelli in elenco) e saggi/ capitoli di volumi/articoli da scegliere tra le  fonti critiche in elenco per un numero di 200/220 pagine. E' inoltre richiesta l'analisi di uno dei film proposti.

Students of the course Letteratura Inglese/Letteratura dei paesi di lingua inglese 2 LM are requested to analyse 3 primary texts (to be chosen amongst the volumes in the Reading list of the primary sources) and articles/essays/chapters (about 200/220 pages) from the Reading list of the Secondary sources; the analysis of one of the movies proposed.

Le studentesse e gli studenti  di Feminist Theory between Difference and Diversity dovranno analizzare 3 testi primari (da scegliersi tra quelli in elenco) e saggi/ capitoli di volumi/articoli da scegliere tra le  fonti critiche in elenco per un numero di 250 pagine. E' inoltre richiesto lo studio di uno dei film proposti. Le studentesse e gli studenti e del primo anno GEMMA possono anche preparare un programma alternativo, in accordo con la docente.

Students of Feminist Theory between Difference and Diversity are requested to analyse 3 primary texts (to be chosen amongst the volumes in the Reading list of the primary sources) and articles/essays/chapters (about 250 pages) from the Reading list of the Secondary sources; the analysis of one of the movies proposed. GEMMA Students can also choose an alternative program in accordance with the lecturer.

Le studentesse e gli studenti di Re-Vision of The Body in Women's Literature dovranno analizzare 2 testi primari (da scegliersi tra quelli in elenco) e saggi/ capitoli di volumi/articoli da scegliere tra le  fonti critiche in elenco per un numero di 150 pagine. E' inoltre richiesto lo studio di uno dei film proposti.

Students of Re-Vision of The Body in Women's Literature are requested to analyse 2 primary texts (to be chosen amongst the volumes in the Reading list of the primary sources) and articles/essays/chapters (about 150 pages) from the Reading list of the Secondary sources; the analysis of one of the movies proposed.

All students (divided in groups) are requested to present in class one text (to be chosen in accordance with the lecturer) within diverse critical perspectives, in a date to be confirmed.

Please do check this web page for further notice and information

 

Metodi didattici

Metodi didattici

Materiali bibliografici e indicazioni di strumenti critici verranno forniti anche nel corso delle lezioni. Sono previste lezioni frontali e seminariali, con la partecipazione attiva degli studenti. Per questa ragione la lista dei testi critici potrebbe variare durante lo svolgimento del corso. E' necessaria inoltre la conoscenza della lingua inglese e di quella italiana.

Eventuali studenti non frequentanti sono invitati a contattare la docente, presentandosi personalmente nell'orario di ricevimento, o inviandole una mail, entro e non oltre la fine del corso.

Gli studenti sono pregati di consultare il programma all'inizio e durante il corso, per eventuali cambiamenti e per informazioni ulteriori sulla reading list.

Non sono ammessi al corso studenti delle lauree triennali. Gli eventuali studenti Erasmus sono pregati di contattare la docente via email prima di iscriversi al corso.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Active participation in class discussions : 25%. By participation in class we mean the ability of the student to enter the debates, contributing with questions and/or elaborations of the topics proposed by the lecturer. This participation does not aim at testing students' specific preparation in the field, rather, they want to favor their ability to take part in discussions and their capability to discuss in group.

Students' presentation : 25% (students will be requested to discuss one selected text in groups and to present their works in the last part of the course).

Final oral exams : 50%

The final oral exam will test the student's critical capability, his/her knowledge of the methodologies employed, her/his ability to combine theories with the analyses of the texts chosen. The close reading of the primary texts aims at showing the student's critical ability, their knowledge not only of the texts but also of their context of creation together with the cultural politics that inform them. Students are requested to use an appropriate language, to be able to articulate their thought in English (high level)and to have an accurate knowledge of the bibliography chosen for the exam. ALL STUDENTS ARE REQUESTED TO KNOW THE PRIMARY TEXTS (NOVELS AND MOVIES CHOSEN) IN GREAT DETAILS.

Grades:

Excellent: Students' high capability to elaborate on the exiting debates on the topics chosen, originality of thought and excellent knowledge of the theories and of the novels chosen for the exam, their ability to read them within a gender and postcolonial perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, accurate and appropriate language.

Very good level:  Students' capability to elaborate on the exiting debates on the topics chosen, originality of thought and very good knowledge of the theories and of the novels chosen for the exam, their ability to read them within a gender and postcolonial perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, and appropriate, accurate language.

Good level: Students' capability to elaborate on the exiting debates on the topics chosen, knowledge of the theories and of the novels chosen for the exam, their ability to read them within a gender and postcolonial perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, and appropriate language.

Pass: Students' capability to enter the exiting debates on the topics chosen, knowledge of the theories and of the novels chosen for the exam, their ability to read them within a gender and postcolonial perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, and appropriate language.

Fail: Student's lack of knowledge of the theories employed during the course, incapability to critical reading of the novels, inappropriate and inaccurate language.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Texts: literary and visual; videos, power point, movies.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Rita Monticelli