67173 - English Literature / Literature of English-speaking Countries 1(LM)

Learning outcomes

The student has a deep knowledge of British and Postcolonial Modern Literatures in English, with particular regard to the relationships between literary texts and  history, language and the arts. She/he is able to use critical methodologies to read and analyze literary texts.  This course is intended for graduate students only. Erasmus and Overseas students are kindly requested to contact Prof. Albertazzi during her office hourse (NOT by e-mail) before the beginning of the course. Undergraduates and students who have never studied the new literatures in English at home and/or do not have a general knowledge of the principal authors and movements of English and/or North American literature are kindly requested not to choose this course.

Course contents

An Introduction to Postcolonial Literature

The aim of the course is to deepen the students' knowledge of Literatures written in English all over the world, from the British Empire to the present day, from colonial and postcolonial authors to World Literature.

This is a post-graduate course. Undergraduates and students who have never studied the new literatures in English at home and/or do not have a general knowledge of the principal authors and movements of English and/or North American literature are kindly requested not to choose this course.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Compulsory reading:

C. L. Innes, Cambridge Introduction to Postcolonial Literature in English, Cambridge U.P., 2007.

Critical Essays:

Bibliography in progress. Please check this site before the beginning of the course for further information.

Novels:

All the students must read 5 (five) novels, one from each of the following groups:

 1) Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners, Hanif Kureishi, The Buddha of Suburbia, Ravinder Randhawa, A Wicked Old Lady, V. S. Naipaul, Half a Life, Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea

 2) R. K. Narayan, The Sweet Vendor, Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children, Amitav Ghosh, The Shadow Lines, Anita Desai, Clear Light of Day, Vikram Chandra, Red Earth and Pouring Rain

 3) André Brink, Imaginings of Sand, J. M. Coetzee, Waiting for The Barbarians, Amos Tutuola, My Life in The Bush of Ghosts, Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, Nadine Gordimer, July's People

 4) Elizabeth Jolley, The Well, Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda, David Malouf, Remembering Babylon, Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish, Murray Bail, Eucalyptus

Gruppo 5) Michael Ondaatje, In The Skin of a Lion, Jhumpa Lahiri, The Interpreter of Maladies, Ariel Dorfman, The Nanny and The Iceberg, Junot Diaz, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Further Readings:

on Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners:  Kenneth Ramchand in Susheila Nasta, Critical Perspectives on Sam Selvon, London, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1988.

on Hanif  Kureishi, The Buddha of Suburbia: Kenneth C. Kaleta on The Buddha of Suburbia  in K. C. Kaleta, Hanif Kureishi. A Postcolonial Storyteller, Austin, University of Texas Press, 1998.

on V. S. Naipaul, Half a Life: Silvia Albertazzi in In questo mondo. Ovvero, quando i luoghi raccontano le storie, Roma, Meltemi, 2006, pp. 53-63.

on Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea: Gayatri C. Spivak, “Three Women's Texts and a Critique of Imperialism”, Critical Inquiry, 1985. (xerox copy in dept. library)

on R. K. Narayan, The Vendor of Sweets:  John Thieme, R.K. Narayan, pp. 126-137 (xerox copy in Dept. Library).

on Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children: Silvia Albertazzi, “Midnight's Children di Salman Rushdie: il romanzo-mondo degli studi culturali, inModerna, 1-2 2012, pp. 289-303 (xerox copy in Dept. Library).

on Amitav Ghosh, The Shadow Lines: “The Shadow Lines", in Federica Zullo, Il cerchio della storia. Paure e conflitti nell'opera di Amitav Ghosh, Padova, Il Poligrafo, 2009, pp. 19-59.

on Vikram Chandra, Red Earth and Pouring Rain: S. Albertazzi, Adalinda Gasparini, Il romanzo new global. Storie di intolleranza, fiabe di comunità, Pisa, ETS, 2003, pp. 13-23, 45-55, 135-144.

on André Brink, Imaginings of Sand: Silvia Albertazzi "La canzone del domani: donna, narrazione e morte in Imaginings of Sand di André Brink" in Elsa Linguanti (a cura di), Personaggio – Donna. Lo sguardo dalla fine, Urbino, QuattroVenti, 2001, pp. 153-174.

on Amos Tutuola, My Life in The Bush of Ghosts, Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, Itala Vivan, Interpreti rituali.Il romanzo dell'Africa nera  (to be found at Biblioteca del Centro Letterature Omeoglotte).

on Nadine Gordimer, July's People, M.P. Guarducci in Dopo l'Interregno, pp. 19-24 e 28-38 (to be found at Biblioteca del Centro Letterature Omeoglotte).

on Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda, Anthony J. Hassall, Dancing on Hot Macadam, 1994 (nella carpetta in biblioteca).

on David Malouf, Remembering Babylon, Peter Pierce, “Problematic History, Problems of Form: David Malouf's 'Remembering Babylon', in Provisional Maps, Critical Essays on David Malouf, ed. by Amanda Nettelbeck, Nedlands, The University of Western Australia Press,1994.

on Murray Bail, Eucalyptus, S. Albertazzi, A. Gasparini, Il romanzo new global. Storie di intolleranza, fiabe di comunità, Pisa, ETS, 2003, pp. 146-151, 168-174.

on Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist: S. Albertazzi, “Under Oriental Eyes: The Aftermath of 9/11 in Recent Postcolonial Fiction” (xerox copy in Dept. Library).

on Ariel Dorfman, The Nanny and the Iceberg: capitolo di S. Albertazzi, in S. Albertazzi, A. Gasparini, Il romanzo new global. Storie di intolleranza, fiabe di comunità, Pisa, ETS, 2003, pp. 103-125.

 

 

Teaching methods

Seminar lessons, in English.  A series of videos  will be shown and discussed  during the course. During the course, the students will be invited to discuss the novels they are reading. For this reason, they are required to read at least one novel while the lessons are in progress.

Please note that the most difficult arguments are to be treated also in Italian.

 Languages requested: English AND Italian.

 

Assessment methods

Oral exam, in two parts:

1)      Postcolonial theory; outline of postcolonial literary history (to be prepared on C.Innes' Cambridge Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures in English). Only those who pass this part will be admitted to the second one.

2)      Discussion and critical analysis of two or more of the five novels chosen by the students (as for programme 2013/2014).

The final mark will be averaged out between the two parts.   The students are warmly recommended to read as many novels as possible during the course: the discussion of their reading in class will be highly appreciated. The students must be able to contextualize the literary works. They must show a general knowledge of the outline of the history of British colonisation and decolonisation, and they must know the most important Postcolonial theorists and their ideas as well as the most important writers of Postcolonial literature in English. They must be able to use an appropriate critical language and must avoid impressionistic and/or superficial criticism.

Please note that this is an exam of English Literature: fluency in the English language is not enough to pass it.

Students are kindly requested to check the following URL for office hours and further information: http://www.unibo.it/SitoWebDocente/default.htm?upn=silvia.albertazzi%40unibo.it&TabControl1=TabContatti .

For any infomation on the programs, the exams and any further explanation, please do not write e-mails, but come to talk to the teacher during her office hours.

 

Teaching tools

Primary texts, critical books, reference books, journals and magazines, video and audio supports.

Office hours

See the website of Silvia Albertazzi