LEARNING OUTCOMES
The course aims to familiarize students with major trends of American culture and with important works in different genres (fiction, essay, drama, poetry, film). Students will learn how to analyze such works competently from a historical and generic perspective.
At the completion of the course the student
- will have become familiar with major American historical and cultural developments, and with some major American writers and texts of the xxth century;
- will be able to interpret these developments in English and Italian with reference to , poetry, art, fiction, music and literary theory;
- will be able to contextualize and analyze texts and documents of notable complexity and historical significance and describe their cultural and linguistic peculiarities.
The course is composed of lectures as well as seminars. The latter will involve the active participation of students, who can engage in individual and/or group research and presentations. Three hours per week given in two classes (of 2 hours and 1 hour respectively).
LESSONS ARE IN ENGLISH.
For students who decide to come to lessons, attendance is mandatory for 28 hours out of 36 (75% of the course). Attendance is checked through signatures.
Active attendance is highly recommended.
Students who are unable to attend will have to read some supplementary material.
The course will deal with the African American tradition from Colonial America to the contemporary period. Every year through different texts and perspectives, students will focus on some issues like slavery, African tradition, the Middle Passage, slave narratives, segregation, relationship with the white and European tradition, the Civil Rights Movement, till the most recent expressions like Black Lives Matter.
“The Theme of Journey in African-American Experience”
The course will explore the connection between travel and the African-American experience, emphasizing the influence of African culture. It will primarily analyze two following novels by Toni Morrison, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (1977)
Toni Morrison, A Mercy (2008)
Students are expected to have read Song of Solomon by the 18th of March 2024
Additional texts and critical bibliography will be given during lessons.
Ricevimento: Office hours by appointment. Please send a message to paola.nardi@unige.it
PAOLA ANNA NARDI (President)
GABRIELE FERRACCI
STEFANIA MICHELUCCI (Substitute)
Second semester, Tuesday 20 February 2024.
ANGLO-AMERICAN LITERATURE
This syllabus is valid till February 2025.
Erasmus students are welcome!
If you're a student with a learning difficulty, health problem or disability please contact the professor disabili@unige.it and and Professor Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it)
You should also inform the professor with a mail to paola.nardi@unige.it well in advance of the exam.
