This is a second-year course taught in the first semester. It introduces to aspects of nineteenth-century fiction and poetry from Romanticism to the mid- and late-Victorian periods.
Students who attend this course regularly, and study the prescribed materials, will acquire a detailed knowledge of some aspects of nineteenth-century fiction and poetry. They will be able to analyse a number of literary texts, describe their main formal features and connect them to specific historical and cultural contexts.
Lectures in English and seminar activities. Attendance is heartily recommended. Students who are unable to attend will have to read some supplementary material. Erasmus students should contact Prof. Colombino by the beginning of the course.
The course is taught in the first semester and provides an introduction to nineteenth-century literature. The lectures and seminars will offer a historical, literary and cultural survey of nineteenth century Britain, focussing on some major poets (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, Swinburne, Arnold and Hardy) and novelists (Dickens and Hardy). Particular attention will be devoted to the evolution of the concept of nature; the relationship between the country and the city; social mobility in the mid-Victorian period; Darwinism and the novel.
Students will read the following works in any unabridged edition of their choice.
Two novels, one by Charles Dickens and one by Thomas Hardy, chosen between the following:
- Charles Dickens, Hard Times and Great Expectations;
- Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native and Tess of the D’Urbervilles;
Students will also have to make themselves familiar with the history of English Literature 1785-1900. The reference book is Crisafulli-Elam. Manuale di letteratura e cultura inglese, Bononia UP, 2009, pp. 181-326). Other materials (poems, essays, contextual and critical texts) will be made available through aulaweb and/or in the Department library.
LAURA COLOMBINO (President)
LUISA VILLA
This course is assessed by written examination on the contents of the course and the reading list, including the textbook (Crisafulli-Elam) and other compulsory materials. Language of examination: English. Total test time: 3 hrs.
The exam paper involves open questions on the historical period, the cultural contexts, literary movements and main authors) and guided commentary of literary texts (poems, extracts of novels). The open questions test knowledge and comprehension; the guided commentary tests the student's ability to recognise and describe the main formal features of specific texts, and connect them to contextual historical and cultural information; it also tests the student's comprehension of, and ability to respond to, critical materials included in the reading list.
Attendance is heartily recommended. Students who are unable to attend, will have to study some supplementary or different material. Course enrolment via aulaweb is mandatory. Examination enrolment is through the Ateneo website.
