AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students who attend classes regularly and actively, and study the prescribed material, will

- develop the awareness of the themes and evolution of contemporary British literature in an interdisciplinary and 'world literature' perspective.

- identify the genres and forms of rcontemporary poetry and recognise some basic concepts of contemporary theory and philosophy;

- analyse literary texts through the use of critical and theoretical instruments;

- deliver presentations in seminar or symposium-like fashion;

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures in English; delivery of papers/presentations and seminar discussions; introduction to academic writing.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course metamorphosis of the body in contemporary Anglo - American poetry focuses on contemporary British culture, involving also texts and discussions of American and European culture and literature in an interdisciplinary perspective with particular attention to the the representation of the body in literary texts from an anthropological point of view.

In the first part of the course students will get acquainted with the main voices of angloamerican poetry from the Sixties onwards as well as with anthropological texts focused on the analysis of "other cultures".

The second part of the course focuses on the analysis of the metamorphosis of the body in Thom Gunn's poetry.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

All students will read:

- A collection of poems edited by Stefania Michelucci including the main voices of Anglo-American Poetry from the Sixties on wards. The collection will be available at the copisteria Copycolor in Via Balbi and in Aulaweb from February 2021. 

- Francesco Remotti, Luoghi e corpi. Antropologia dello spazio, del tempo e del potere, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1993.

- Stefania Michelucci, The Poetry of Thom Gunn: A critical Study, Jefferson, McFarland, 2009. Il testo e' disponibile anche in italiano con il titolo La maschera, il corpo e l'anima. Saggio sulla poesia di Thom Gunn, Milano, Unicopli.

Further critical material will be available in aulaweb during the course.