OVERVIEW

This is a second-year course taught in the first and second semesters, for students A-K. It introduces to aspects of nineteenth-century literature from Romanticism to the mid- and late-Victorian periods. Language: English. Credits: 9. This course is also available as a 6-credit option with a reduced syllabus.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

BA courses aim to provide students with a basic knowledge of British literature and culture from the Renaissance to the present age with special emphasis on the development of modern fiction, post-colonial studies, twentieth-century modernism and post-modernism.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students who attend this course regularly, and study the prescribed reading list, will acquire a good knowledge of some aspects of nineteenth-century literature. They will be able to analyse some literary texts, describe their main formal and thematic features, connect them to specific historical and cultural contexts, and make use of intrepretative hints and tools derived from critical articles.

PREREQUISITES

An acquaintance with literary periodisation as customarily deployed in the study of European literatures; ability to understand English, both oral and written.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures in English occasionally interspersed with other activities. Active attendance is heartily recommended. Students who are unable to attend will have to refer to supplementary material which will be made available on aulaweb or in the departmental library.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

This course provides an introduction to nineteenth-century literature, through an historical and cultural survey of the Romantic, the mid-Victorian and the late Victorian periods. Its main focus is on fiction and its transformations in connection with the Woman Question.

For students who choose this course as a 6-credit option the syllabus does not include the Romantic period (taught in the first semester).

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Regarding the standard 9 CFU course, all students will have to read two of the following novels:

• Jane Austen, Persuasion or Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818 edition) 
•  Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre or Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South

Plus

• a selection of Romantic and Victorian poems and poetical manifestos (which will be provided via aulaweb);
• a selection of fin-de-siècle short stories (New Woman Fiction)
• Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest 
• one critical article (or two short articles) on each of the novels they have chosen to read, and one on the New Woman fiction

All materials (contextual and/or critical) will be made available through aulaweb and/or in the Department library. 

The 6-credit syllabus does not include the Romantic period.

Students who cannot attend regularly and actively will have to refer to the course slides, the audio-recordings of the lectures and other materials which will be made available on aulaweb.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LUISA VILLA (President)

LAURA COLOMBINO

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Fraz. A: surnames A-K

October 2, 2024.

Class schedule: Wedn. 11-13, aula C (Polo Didattico, Via delle Fontane).

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

This course is assessed by written examination (the total test-time is 4 hrs; 3hrs for the 6-credit option) on the contents of the course and the reading list, including anthological selections, criticism and other materials provided during the lectures. Language of examination: Italian or English (students are free to choose either). Students who attend classes regularly and actively will be offered alternative forms of assessment (end-of-term test, oral reports) for selected parts of the syllabus.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam paper (as well as the optional end-of-term test) involves open-ended questions and guided commentary of literary texts (poems, extracts of plays and novels). Open-ended 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 essays included in the reading list.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Attendance is heartily recommended. Students who are unable to attend, will have to refer to the lectures' audiorecordings, slides and other materials which will be made available on aulaweb. Course enrolment via aulaweb is mandatory. Examination enrolment is through the unige website.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Prof. Sara Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it), the Department’s disability liaison.

Syllabus validity: till June/July 2026.