CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH LITERATURE

The course aims: 1) to increase and complete the study of English literature, also improving the tools for in-depth analysis already acquired in the previous years; 2) to promote the graduate students' awareness and understanding of the most important phenomena, movements and (selected) major authors and texts from the beginning of the twentieth century up to the present; 3) to develop the students' capacity for personal reflection on contemporary literary issues and texts in English. Besides being crucial for a first-hand knowledge and critical appreciation of the several contemporary literary phenomena and authors, texts will also be an essential means to increase linguistic proficiency.

Finally, through the close reading of selected dramatic works, the course intends: 4) to analyze the peculiarities of the English Theatre after the second world war.

Traditional lessons and seminars, both in English and in Italian, for a total number of 54 hours: 30 hours (5 credits) for Module A: “I Fondamenti” + 24 hours (4 credits) for Module B: “Approfondimenti".

Though not compulsory, attendance to the lessons is strongly recommended.

Module A (5 credits): Defining features of Twentieth century English literature with a focus on the issues posed by Modernism, Postmodernism and the development of Postcolonial literature in English; close reading of excerpts from (selected) major authors’ works.

Module B (4 credits): Recent developments of the English theatrical scene, with a focus on the works of playwrights such as Beckett, Osborne, Pinter, Arden, Bond, Stoppard and Churchill. Special attention is given to the characteristics of innovation and originality – and/or revival/transformation of previous theatrical traditions – of their production in the context of the general renewal of 20^th century socio-political and cultural scene. Attention will be paid also to their reception from contemporary public and critics. Part of the module focuses on the analysis of drama as a literary genre with the aim to improve students' methodological and critical instruments for individual research.

Module A) “Fondamenti”:

A. Cattaneo, From the Victorians to the Present (vol. II di Short History of English Literature), Milano, Mondadori, 2011, capp.: “The Modern Age (1901-1945)”, “The Contemporary Age (1945-today)”, e “Literature in English”, pp. 97-343.

 

As an alternative, one among the following:

P. Bertinetti (a cura di), Dal Romanticismo all’età contemporanea. Le letterature in inglese (vol. II di Storia della letteratura Inglese), Torino, Einaudi, 2000, capp. “Il Modernismo e il primo Novecento”, “Il secondo Novecento”, “Le letterature in inglese”, pp. 164-415.

A. Sanders, The Short Oxford History of English Literature, London, O.U.P., 2004, capp. 9 “Modernism and its alternatives” e 10 “Post-War and Post-Modernism literature”, pp. 505-640 (trad. it. Storia della letteratura inglese dal secolo xix al postmoderno, Milano, Mondadori, 2005, pp. 295-394.

 

Suggested reading:

L.M. Crisafulli – K. Elam (a cura di), Manuale di letteratura e di cultura inglese, Bononia University Press, Bologna, 2009, “Il Novecento”, pp- 327-412.

 

Anthology: Selected literary texts and excerpts (available in the teacher's office and at studium.unict.it).

 

Methodology and critical terms: J.A. Cuddon, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, London, Penguin, last ed. (selected entries); or: R. Fowler, A dictionary of modern critical terms, London, Routledge, last ed. (selected entries).

 

Modulo B) “Insights on contemporary English theatre”:

Primary sources (A minimum of four to be read integrally):

J. Arden, Pearl, London, Methuen, 1979, pp. 80;

S. Beckett, Happy Days, Faber & Faber, ultima ed., pp. 48;

E. Bond, Saved, London, Methuen, ultima ed., pp. 122 .

C. Churchill and David Lan, A Mouthful of Birds, London, Methuen, 1987, pp. 50;

J. Osborne, Look back in anger, Faber & Faber, ultima ed., pp. 96;

H. Pinter, The Room, in Plays: One, London, Methuen, ultima ed. pp. 37;

T. Stoppard, Travesties, London, Faber and Faber, ultima ed., pp. 99;

 

Secondary sources:

P. Bertinetti, Il teatro inglese del Novecento, Torino, Einaudi, 2003, pp. 109-268;

R. Gill, Mastering English literature, Houndmills, Palgrave, 3^rd ed., 2006, Part II , pp. 73-140 (in alternativa, 2nd ed., 2006, Part III, pp. 203-299).

 

A choice of at least 6 essays/chapters among the following:

-P. Billingham, Edward Bond. A critical Study, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Palgrave- Macmillan, 2014 (un capitolo a scelta);

-M. Cavecchi – M. Rose eds., Caryl Churchill. Un teatro necessario, Teramo, editpress, 2012 (un saggio a scelta);

-P.D. Denison, John Osborne: A Casebook, London, Routledge, 1997 (un saggio a scelta);

-M. Esslin, The Theatre of the Absurd, London, Anchor Books, 1996, rist. London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2014 (un capitolo a scelta tra: “Introduction: The Absurdity of the Absurd”; 1. “Samuel Beckett: The Search for the Self”; 5. “Harold Pinter: Certainties and Uncertainties”; 6. “Parallels and Proselytes”; 7. “The Tradition of the Absurd”; 8. “The Significance of the Absurd;” 9. “Beyond the Absurd”);

-A. Floreale Marangolo, “Nel segno di Dioniso: A Mouthful of birds di Caryl Churchill e David Lan”, in, AA.VV, Le Aperture del testo, a cura di M. Billi, L. Curti, E. Di Piazza, D. Corona, La Memoria, Palermo, 1995, pp. 257-272;

-D.D. Gobert, The Theatre of Caryl Churchill, Bloomsbury, London- New York, 2014 (un capitolo a scelta);

-L.G. Gordon, Pinter at 70: A casebook, London, Routledge, 2014 (un saggio a scelta);

-J. Harty, Tom Stoppard: A Casebook, Oxford, Taylor & Francis, 1988 (un saggio a scelta);

-R. Hayman, “Look back in anger”, in John Osborne, London, Heinemann, 1975, pp. 17-22;

-R. Hayman, “Travesties”, in Tom Stoppard, London, Heinemann, 1978, pp. 115-127;

-D. Donahue, “Saved”, in Edward Bond. A study of his plays, Roma, Bulzoni, 1979, pp. 21-34;

-G. Persico, “Per un’analisi di Pearl di John Arden”, Le Ragioni Critiche, n.s. 5-6, gennaio-giugno l98l, pp. 93-108;

-H.D. Pierce, “Stage as Mirror: Tom Stoppard's Travesties, Comparative Literature, Vol. 94, No. 5, (Dec., 1979), pp. 1139-1158;

-E. Raima, “Women and Violence in A Mouthful of Birds”, Theatre Journal, Vol. 54, No. 2 (May, 2002), pp. 263-284.

 

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.