Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with historical-literary knowledge and to develop critical-analytical skills related to the main expressions and literary forms from the 18th and 19th centuries to today, which can be linked to the theoretical-critical discourses of postcolonial literatures, intersections between literature and ecology, and ecocriticism. In terms of learning, during the course, the student will acquire:
- In-depth knowledge, supported by a critical bibliography, of theoretical issues, authors, works, movements, and central aesthetic ideas in Anglophone literature from the 18th century to the present;
- The ability to contextualize and analyze complex texts in English from both a formal and thematic-ideological perspective;
- The capability to independently outline research and analysis pathways using both printed and digital resources;
- The ability to formulate critical judgments based on a careful decoding of the text;
- Communication skills in English, acquiring a linguistic register and vocabulary appropriate to literary studies and the required level of language competence (at least B1, preferably B2).
Prerequisites
- Knowledge of spoken English equivalent to at least B1 level of CEFR;
- basic knowledge of literary genres;
- basic knowledge of the literary history from the Romantics to today;
Course unit content
"Relationships between the Human and Non-human in Anglophone Literatures from the 18th century to today"
This course will examine literary responses to our natural environment and how writers, cultural theorists, literary historians and theorists have addressed environmental questions even before current cogent concerns such as the climate crisis, population growth, urbanization, and technological change. Some of these questions will be at the heart of the course, during which students will be asked to engage with a range of literary texts and corresponding critical discourses, including Postcolonial criticism, environmental politics (or ecopolitics) and Ecocriticism. One central purpose of this course is to bring together the concerns of postcolonial critics and environmental humanists. Key questions to be addressed will be: which meanings do writers convey by focusing on the non-human environment, such as land, water and animals? In what ways are environmental issues inseparable from social issues? What does an epistemology of nature involve? How do writers represent human/non-human relations? Throughout the course, works of theory will provide the critical tools to examine works of the imagination. The first part of the course (about 6 hours) will focus on the presentation of the main theories concerning postcolonial literatures, literature and the environment, ecocriticism from Romanticism to today. So, in this case, the first key question will be: what is the legacy of Romanticism’s idea of nature as central to human creativity, beauty, social transformation, and spiritual fulfilment? The rest of the course (about24 hours) will be devoted to the analysis of a selection of texts read through an ecocritical lens. The primary texts will be representative of “world literature” in English from a variety of regions and countries, both within and outside the UK: Scotland, Ireland, India, and South Africa. Students will explore how selected writers from these regions represent environmental experience and depict place(s) as linked to the natural world in the contexts of colonialism (including internal colonialism) and imperialism, and postcolonialism. Among the selected writers are: Nan Shepherd (Scotland); a selection of Irish poems; Amitav Ghosh (India); and J. M. Coetzee (South Africa). The texts will be first introduced by the lecturer and then discussed by the students. The implication is that students must read each primary text before the class dedicated to it. All the texts, in the original language, will be analyzed in relation to the historical and aesthetic context and pointing out their narratological or poetic, stylistic, thematic and ideological characteristics. During the last two or three classes of the course, students are expected to give a short presentation on one or more texts of the syllabus.
Full programme
The extended, detailed syllabus will be provided at the beginning of the course.
Bibliography
AMONG THE PRIMARY TEXTS:
Amitav Ghosh, "The Hungry Tide"
J. M. Coetzee, "Disgrace"
Nan Shepherd, "The Living Mountain"
A selection of 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century English, Scottish and Irish poems
GENERAL CRITICISM (of which only sections will be part of the syllabus):
DeLoughrey Elizabeth and George B. Handley (eds), "Postcolonial Ecologies. Literatures of the Environment"
Garrard, Greg, "Ecocriticism"
Huggan Graham and Helen Tiffin, Postcolonial ecocriticism: literature, animals, environment
Morton, Timothy; "The Cambridge Introduction to Literature and the Environment"
Rigby Kate, “Ecocriticism”
Many texts are available in the Library of the Foreign Languages and Literatures Unit in Parma, but most of the materials (namely essays or audio visual materials) will be available on the online platform Elly. The detailed program with all bibliographic references (including essays on individual authors) will be provided at the beginning of the course.
Although the detailed program, which will be published on the Elly platform, will include supplementary materials for non-attending students, the latter are encouraged to schedule an appointment with Prof. Angeletti to address any difficulties they may encounter in preparing for the exam.
Teaching methods
The course will take place in presence and will include both lectures and seminars/workshops aiming at stimulating the interaction between professor and students. To promote students' active participation in the course, individual or group activities will be proposed, through the resources available on the university platform Elly, such as, for example, discussion Forums. The materials used in the live classes will be made available on Elly. The course consists of 15 meetings of approximately 2 hours; they will be entirely held in English. During the lectures, the professor will introduce the main aspects of the historical-cultural context, useful information on the biographies of the authors and the texts included in the program, using both the reference bibliography of the course and additional textual or visual materials, which will be made available on the Elly platform of the University. In addition, the teacher will provide suggestions for individual study and research, in order to stimulate the development of students' autonomy.
Assessment methods and criteria
The assessment of knowledge and skills occurs by means of an oral examination consisting of two parts:
1) presentation by the student of any topic regarding the course contents;
2) two-three questions on the texts of the program, for which the student will have to provide a historical-cultural contextualization.
The oral exam will take place in presence. During the oral exam, the student is required to present a topic out of his/her choice, selected from among those examined during the course, or chosen by the student independently and agreed on with the professor. In addition, the student is asked to answer questions in English relating to the contents of the course, individual readings and any further studies independently carried out.
The knowledge and skills to be assessed during the oral examination are:
• an oral proficiency in Italian at a medium-high level (i.e. the successful acquisition of the appropriate register and the specific language of literary studies) and oral proficiency in English corresponding at least to B1 level;
• knowledge of texts, authors, and ideological contexts and formal issues of the literary periods in question;
• an appropriate level in the ability to expand autonomously on certain contents.
The oral examination is designed to assess knowledge, the ability for independent and original reworking of such knowledge, as well as the ability to make connections, comparisons and contrasts.
A fail is determined by the lack, demonstrated by students during the oral examination, of understanding of the minimum and essential contents of the course, the inability to express themselves adequately on the subject in English at least at B1 level, the lack of autonomous preparation, and the inability to solve problems related to information retrieval and the decoding of texts. A pass (18-23/30) is awarded to those students who show that they have learned the minimum and essential contents of the course, that they have acquired an ability to discuss literary topics appropriately in English, with a sufficient competence in relation to the characteristics at least of the B1 level, that they have achieved a sufficient degree of self-preparation and a sufficient capacity of textual analysis. Middle-range scores (24-27/30) are assigned to the student who produces evidence of a more than sufficient level (24-25/30) or a good level (26-27/30) in the evaluation indicators listed above. Higher scores (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) are awarded on the basis of the student’s demonstration of a very good or excellent level in the evaluation indicators listed above.
Other information
Although the detailed program, which will be published on the Elly platform, will include supplementary materials for non-attending students, the latter are encouraged to schedule an appointment with Prof. Angeletti to address any difficulties they may encounter in preparing for the exam.
2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
4. Quality education
5. Gender equality
10. Reduced inequalities
