Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with solid basic knowledge of the development of dramatic literature and theatre practices in the British Isles from their earliest manifestations to the twentieth century and beyond. During the course, students learn to: familiarize with the main authors, works, movements and theatrical and spectacular practices in the cultural history of the British Isles; understand and analyze dramatic texts in the original language that present both formal and thematic-ideological complexities; independently begin to find further information on the topics using both paper and digital resources; formulate competent and motivated judgments relating to complex literary and cultural phenomena on the basis of careful decoding of the text; communicate and discuss contents, analyses and evaluations in Italian and English, using an appropriate linguistic register and terminology specific to drama and theatre studies.
Prerequisites
None
Course unit content
Taught in Italian and English, the course focuses on the study of authors, works and exemplary phenomena of forms, themes and motifs typical of the English and British dramatic and theatrical tradition. Following a chronologically structured itinerary, students will be introduced to in-depth examinations of phenomena related to the emergence of forms, modes and themes within specific historical-cultural phases from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century and beyond. The analysis of these cultural phases will be accompanied by the study of selected works and authors, so that historical-aesthetic contextualizations will be regularly accompanied by the analysis of texts (in anthological form and in the original language) from structural, stylistic and thematic-ideological perspectives. Students will also be required autonomously to read and study works in the full version, chosen from those listed in the exam syllabus, made available by the teacher at the end of the course and posted on the course's Moodle page.
Full programme
The extended program is made available online via the Moodle page of the course, at the conclusion of the course.
Bibliography
Bibliographic references are provided during the course and indicated in the exam programme.
Teaching methods
During the lectures, in Italian and English, the teacher will introduce the main elements of the historical-cultural contexts and the profiles of the authors and texts with the aid of the course bibliography and additional textual or visual materials made available on the University’s Moodle platform (Elly). Suggestions will also be provided for individual study and in-depth examinations in order to stimulate the students’ ability to outline original and independent approaches to the analysis of the themes and problems raised in class.
Assessment methods and criteria
Knowledge and skills are assessed through an oral exam in Italian and English aiming to verify the student’s: communicative competence in Italian and English, the latter corresponding to an intermediate level (B2); knowledge of texts, authors, contexts and formal and ideological issues addressed during the course and indicated in the exam syllabus; an adequate capacity to learn and re-elaborate contents, as well as a degree of autonomy in finding information and making judgements. In order to verify the acquisition of such knowledge and skills, the questions in the oral test aim to evaluate knowledge, the ability autonomously and originally to rework this knowledge, as well as the ability to apply it through text analysis and to expand it through connections, comparisons and contrasts. A fail is determined by the lack, demonstrated by the student during the oral exam, of knowledge of the minimum contents of the course; the inability to express oneself in the register appropriate to the topic and corresponding to the linguistic level specified above; an inadequacy of autonomous preparation for the exam and the inability to solve problems related to finding information and decoding complex texts, as well as formulating autonomous judgements. A pass (18-23/30) is determined by the student’s demonstration of having learned the minimum and fundamental contents of the course; the ability to express oneself in a register appropriate to the topic and, despite communicative simplicity, presenting some characteristics of the linguistic level specified above; by a sufficient level of autonomous preparation, and ability to solve problems related to retrieving information and decoding complex texts, as well as formulating autonomous judgements. Average scores (24-27/30) are assigned to students who have a more than sufficient (24-25/30) or good (26-27/30) level of the evaluation indicators listed above. The highest scores (from 28/30 to 30/30 with honors) are assigned on the basis of a very good to excellent level of the evaluation indicators listed above.
Other information
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