Obiettivi Formativi

Il corso guida gli studenti attraverso le trame del “grande romanzo americano” che a partire dal diciannovesimo secolo ha ispirato le ambizioni più o meno dichiarate degli autori americani. Il corso mira a fare acquisire consapevolezza dell’evoluzione diacronica del genere romanzo nella sua costante interrelazione con la storia e l’identità nazionale prima e globale poi. Gli studenti saranno guidati nell’acquisizione di adeguate metodologie di analisi letteraria e competenze critiche.

Learning Goals

Students will be guided in the exploration of the dream of the “great American novel”, an inspiration that few American writers could escape. Students will acquire awareness of the diachronic evolution of the genre “novel” throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to the present day and of its constant intertwining with national – and finally global – history and identity. Students will acquire analytical competences and methods.

Metodi didattici

Lezioni frontali, seminari, presentazioni in aula.

Teaching Methods

Lessons, seminars, class presentations.

Prerequisiti

Conoscenza di base della letteratura, della cultura e della storia americana.

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of American literature, culture and history.

Verifiche dell'apprendimento

Esame orale in lingua inglese.

Assessment

Oral exam in English.

Programma del Corso

Sviluppi storici del romanzo americano, dalle origini al Rinascimento Americano, Realismo e Naturalismo, Modernismo, romanzo tra le due guerre, Postmodernismo. Generi: romanzo gotico, storico, romanzo politico, romanzo di guerra etc. Tradizioni: filone ebraico, tradizione chicana, romanzo afroamericano, romanzo italoamericano. Durante il corso saranno letti e analizzati i seguenti romanzi: 1. Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851) 2. William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929) 3. Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987) Gli studenti sono inoltre tenuti a leggere 2 romanzi per ciascuno dei gruppi A e B. Gruppo A 1. Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (1770s) 2. Edgar Allan Poe, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, 1838. 3. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, 1845 4. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, 1850. 5. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852. 6. Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, 1881. 7. Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885 8. Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage, 1895. 9. Kate Chopin, The Awakening, 1899. 10. Jack London, The Road, 1907. Gruppo B 1. Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, 1920. 2. F.S. Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1925. 3. Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, 1929. 4. John Steinbeck, The grapes of wrath, 1939. 5. Jack Kerouac, On the road, 1951. 6. J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, 1951. 7. Thomas Pynchon, The crying of lot 49, 1966. 8. Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony, 1977. 9. Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street, 1984. 10. Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997.

Course Syllabus

Historical developments of the American Novel: beginnings, American Renaissance, Realism and Naturalism, Modernism, novel between the World Wars, Postmodernism. Genres: gothic novel, historical novel, political novel, war novel etc. Traditions and novel: Jewish American, Chicano, Italian American, African American traditions, The following novels will be analysed in class: 1. Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851) 2. William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929) 3. Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987) Students are required to read 2 novels from each group, A and B. Group A 1. Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (1770s) 2. Edgar Allan Poe, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, 1838. 3. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, 1845 4. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, 1850. 5. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852. 6. Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, 1881. 7. Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885 8. Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage, 1895. 9. Kate Chopin, The Awakening, 1899. 10. Jack London, The Road, 1907. Group B 11. Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, 1920. 12. F.S. Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1925. 13. Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, 1929. 14. John Steinbeck, The grapes of wrath, 1939. 15. Jack Kerouac, On the road, 1951. 16. J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, 1951. 17. Thomas Pynchon, The crying of lot 49, 1966. 18. Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony, 1977. 19. Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street, 1984. 20. Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997.