Obiettivi Formativi

Il corso guida gli studenti attraverso l’evoluzione diacronica del genere romanzo nella sua costante interrelazione con la storia e la cultura americana. Gli studenti acquisiranno consapevolezza della ridefinizione attraverso il romanzo dell’identità americana nella sua dimensione multietnica e multiculturale attraverso l’esplorazione della produzione letteraria mainstream e delle minoranze. Gli studenti saranno guidati nell’acquisizione di adeguate metodologie di analisi critica del testo letterario.

Learning Goals

Students will be guided in the exploration of the diachronic evolution of the novel as a genre, analyzing its correlation with American history and culture. Students will acquire awareness of the redefinition of American multicultural and multiethnic identity through the analysis of mainstream and minorities’ literary production. Students will acquire analytical competences and methods.

Metodi didattici

Teledidattica

Teaching Methods

Online lessons and workshops.

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. Gli studenti sono tenuti a presentare almeno una settimana prima dell’esame una tesina di 5000 parole su un argomento preventivamente discusso con la docente.

Assessment

Oral exam in English. Students are required to write a 5000-word essay on a topic previously approved by the professor.

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, tradizione asiatico americana, 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. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, 1845 2. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, 1850. 3. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852. 4. Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, 1881. 5. Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country of the Pointed Firs, 1884. 6. Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885 7. Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage, 1895. 8. Kate Chopin, The Awakening, 1899. 9. Jack London, The Road, 1907. 10. Willa Cather, My Antonia, 1918. Gruppo B 1. F.S. Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1925. 2. Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, 1929. 3. John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, 1939. 4. J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, 1951. 5. Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952) 6. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) 7. Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts (1976) 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, Asian American, 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. Gruppo A 1. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, 1845 2. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, 1850. 3. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852. 4. Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, 1881. 5. Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country of the Pointed Firs, 1884. 6. Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885 7. Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage, 1895. 8. Kate Chopin, The Awakening, 1899. 9. Jack London, The Road, 1907. 10. Willa Cather, My Antonia, 1918. Gruppo B 1. F.S. Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1925. 2. Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, 1929. 3. John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, 1939. 4. J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, 1951. 5. Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952) 6. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) 7. Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts (1976) 8. Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony, 1977. 9. Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street, 1984. 10. Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997.