Università Roma Tre

The course traces the evolution of the utopian genre in English literature, from the first founding work, Thomas More’s "Utopia" (1516), to Aldous Huxley’s twentieth-century anti-utopian novel "Brave New World" (1932), passing through texts that, while constituting an important contribution, fall more loosely within the canon of the genre, such as William Shakespeare’s "The Tempest" (1610-11) and Daniel Defoe’s "Robinson Crusoe" (1719). The excursus through works that stand as inverted or distorted mirrors of the reality to which they belong and of the changes taking place in it will serve to illuminate some crucial features and dynamics of English cultural and literary history.

Thomas More, "Utopia" [1516], Feltrinelli, 2007
William Shakespeare, "The Tempest / La Tempesta" [1610], testo inglese a fronte, Feltrinelli, 2019
Excerpts from "Robinson Crusoe" [1719] by Daniel Defoe e "Gulliver's Travels" [1726] by Jonathan Swift (provided by the teacher in pdf format)
Aldous Huxley, "Brave New World" [1932], Random, 2009

This course provides an overview of English literature through the study of a variety of texts by some of its most representative authors. Highlighting the topos of the ghost, students will explore a series of texts belonging to different literary genres and historical contexts with a view to analysing some typologies of ghosts and the refractions these provide.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet / Amleto [Feltrinelli with parallel text]
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey / L’abbazia di Northanger [any unabridged edition]
Charles Dickens, The Signal-Man / Il segnalatore [available online]
H.G. Wells, The Red Room / La camera rossa [available online]
Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room / La stanza di Jacob [translated by N. Fusini, Feltrinelli]

Beyond reason: illusions, dreams, visions, (in)sanity from Shakespeare to Woolf
This first-year course will provide a historical and cultural overview of English literature through contextualization and analysis of some canonical texts within the genres of poetry, drama, and fiction. Starting from the illusionary island of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, through the satirical world of Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” and other writings, the vision of Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan”, to the (in)sanity of Woolf’s “Mrs Dalloway”, the course means to illustrate the nature of the literary text and to focus on the polisemy and epistemological import of these literary representations by exploring the contexts, contents and formal strategies of the selected literary works.

PRIMARY SOURCES

All the volumes and articles indicated below (primary and secondary sources) are compulsory reading and will be discussed during the final exam.
Students should buy the following editions of the texts and are expected to read them before the beginning of the course.
1. William Shakespeare, “The Tempest/La tempesta”, introduzione e traduzione di Alessandro Serpieri, note di Clara Mucci, con testo a fronte, Marsilio, Venezia, 2006, ISBN: 9788831789837.
2. Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal/Una modesta proposta”, a cura di Luciana Pirè, Marsilio, Venezia, 2019, ISBN: 9788831722537; other satirical writings added as learning materials in Moodle: “An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity”; “The Tatler” Number 5 (from Tuesday Jan. 23, to Saturday Jan. 27, 1710).
3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan”, in “I poemi demoniaci”, a cura di Marcello Pagnini, con testo a fronte, Giunti, Firenze, 1996, ISBN: 9788809208438.
4. Virginia Woolf, “Mrs Dalloway/La signora Dalloway”, a cura e traduzione di Marisa Sestito con testo a fronte, Marsilio, Venezia, 2012, ISBN: 9788831711456.

Beyond reason: illusions, dreams, visions, (in)sanity from Shakespeare to Woolf
This first-year course will provide a historical and cultural overview of English literature through contextualization and analysis of some canonical texts within the genres of poetry, drama, and fiction. Starting from the illusionary island of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, through the satirical world of Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” and other writings, the vision of Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan”, to the (in)sanity of Woolf’s “Mrs Dalloway”, the course means to illustrate the nature of the literary text and to focus on the polisemy and epistemological import of these literary representations by exploring the contexts, contents and formal strategies of the selected literary works.

PRIMARY SOURCES

All the volumes and articles indicated below (primary and secondary sources) are compulsory reading and will be discussed during the final exam.
Students should buy the following editions of the texts and are expected to read them before the beginning of the course.
1. William Shakespeare, “The Tempest/La tempesta”, introduzione e traduzione di Alessandro Serpieri, note di Clara Mucci, con testo a fronte, Marsilio, Venezia, 2006, ISBN: 9788831789837.
2. Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal/Una modesta proposta”, a cura di Luciana Pirè, Marsilio, Venezia, 2019, ISBN: 9788831722537; other satirical writings added as learning materials in Moodle: “An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity”; “The Tatler” Number 5 (from Tuesday Jan. 23, to Saturday Jan. 27, 1710).
3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan”, in “I poemi demoniaci”, a cura di Marcello Pagnini, con testo a fronte, Giunti, Firenze, 1996, ISBN: 9788809208438.
4. Virginia Woolf, “Mrs Dalloway/La signora Dalloway”, a cura e traduzione di Marisa Sestito con testo a fronte, Marsilio, Venezia, 2012, ISBN: 9788831711456.