Università Roma Tre

NATURE WRITING IN XIX-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE.

THE COURSE EXPLORES NINETEENTH-CENTURY CANONICAL WORKS FROM AN ECOCRITICAL PERSPECTIVE. THE CONCEPT OF ‘NATURE’ AND REPRESENTATIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENT ARE ANALYZED IN A VARIETY OF LITERARY GENRES, FOCUSING BOTH ON LINGUISTIC/FORMAL MATTERS AND ON QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE NATION’S CULTURAL AND POLITICAL IDENTITY. GENDER-RELATED ISSUES ARE ALSO INVESTIGATED.

PRIMARY TEXTS:
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, “NATURE”;
HENRY DAVID THOREAU, WALDEN, OR LIFE IN THE WOODS;
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, TRANSCENDENTAL WILD OATS;
WALT WHITMAN, SELECTED POEMS;
EMILY DICKINSON, SELECTED POEMS;
SARAH ORNE JEWETT, “A WHITE HERON”;
JOHN MUIR, SELECTED ESSAYS FROM NATURE WRITINGS;
SEAN PENN, INTO THE WILD (FILM).

CRITICAL REFERENCES:
SELECTED CHAPTERS FROM THE FOLLOWING:
LAWRENCE BUELL, THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMAGINATION. THOREAU, NATURE WRITING, AND THE FORMATION OF AMERICAN CULTURE (HARVARD UP 1996);
THE ECOCRITICISM READER: LANDMARKS IN LITERARY ECOLOGY, EDS. CHERYLL GLOTFELTY AND HAROLD FROMM (GEORGIA UP 1996);
GREG GARRARD, ECOCRITICISM (ROUTLEDGE 2008).

LITERARY HISTORY:
A NEW LITERARY HISTORY OF AMERICA, EDS. G. MARCUS AND W. SOLLORS (HARVARD UP 2009 – SELECTED CHAPTERS WILL BE INDICATED IN CLASS);
THE HEATH ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE – VOL. B, “EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY: 1800-1865”, PP. 1443-1473; VOL. C, “LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY: 1865-1910”, PP. 1-32 (ALL THREE VOLUMES ARE AVAILABLE AT THE PETROCCHI LIBRARY).

TEXT ANALYSIS (ONE OF THE FOLLOWING):
LOREDANA CHINES, CARLO VAROTTI, CHE COS’È UN TESTO LETTERARIO (CAROCCI 2001);
REMO CESERANI, BREVE GUIDA ALLO STUDIO DELLA LETTERATURA (LATERZA 2003).