Università Roma Tre

Language, Culture and Institutions of the English Speaking Countries
Professor Tania Zulli
A.A. 2016/17
8 C.F.U.

Valid for all Undergraduate Courses
Classes start on March 2017

3 modules-compulsory-8 CFU.

Timetable:

Monday 12,30-14,00 [Room A],
Tuesday 16,15-17,45 [Aula Magna],
Wednesday 9,00-10,30 [Room A]


In order to give the exam, students MUST enrol on the “Portale dello studente”.
When coming to register the mark, students will have to hand a certificate attesting that they have passed the test at CLA.
This syllabus is valid till February 2018.
Students are highly recommended to read the files PROGRAM and FAQ_COURSE_2016-17 before getting in touch with the teacher for questions about the course.


SYLLABUS 2016-2017

“E. M. FORSTER: TRANSITION, CULTURE AND COLONIAL IDEOLOGY”

1° Module: English Grammar: Learning the language
The First module will focus on the consolidation of the main linguistic abilities – grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, listening, speaking, use of English.

2° Module: E. M. Forster
The second module will concentrate on the figure of the British writer E. M. Forster, whose role of intellectual and novelist between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries reveals interesting aspects on a social, historical and individual level. In Forster’s novels, the connection of the opposite sides of existence is not only a literary act, but also – and mainly – a personal and moral one, accomplished through the political rules of Liberalism.
While admitting multiple grounds of analysis – such as the literary, historical, political and cultural ones – the course will focus on a close reading of texts and on the exploration of textual mechanisms which show the role of culture and literature in a historical and political context.

3° Module: A Passage to India
The third module will focus on the reading of one of E. M. Forster’s novels, A Passage to India, and on its description of the colonial world, including the relationship between East and West. A Passage to India marks the conclusion of a long writing process on the part of the author whose narrative explorations are performed in his previous novels. In addition to the cultural merit of representing social and racial evolutions, the value of the novel also lays in its meditation on artistic and literary forms. In class, the main aspects of A Passage to India will be analysed in the context of their socio-political value and in the perspective of the different cultural systems involved.


Attending students:

Exemption Test
The Exemption Test for attending students takes place at the end of the course and is exclusively addressed to the students who have attended classes. It is made up of multiple choice exercises (module 1: grammar) plus 3 open questions (modules 2 and 3: literature and culture). Further details will be given by the teacher in class.


Oral Exam
Attending students who would like to improve their written mark may give an Oral Exam in one of the three available sessions (i.e. January/February, June/July, September). The exam will be on the topics analysed during the course (both grammar and literature/culture). Further details will be given by the teacher in class.
Depending on the oral performance, the initial mark may either increase or decrease.


N.B. Access to the Oral Exam is only possible after passing both the CLA and Exemption tests. When registering the mark (during one of the oral sessions) students will have to present a document attesting that they have passed the test at CLA. Enrolment on the “Portale dello studente” is compulsory.


Non-attending students:

Written Exam
The Written Exam is made up of multiple choice exercises (module 1: grammar) plus 3 open questions (modules 2 and 3: literature and culture). Questions will focus on the programme for non-attending students.


Oral Exam
Non-attending students who would like to improve their written mark may give an Oral Exam in one of the three available sessions (i.e. January/February, June/July, September). The exam will focus on the topics of the programme for non-attending students (both grammar and literature/culture).
Depending on the oral performance, the initial mark may either increase or decrease.


N.B. Access to the Oral Exam is only possible after passing both the CLA and Written tests. When registering the mark (during one of the oral sessions) students will have to present a document attesting that they have passed the test at CLA. Enrolment on the “Portale dello studente” is compulsory.

Attending Students:

• E. M. Forster, A Passage to India, London, Penguin, 2005 (o anche altra edizione)

• T. Zulli, Come leggere A Passage to India, Chieti, Solfanelli, 2014

• Peter May, Compact First. Second Edition, Student’s Book Pack with answers, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2014.



Non-attending Students:

• Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, London, Penguin, 2015 (o anche altra edizione)

• Michela Marroni, Come leggere Robinson Crusoe, Chieti, Solfanelli, 2016.

• Peter May, Compact First. Second Edition, Student’s Book Pack with answers, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2014.

TITLE: AFROFUTURISM: LITERATURE, MUSIC, CINEMA

FIRST MODULE: ENGLISH GRAMMAR: LEARNING THE LANGUAGE
THE FIRST MODULE DEALS WITH SOME OF THE MAIN GRAMMAR AND MORPHO-SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. THE LANGUAGE SKILLS ACQUIRED BY THE STUDENTS WILL BE ASSESSED AT THE END OF THE COURSE THROUGH THE 'PROVA DI ESONERO'.

SECOND MODULE: AFROFUTURISM: LITERATURE, MUSIC, CINEMA
AFROFUTURISM IS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CULTURAL MOVEMENT THAT REJECTS A NUMBER OF CLICHÉS THAT HAVE COMMONLY REFERRED TO PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT. AT A FIRST GLANCE, AFROFUTURISM MAY SOUND LIKE AN OXYMORON. “AFRO” AND “FUTURISM” ARE LIKELY TO BE CONSIDERED AS TERMS IN OPPOSITION, THE FORMER EVOKING IMAGES OF PRIMITIVISM AND BACKWARDNESS, THE LATTER – EVER SINCE F. T. MARINETTI’S DEFINITION IN 1909 – CELEBRATING INSTEAD SPEED AND MODERNITY. THE CREATIVE CONTRIBUTION OF AFROFUTURIST WRITERS, MUSICIANS, ARTISTS, FILMMAKERS AND CRITICS CHALLENGES THE STEREOTYPICAL HISTORICAL VIEW ROUTINELY APPLIED TO THE BLACK ATLANTIC EXPERIENCE AND PROPOSES COUNTER-HISTORIES THAT RECONSIDER THE ROLE OF BLACK PEOPLE IN THE WESTERN SOCIETY IN THE PAST AND IMAGINE ALTERNATIVE ROLES IN THE FUTURE. THE MODULE FOCUSES ON THE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES OF AFROFUTURISM: MUSIC, VISUAL ARTS, CINEMA AND ESPECIALLY LITERATURE − PROTO-AFROFUTURIST FICTION SUCH AS W.E.B. DU BOIS’S SHORT STORY “THE COMET” (1920), GEORGE S. SCHUYLER’S NOVEL BLACK NO MORE (1931) AND MORE RECENT EXAMPLES SUCH AS RALPH ELLISON’S INVISIBLE MAN (1952) AND OCTAVIA E. BUTLER’S KINDRED (1979). THE REFERENCE MATERIAL INCLUDES WORKS OF FICTION, CRITICAL ESSAYS AND AUDIOVISUAL MATERIAL.

FOR STUDENTS ATTENDING CLASSES:
ADRIANO ELIA, LA COMETA DI W.E.B. DU BOIS, ROMA, ROMA TRE-PRESS, 2015.
FURTHER REFERENCE MATERIAL WILL BE GIVEN DURING THE COURSE.

FOR STUDENTS NOT ATTENDING CLASSES:
- R. AMBROSINI, A. RUTT, A. ELIA, THE UK: LEARNING THE LANGUAGE, STUDYING THE CULTURE, ROMA, CAROCCI, 2008 (2005).
- N. MCNAUGHTON, UNDERSTANDING BRITISH AND EUROPEAN POLITICAL ISSUES, MANCHESTER, MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2010 (2003).