Unit English Literature II

Course
Languages, comparative literatures and intercultural translation
Study-unit Code
A000384
Curriculum
Lingue e letterature
Teacher
Annalisa Volpone
Teachers
  • Annalisa Volpone
Hours
  • 54 ore - Annalisa Volpone
CFU
9
Course Regulation
Coorte 2020
Offered
2021/22
Learning activities
Affine/integrativa
Area
Attività formative affini o integrative
Academic discipline
L-LIN/10
Type of study-unit
Opzionale (Optional)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa monodisciplinare
Language of instruction
English
Contents
Ecocriticism and sustainability in the fiction of Jeanette Winterson and Ali Smith (via Virginia Woolf).

This course focuses on the notion of ecocriticism and sustainability in a selection of novels by Jeanette Winterson and Ali Smith. In particular, the course discusses how these writers represent the man/environment relationship, in a world that seems to have come to its final stage.
Reference texts
Virginia Woolf, The Waves (integral reading, text uploaded to Unistudium)
Jeanette Winterson, The Lighthousekeeping (London: Mariner Books, 2006)
Ali Smith, Like (London: Virago, 1997)
The critical material will be uploaded to Unistudium
Educational objectives
In this course an in-depth analysis of the major forms of ecological consciousness in the fiction of Winterson and Smith. The reading of the texts will enhance their skills in textual comprehension and analysis, and in the acquisition of a literary critical language.
Prerequisites
Knowledge of the historical and literary context (important) and of the texts examined (useful).
Teaching methods
Although the course is mainly structured as face-to-face lessons, students are invited to comment and discuss about the lecture subject.
Learning verification modality
A 2500 word essay in English to be submitted at least 10 days before the exam session, and a brief oral discussion of the themes and texts explored in the course (15 minutes max).
Extended program
This course focuses on the notion of ecocriticism and sustainability in a selection of novels by Jeanette Winterson and Ali Smith. In particular, the course discusses how these writers represent the man/environment relationship, in a world that seems to have come to its final stage. Following Woolf’s example, their narrative shares the essentially modernist confidence in the redemptive, transformative value of art. Whereby fiction can transform the world into an environment that respects and protects all beings and entities.
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