Scheda insegnamento

Non-native speakers are required to have an understanding of spoken and written Italian at B2 level (CEFR). If necessary, and, in particular, if indicated during the entrance interviews, students must make use of the peer language tutoring service offered by the University. Level of English: C1 (CEFR). Excellent ability to critically read texts belonging to different types of discourse. General knowledge of 19th and early 20th century literature. It is recommended that students have attended and passed the English language course required for the first year.

The primary objectives of the course are: · to consolidate English language skills to C1 level (CEFR), with the acquisition of advanced literary and cultural skills useful for reading and understanding traditional English-language literary texts · knowledge and ability to analyse American English-language literary texts · analytical reflection on general and specific aspects of literary communication · critical knowledge of the deep structures of the text · the ability to contextualise the language of fiction within the broad and diverse network of cultural connections - including historical ones - relating to the landscape of American English-language literature.

The course also aims to develop independent judgement in understanding American English-language texts through reading and to refine communication skills in the ability to create connections between the various aspects of content acquired, relating to the panorama of English-language literature, in order to promote understanding and learning skills and intercultural dialogue in multi-ethnic and multilingual social contexts.

Title of the course: “‘The “New Woman”: Women Writers at the Turn of the Century’”

The course period of interest goes from 1890's through the 1920’s, a period of remarkable artistic achievement for women in America, as well as a period of political and social changes, due to rapid industrialization, urbanization and immigration.This period sees women moving from the private to the public sphere (this includes their involvement in social, political and economic questions; they ask for social reforms; consequently, women writers of different class, race, religion, region, and education promote unity according to gender and determination, in order to become a homogeneous group, break with the past, achieve high levels of educationan and career, stop their dependance of men by gaining economic independence, and write about sexual exploitation of women, institutional violence against women, the preoccupation with the figure of the woman artist, racism and other kind of discrimination and the social construction of motherhood.

During the course, the lecturer will illustrate the lives and the socio-literary achievements of some key figures of the day, as Kate Chopin, Jane Addams, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, all women writers and ‘new women’ who were often torn between a frank representation of various forms of awakening and fear of rejection and ostracism. Consequently, their female characters are caught in a dilemma between convention and rebellion, the status quo and the overturning of patriarchal rule.” (Gianfranca Balestra, “Women Writers on the Verge of the Twentieth Century: Edith Wharton et al.” (2012)

The course will consist of seminar-style lectures (in person and online, if applicable – mainly in English), held, generally, twice a week; during the course, topics will be presented and discussed after class readings and text analysis and guided individual study; the course will include workshops and exercises, in which debate among students and interaction between students and the lecturer will be encouraged through critical discussion in English, eliciting personal analysis and considerations concerning the texts proposed.

The final test will be a written exam in English (the lecturer reserves the right to structure part of the exam in Italian, where clearly necessary, in order to better assess students' knowledge of the topics covered in class and during seminars, and the reference bibliography) in two main parts. In the first part, students will be asked to answer to an open question concerning the theoretical aspects related to the texts read and analysed during the course. Students will be required to demonstrate their knowledge and skills by presenting their own original work based on the reflections and ideas. For students with learning disabilities, whose certification is on file with the Student Secretariat, compensatory and/or dispensatory measures are provided. Requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis in order to adapt the programme and examination methods to individual needs. To this end, it is necessary to contact the lecturer well in advance, including through the Disability and SLD Commission. In the second part, students will be asked to carry out exercises at the B2 level of the CEFR based on the texts analysed and discusses in the pratical module.

For attending students:

• Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth [1905], Giunti Editore, 2003 (or another equivalent edition);
• Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence [1920], Collins Classics, 2010 (or another equivalent edition);
• Kate Chopin, The Awakening [1899], The Story of an Hour [1894], The Storm [1898], Désirée's Baby [1893, ]in The Awakening and Other Stories, Oxford University Press, 2000 (or another equivalent edition);
• Jane Addams, selected readings from Bread Givers [1880] and *A New Conscience and Ancient Evils [1912] - material available on LOL
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper [1892], Martino Fine Book, 2018 (or another equivalent edition) and Why I wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper' [1913], in the Forerunner - material available on LOL
• Gianfranca Balestra, Women Writers on the Verge of the Twentieth Century: Edith Wharton et al., in RSA, Turning in and out of the American Century, 23/2012, pp. 10-24.
• Anne Stefani, Introduction: (Hi)stories of American Women: Writings and Re-writings,in Transatlantica [Online], 2 | 2017, Online since 22 May 2019, connection on 01 February 2023. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/10045 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/transatlantica.10045
• Eric Homberger, in Acoma, Rivista Internazionale di Studi Nord Americani, n. 17, estate-autunno 1999, pp. 11-22.
• • Power Point Material provided by the lecturer on LOL Learning online.

For non-attending students - students will study the above listed titles plus the complete reading of:

•   **William H. Chafe**, *Women and American Society*, in *Making America* (Luther S. Luedtke, ed.), United States Information Agency, 1987, pp. 258-269.

• Alessandra Nucifora, Note sul Modernismo americano, in Dall'avanguardia storica agli anni Trenta e oltre (a cura di G. Cianci), Principato, 1991, pp. 30-44.

Whenever possible, the lecturer will upload on LOL Learning online some of the above listed titles in pdf/word format. N.B. The lecturer reserves the right to supplement or replace the study material included among the reference, consultation and in-depth texts).

•   **Robert S. Levine** (ed.), *The Norton Anthology of American Literature* - 10th Edition, Package 2: Volumes C, D, E, Amy (Columbia University), 2022.

Additional material will be provided during class and made available online through LOL.

The lecturer is always available at agatino.vecchio@unistrapg.it and will meet students on requests.