Good all-round language skills in English

ability to explore the complexities of literary signification, to appreciate literature as
an expression of historical and cultural preoccupations; to develop the capacity for
critical thinking and for communicating effectively in sepaking and writing.

The Way We Live Now: Fiction and Social Commentary

This course is designed to stimulate discussion on the relations between literature,
the form-giving power of fiction and the social world. Through close readings of
novels by both Victorian and contemporary authors, we will analyse how fiction
engages with its own present time. By comparing 'condition-of-England' novels
produced in different time periods, we will place particular emphasis on the historicity
of writing and reading activities. Considering the centrality of financial questions in
the novels under scrutiny, this course will also investigate the complex intersections
of literature and economics. Digital humanities resources will be used in class to help
students contextualise the novels and to introduce them to the techniques of 'distant
reading'. To this end, we will use the Pro-Quest digital archive of British Periodicals.

• 1.  (A) Charles Dickens Little Dorrit qualsiasi (in inglese), UK, 2000
• 2.  (A) Anthony Trollope The Way We Live Now qualsiasi (in inglese), UK, 2000
• 3.  (A) Charlotte Riddell The Race for Wealth Hutchinson, London, 1866
• 4.  (A) Sabastian Faulks A Week in December Vintage, London, 2009
• 5.  (A) John Lanchester Capital Faber & Faber, London, 2013
• 6.  (A) Robert Harris The Fear Index Arrow Books, London, 2011

A lezione verranno analizzati tutti i romanzi, ma è obbligatoria la lettura di 3 romanzi a scelta dello studente. Il testo di Riddell verrà messo a disposizione in file PDF (essendo di difficile reperimento). Il materiale critico verrà fornito all'inizio del corso.

• Lectures and class discussions
  seminars with invited guests
  students workshops

• 2000-word essay in English (50%)
  Power-point presentation in class (50%)

inglese

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