?Good knowledge of the English language

This module is taught entirely in English

• Demonstrate familiarity with the major themes and characteristics of nineteenth-century

novels.

• Read, understand and explicate the texts, showing cognisance of the historical

background.

• Develop close reading, critical thinking and comunicative skills.
• Become an active participant in class discussions by respectfully listening to and

engaging with your peers’ ideas.

Fictions of Transformation: Nineteenth-Century Novels

This module focuses on a selection of nineteenth-century novels, approached from a

variety of historical and critical perspectives. The main topics we will address include:

fiction and science (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein); the industrial novel (Charles Dickens’s

Hard Times and Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South); the individual and society

(Charlotte Brontë’s Villette and Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations); fiction and

economic change (George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss and George Gissing’s New Grub Street).

By comparing female- and male-authored novels, the module will investigate

issues of gender as they relate to social and cultural codifications. Particular attention

will be devoted to formal aspects (narrative structure, realism, the genres of Victorian

fiction, and its problem-solving strategies) and to the fraught relation between Victorian

ideologies and narrative discourse (bourgeois ‘values’, models of subjectivity, the novel

as a form of intervention within a changing social world). The aim of this module is to

introduce students to the rich variety of nineteenth-century novels and to develop their

ability to think critically about the relationships between literature and history.

This is an introductory, lecture-based module: the novels will all be analysed in class, but

students are required to choose only 3 out of 7 novels for the exam. Novels should be

read in the original version (in English), but students can use the Italian translation if

needed. Lessons are in English. However, since this is a first-year course, and students

are likely to have different levels of competence in English, they have the option to take

the oral exam in Italian. Alongside novels, students are also required to read

(attentively) at least 2 critical articles for each novel selected and the introduction to

“The Victorian Era” in The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. These secondary

sources are of great help in understanding the subtleties of nineteenth-century prose

and the broader context. Both primary and secondary sources will be made available (in

PDF format) on the Teams platform only to students registered for this class.

The oral exam focuses on the novels chosen by the students and includes the following

typology of questions:

1) A topic freely selected by the student: this provides students with the opportunity to

carefully prepare, at home, an in-depth critical study of texts or themes that they

consider of great interest); 2) Specific questions on primary texts (novels): questions

may focus on particular episodes or scenes; on themes that emerge as central to each

novel; and on formal features. Mere knowledge of the plot is not sufficient;

3) Questions related to the critical articles on the syllabus: this part of the exam aims to

assess the student's ability to engage with academic critical discourse, to understand

the interpretations of the novels provided by critics, and hopefully to use the ideas set

forth in the articles to formulate his or her own line of interpretation;

4) Context questions: the examinee will need to demonstrate the ability to place the

novels in their specific context of reference. The introduction "The Victorian Era"

provides many insights in this regard and should be considered an integral part of the

program, not optional reading. Further discussion of authors, works, and contexts can

be found on The Victorian Web: http://www.victorianweb.org/

Novels (students will choose 3 out of 7 novels for the exam)

All texts are available on the Teams Platform (PDF files).

1) (A) “The Victorian Era”, in The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, 2013, pp. XLILXXXVI

2) (A) Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818), any edition

3) (A) Charlotte Brontë, Villette (1853), Broadview Press

4) (A) Charles Dickens, Great Expectations (1861), any edition

5) (A) Charles Dickens, Hard Times (1854), any edition

6) (A) Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (1855), any edition

7) (A) George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss (1860), any edition

8) (A) George Gissing New Grub Street (1891), any edition

This is an introductory, lecture-based module: the novels will all be analysed in class, but

students are required to choose only 3 out of 7 novels for the exam. Novels should be

read in the original version (in English), but students can use the Italian translation if

needed. Lessons are in English. However, since this is a first-year course, and students

are likely to have different levels of competence in English, they have the option to take

the oral exam in Italian. Alongside novels, students are also required to read

(attentively) at least 2 critical articles for each novel selected and the introduction to

“The Victorian Era” in The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. These secondary

sources are of great help in understanding the subtleties of nineteenth-century prose

and the broader context. Both primary and secondary sources will be made available (in

PDF format) on the Teams platform only to students registered for this class.

• • Lectures
  • Class discussions (dialogical approach)
  • Use of slides (Power Point presentations for each lesson)
  • Use of reliable websites and repositories about nineteenth-century fiction (digital resources)

  
  

• ORAL EXAM

  Typology of questions: a topic freely chosen by the examinee; specific questions on primary texts (novels); questions related to the critical articles on the syllabus; context questions

  
  

  CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION:

  • 50% ability to understand and analyse the novels in relation to the historical context;
  • 20% comprehension of literary criticism and ability to integrate interpretative
  • ideas;
  • 20% critical thinking and communication skills;
  • 10% linguistic competence (fluency).

  
  

English only

English