To be able to talk and write about the main literary themes, periods, and genres (e.g. Transcendentalism, confessional poetry, the 1950s, etc.) and discuss controversial issues in relation to the texts examined. To apply soundscape studies to literary texts.

The course is focused on the “soundscape”, a notion which belongs to various disciplinary fields such as ecology, acoustics, architecture, music, philosophy, and cultural studies. My aim is to apply this notion to the study of literature and to literary theory and for this reason students joining this class are requested to have a background basic knowledge of the history of US literature and to be ready to analyze literary texts and criticism from this perspective. We shall also organize a poetry-translation laboratory and make team work on  “Americanizing the A25_A24_EN 2016 test”.

NOTICE: In order to attend the course, it is necessary to have a basic knowledge of Anglo-American literature and history. This knowledge will be tested during the first week. The following texts can be useful:

Literature:

Guido Fink et altri, Storia della letteratura americana or

http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/uploads/images/HgvMMY8lezLAI9A1tuVIhg/outline_of_american_literature.pdf or

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/American_literature.aspx

Richard Gray, A History of American Literature, file:///C:/Users/Alessandra/Desktop/a-history-of-american-literature-2004.pdf or

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/19939/American-literature

History:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/US_History or

http://www.ait.org.tw/infousa/zhtw/DOCS/historytln.pdf

Readings:

(‘600- ‘800): Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter), Melville (Moby Dick), Thoreau (“Sounds”), Poe (“The black cat”, “The Tell-Tale-Heart”), Gilman (“The Yellow Wallpaper”)

 (‘900-today):Faulkner (The Sound and the Fury), Ellison (The Invisible Man), Carver (Chathedral), Silko (Lullaby), Foer (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

Talk and write about literary subjects in English

Discuss controversial issues in English

Make a ppt presentation and write an essay in English

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Books, articles, and films

Teaching

Lectures, class discussion; individual study at home

Attendance

Highly recommended, but non compulsory

Course books

D. Izzo, G. Mariani (a cura di), America at large. Americanistica transnazionale e nuova comparatistica, Milano, Shake Edizioni 2004

A. Calanchi, A. Laquidara (eds), Prospettive sonore: percezione & mediazione, Galaad Edizioni, Giulianova 2016

A. Calanchi, “Tender is the Wild. Subliminal soundscapes and aural sublime in Charles Brockden Brown’s proto-crime fiction”, in www.academia.edu

Further details and more material in “MATERIALI DIDATTICI”

Assessment

Oral presentation (with ppt); two written questionnaires: A. 31 multiple-choice questions, B. 2 open questions

(oral: 0-11, written: A 0-31,  B 0-10 + 0-10. Total: 0-62, to be divided in two).

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

The whole corse is held in English, as well as the exam