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ANGLO-AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE III

Course Overview

The course in Anglo-American Literature and Culture is a 54-hour course that runs throughout the academic year. It is taught in English and focuses on the essential features and major issues of Anglo-American literature and culture from the late 19th century to the present day.

Course Details

• Code: 65300
• Academic Year: 2025/2026
• Credits:
  • 9 cfu anno 3 LINGUE E CULTURE MODERNE 8740 (L-11) - GENOVA
  • 6 cfu anno 3 LINGUE E CULTURE MODERNE 8740 (L-11) - GENOVA
  • 6 cfu anno LINGUE E CULTURE MODERNE 8740 (L-11) - GENOVA
• Scientific Disciplinary Sector: L-LIN/11
• Language: English
• Teaching Location: GENOVA
• Semester: Annual

Aims and Content

Learning Outcomes

The course aims to familiarize students with major trends of American culture and with important works in different genres. Students will learn how to analyze such works competently from a historical, textual, and generic perspective.

Aims and Learning Outcomes

At the completion of the course, the student will have become familiar with major American historical and cultural developments and with some major American writers and texts. The student will be able to interpret these developments in English and Italian with reference to fiction, poetry, drama, and literary theory.

Prerequisites

Preferably, students should already have taken an introductory course in American literature. However, personal interest and a good background in reading literature may be sufficient to participate usefully in this course. A fair knowledge of English (B2 or superior level) and an ability to follow complex historical and cultural arguments are also required.

Teaching Methods

The course includes lectures in English and seminar activities, workgroups, and close-readings. Students who are unable to attend will have to read some supplementary material. Attendance is mandatory for 28 hours out of 36 and 13 hours out of 18 (75% of the course).

Syllabus/Content

The course focuses on the literature and culture of the Midwest, the American heartland, and one of the most representative spaces of the United States. Through a selection of a wide variety of literary texts, students will be introduced to different issues, including pioneer's life in the Midwest, the African-American experience in Chicago ghettos, and the pastoral beauty of the natural landscape.

Recommended Reading/Bibliography

Authors that might be included in the course include:

• Willa Cather, O Pioneers (1913)
• Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio (1919) selected short stories
• Sinclair Lewis, Main Street , (1920) selected short stories
• Richard Wright, Native Son (1940)
• Langston Hughes, Not Without Laughter (1930)
• Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac , (1949) selected essays
• Jim Harrison, (1988)
• Charles Baxter, Gryphon: New and Selected Stories (2011), selected short stories
• David Foster Wallace, selected short stories and essays
• Louise Erdrich, selected short stories

Exams

Exam Description

Students will take a written exam at the end of the course. For students who will attend the course, the evaluation will be based on both their active participation in the lessons (50%) and the final exam (50%). The evaluation will be based entirely on the final exam for the other students.

Assessment Methods

The exam paper involves open questions and commentary on literary texts. The open questions test knowledge and comprehension; the commentary tests the student's ability to recognize and describe the main formal features of specific texts and connect them to contextual historical and cultural information.

Further Information

Attendance is highly recommended. Students who cannot attend will have to study some supplementary or different material. Course enrolment via aulaweb is mandatory. Examination enrolment is through the unige website. This syllabus is valid till February 2027. Erasmus students are welcome.