Program Overview

---

ENGLISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE III

Course Overview

This is a 9-credit course taught in English in the second semester, intended for third-year LCM students. It introduces aspects of twentieth-century literature, focusing on the crisis of representation and experimentation in Modernism and on Anglo-American poetry of the second half of the twentieth century.

Aims and Content

Learning Outcomes

The course aims to provide students with a basic knowledge of British literature and culture from the Renaissance to the present age, with special emphasis on the development of modern fiction, post-colonial studies, twentieth-century modernism, and post-modernism.

Aims and Learning Outcomes

Students who attend this course regularly and study the prescribed materials will be able to:

• Discuss literary forms and the most important personalities of 20th-century literature.
• Be familiar with numerous aspects and issues of European Modernism and of contemporary Anglo-American Poetry.
• Be acquainted with the main features of 20th-century short stories and poems: multiple points of view, break with tradition, challenge to the principle of authority.
• Analyze highly complex texts, recognizing the main formal features of the single text and relating it to the historical and cultural context, as well as using the cues and ideas offered by critical material.

Prerequisites

An intermediate-advanced knowledge of English is required to follow classes and read materials in English.

Teaching Methods

Lectures in English (54 hours; 5 hours per week; second semester) from an interdisciplinary perspective and with an interactive teaching method. Attendance is highly recommended, also because of the active participation of students in the lessons, aiming at refining their critical ability to discuss and analyze literary texts.

Syllabus/Content

The course aims at introducing students to the English Literature of the 20th century. Lessons will focus on the historical, social, and cultural Anglo-American context, analyzing it from a European and Extra-European point of view. Particular attention will be devoted to "other cultures," at the poles of Europe, which become a new source of inspiration.

All "isms" of Modernism will be discussed in detail and in an interdisciplinary perspective, with particular attention to the visual arts (impressionism, expressionism, futurism, cubism, surrealism), to music and dance, and to the cultural revolution of the Sixties.

All literary texts, poetry, short stories, essays will be read in an interdisciplinary perspective.

Recommended Reading/Bibliography

A collection of British short stories and Anglo-American poetry of the 20th century edited by Stefania Michelucci. The collection will include stories by D.H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, James Joyce, and poems by Thom Gunn, Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin.

Further critical material on the literary texts and on the historical-cultural context will be available during the course. For non-attending students, an integrative reading list will be available.

Teachers and Exam Board

• Teacher: Stefania Michelucci
• Exam Board:
  • Stefania Michelucci (President)
  • Laura Colombino
  • Luisa Villa (President Substitute)
  • Domenico Lovascio (Substitute)

Lessons

Lessons Start

February 2026. All students are invited to check all information and material about the lessons.

Class Schedule

• Wednesday: 16-18 Room 1 (Albergo dei Poveri), (For all students).
• Wednesday: 18-19 Room 1 (Albergo dei Poveri). (For students with 9 CFU).
• Friday: 10-12 Room IV, Balbi 5 (For all students).

Exams

Exam Description

The exam will be an oral exam for all students. There will be open questions on the historical-cultural context, on the literary texts, and on the critical material. The exam will be in English.

Assessment Methods

The open questions are related to the whole program (historical period, cultural contexts, literary texts) and are meant to test the students' knowledge and comprehension of the course. They also include the analysis of literary texts. Students are expected to be able to recognize and discuss a text with reference to the historical cultural context, using also some suggestions and ideas from the critical material.

Exam Schedule

• Date: 22/01/2026, Time: 14:00, Location: GENOVA, Degree type: Orale
• Date: 05/02/2026, Time: 14:00, Location: GENOVA, Degree type: Orale

Further Information

Attendance is heartily recommended. Students who are unable to attend will have to study some supplementary material. Subscription to the course is mandatory. This program expires on July 2027.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework, and exams, should speak with the instructor and with the Department's disability liaison.