Notizie
Cari Studenti,
I miei corsi di Letteratura Inglese I (triennale, primo anno) e di Letteratura Inglese II-M (magistrale, secondo anno) si svolgeranno nel primo semestre dell'anno accademico 2025-2026.
Per contattarmi, potete farlo tramite email istituzionale: sonia.massai@uniroma1.it.
Orari di Ricevimento:
Online e di persona, su richiesta via email.
Per dettagli su Letteratura Inglese I, usate il codice google classroom l7sxfrv2 (qui sotto troverete una breve descrizione del corso).
Per dettagli su Letteratura Inglese II, usate il codice google classroom 2xs23tsw (qui sotto troverete una breve descrizione del corso).
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Dear Students,
My English Literature I (triennale, first year) and my English Literature II (magistrale, second year) will take place in Semester I, 2025-26.
To contact me, please send an email to my institutional address: sonia.massai@uniroma1.it.
Office Hours:
On demand, online or in person; please email me to book a date and time.
For more information about English Literature I, please use this google classroom code: l7sxfrv2 (see also brief module description pasted below).
For more information about English Literature II, please use this google classroom code: 2xs23tsw (see also brief module description pasted below).
Letteratura Inglese I / English Literature I
A World Elsewhere: A Rough Guide to Shakespeare
Timetable and Classrooms (semester I 2025-26)
Mondays, 16:00-18:00, classroom 110 (Marco Polo)
Tuesdays, 14:00-16:00, classroom 203 (Marco Polo)
Classes will begin on Monday, 6 October, and will end on Monday, 15 December
Exam Dates and Classrooms
Friday, 12 September, 14:00-15:00 ---> aula/classroom 206 (Marco Polo)
Sample Exam Script
A sample exam script is posted on google classroom.
Brief Module Description
This module consists of FIVE blocks of TWO weeks, each devoted to one primary play text by Shakespeare, plus ONE two-hour revision session in week 11.
Each two-week block will begin with ONE two-hour introductory lecture, followed by THREE two-hour workshop.
Workshops will be devoted to exploring different aspects of and approaches to the Shakespearean text, including:
- the historical context within which these texts were first written and performed;
- the material conditions of performance on the early modern stage;
- significant intertexts (e.g. sources, analogues, adaptations, etc.)
- a range of critical approaches drawn early modern critical race, gender studies, etc.
- Shakespeare in contemporary performance.
TOTAL DURATION OF “ENGLISH LITERATURE I”: 42 hours
The FIVE primary texts you will be studying on this module are:
Titus Andronicus
Richard III
Twelfth Night
Hamlet
The Tempest
Essential Reading:
Please try to use good modern editions of these six play texts, such as the New Cambridge Shakespeare, the Oxford Shakespeare, or the Arden Shakespeare. PS: The Cambridge Shakespeare is now available to Sapienza students, so you can read these plays online:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/publications/collections/cambridge-shakespeare
If you find reading Shakespeare in English challenging, feel free to read these six play texts first in Italian, but please be aware that we shall study and discuss them in English. You can also find good cinematic adaptations of these six plays online. You might find it easier to watch ‘the film of the play’ first to then move on to reading the text, perhaps first in Italian and then in English.
Recommended Secondary Reading
Any reputable introduction to medieval and early modern English literature (e.g. The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature, The Short Oxford History of English Literature, etc.)
Assessment
One written exam consisting of 30 multiple-choice questions about the five play texts and about the historical and literary contexts within which these texts were originally written and performed.
English Literature II
Shakespeare 2.0
Timetable and Classrooms
Mondays, 14:00-16:00, classroom 109 (Marco Polo)
Tuesdays, 12:00-14:00, classroom 109 (Marco Polo)
Wednesdays, 16:00-20:00, classroom 202 (Marco Polo)
Classes will begin on Monday, 6 October, and will end on Tuesday, 16 December
2024-25 Assessment Dates
11 September (please register on InfoStud and submit your essay to me via email between 8 and 9 September)
25 September (please register on InfoStud and submit your essay to me via email between 22 and 23 September)
2024-25 & 2025-26 Assessment Dates
29 January (please register on InfoStud and submit your essay to me via email between 26 and 27 January)
Please note:
Essays for each of the assessment dates listed above should be submitted to me by email (sonia.massai@uniroma1.it) as single-spaced word documents on the dates specified on InfoStud under 'Periodo Prenotazione'. Late submissions will not be accepted because I need time to mark all submitted essays by any of the assessment dates listed above.
Topics
Part I: The production of commercial drama in the age of Shakespeare
Part II: The afterlife of Shakespeare: page
Part III: The afterlife of Shakespeare: stage
Methodology I will give introductory lectures on:
- PART I the material conditions of theatrical production in the age of Shakespeare, focusing on the rise of commercial drama, on the influences of earlier texts (sources) and earlier theatrical forms and traditions, and on the interplay between theatrical and print cultures in early modern London
- PART II the transmission of Shakespeare's works into print, starting with a pre-history of Shakespearean editing in the seventeenth century and then moving on to the main developments of the editorial tradition from the eighteenth century to the present
- PART III the re-presentation of Shakespeare's works in historical and contemporary performance and across national, linguistic and cultural borders
My lectures will be followed by workshops aimed at honing independent research skills. These workshops will be structured around preliminary readings made available via google classroom and exercises that will count towards the alternative assessment open to attending students.
TOTAL DURATION OF “ENGLISH LITERATURE II”: 84 hours
Assessment
One end-of-semester essay.
Your essay should be no longer than 3,000 words, including footnotes. I will detract marks if your essay exceeds the recommended word limit, but I will not detract marks if your essay is slightly shorter.
Your essay should focus on ONE of the following topics:
a) close analysis of one of the primary texts studied on this module, supported by a 'thick description' and critical discussion of relevant contexts, including models of early modern dramatic authorship and sources, influences and / or early modern staging and printing practices on original composition
b) close analysis of one of the contemporary theatrical productions studied on this module, supported by a 'thick description' and critical discussion of relevant contexts, including theatrical company, venue and original audience; reviews, interviews and / or archival documents; recent scholarship on the history of the reception of your primary text on the English-speaking stage and beyond; relevant critical studies about your primary text and about the reception of Shakespeare in the relevant world region
c) editing of one extract from any of the primary texts studied on this module, including textual and commentary notes, and a short introduction about the history of its reception on stage and on the page
The term 'thick description' is a research methodology borrowed from the social sciences, but now widely used by literary critics too, which helps researchers focus not only on the linguistic, theatrical, textual or bibliographical make-up of a Shakespearean text but also on the cultural practices and social agents (including but not only Shakespeare as author) who collaboratively produced the corpus of works now known as 'Shakespeare'.