English and Anglo-American Studies

The recurring theme of British and American characters in ‘face to face’ linguistic interaction in the same story, which highlights their different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, is one of the most exploited in Western cinema and television. Stories containing this opposition often represent a social as well as a linguistic commentary: Americans are typified as less educated, ‘coarser’ types, while British characters are often members of the upper classes and are consequently posh snobs with little human empathy (Ranzato 2018, 219-23). In linguistic terms, the interaction between the two types involves an ample use of the typical misunderstandings provoked by the lexical and phonological differences between the two varieties. This contrast is frequently reinforced by the stereotype of the British character as ‘the villain’ in a mostly American linguistic context (ibid., 223) The course examines the varieties of British and American English and aims to strengthen students' linguistic and translational skills through the analysis of films and TV series in which US and British accents and culture are clearly foregrounded and juxtaposed. The course is complemented by the second-year magistrale course (see CLA website pages for details). Erasmus students should contact me at the start of the course.

A level of English suitable to understand lessons given in English. However, please see "Programme" for specific information.

Texts: 1) Ranzato, Irene. 2018. “The British Upper Classes: Phonological Fact and Screen Fiction”. In Irene Ranzato and Serenella Zanotti (eds) Linguistic and Cultural Representation in Audiovisual Translation. London and New York: Routledge, 203-207. Ranzato, Irene and Luca Valleriani. 2024. “Sociolects on the Small Screen: The Case of the British Upper Class”. In Irene Ranzato and Patrick Zabalbeascoa (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Multilingualism and Language Varieties on Screen. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 97–121. Ranzato, Irene. 2025. “Linguistic Prejudice and Regional Pride: US Voices for Austen’s Classic”. In Irene Ranzato and Luca Valleriani (eds) English Classics in Audiovisual Translation. London and New York: Routledge, 203-207. Tamasi, Susan and Lamont Antieau. 2014. Language and Linguistic Diversity in the US. Taylor & Francis, 2014. Selection of chapters. Trotta, Joseph. 2024. “US Language Varieties in TV Series”. In Irene Ranzato and Patrick Zabalbeascoa, The Palgrave Handbook of Multilingualism and Language Varieties on Screen. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 97–121. Trudgill, Peter. 2000. The Dialects of England. London: Blackwell. Selection of chapters. Trudgill, Peter. 2001. Dialects. London & New York: Routledge. Selection of chapters. Wolfram, Walt and Natalie Schilling. 2016. American English. Dialects and Variation. Malden: Wiley Blackwell. Selection of chapters. 2) Texts and slides uploaded on the Google Classroom. A filmography will also be detailed during the course.

attendance recommended: audiovisual material will be watched and discussed during the lessons

Written test with open question on the texts included in the bibliography and a translation and/or linguistic analysis of a short text. The lettorato test includes an oral and a written part.

on-site lessons