Scienze linguistiche, letterarie e della traduzione

NARRATIVES FROM THE “AMERICAN CENTURY”: We will read and discuss a selection of twentieth-century US novels. This century is often referred to as “the American century”, in reference to the US leading role in governing globalization, world politics and finance. In investigating a range of major novels of this period, we will see how writers and texts symbolically reproduce, negotiate, question, and challenge the U.S. dominant discourse. We will see how, in contrast with the notion of the “American century”, these novels also voice the emergence of a multifaceted new social reality, in which transnationalism, multiculturalism, and multilateralism play a decisive role in shaping contemporary US life.

Students are expected to have a good knowledge of English. Class will be held in English

Primary texts: - Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (1929), any unabridged edition; - William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929), New York: Norton, 2014, or any other unabridged edition; - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (2000), any unabridged edition; - Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse- Five (1969), any unabridged edition; - Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977), any unabridged edition; - Don Delillo, White Noise (1985), Text and Criticism, Penguin, 1998, or any other unabridged edition; - Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (1970), any unabridged edition; - Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior (1976), any unabridged edition. *** Students will choose 6 out of these 8 texts we will read in class Selected critical bibliography: - LUCE, Henry R., “The American Century,” Diplomatic History, Spring 1999, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 159-171.* - WHITFIELD, Stephen J., “The American Century of Henry R. Luce,” Revue LISA/LISA e-journal, open access, https://doi.org/10.4000/lisa.917 - “Turning In and Out of the American Century,” RSAJournal, 23/2012, open access, https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/rsajournal/issue/view/691 - HODGSON, Godfrey, “The American Century,” in The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture, New York: Cambridge U.P., 2006, pp. 33-52. - SAPIRO, Gisèle, “The Transnational Literary Field between (Inter)-nationalism and Cosmopolitanism,” Journal of World Literature, 2020, 5 (4), pp. 481-504, https:// shs.hal.science/halshs-03047800 - Santin, Bryan M., The Cambridge Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Novel and Politics, Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Not mandatory, but strongly recommended.

The final oral exam will consist of a number of questions (from 3 to 5) on the literary works included in the syllabus, and on the notion of “the American century” which they are expected to critically define and discuss. The exam will assess the following abilities: detailed knowledge and contextualization of the literary works; textual analysis and knowledge of the main formal and thematic features of the literary works; discussion of their relevance in connection with the American century ideology. Students will receive an excellent score (26-30) when showing a detailed knowledge and an ability to contextualize the literary texts, to discuss and critically apply the ideology of the American century to the literary works studied. They will get a sufficient score (10-25) when showing an overall knowledge of the literary works and of the American century notion. The score will be insufficient when the minimum knowledge of texts and critical bibliography is lacking.

Primary texts: - Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (1929), any unabridged edition; - William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929), New York: Norton, 2014, or any other unabridged edition; - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (2000), any unabridged edition; - Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse- Five (1969), any unabridged edition; - Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977), any unabridged edition; - Don Delillo, White Noise (1985), Text and Criticism, Penguin, 1998, or any other unabridged edition; - Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (1970), any unabridged edition; - Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior (1976), any unabridged edition. Selected critical bibliography: - LUCE, Henry R., “The American Century,” Diplomatic History, Spring 1999, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 159-171.* - WHITFIELD, Stephen J., “The American Century of Henry R. Luce,” Revue LISA/LISA e-journal, open access, https://doi.org/10.4000/lisa.917 - “Turning In and Out of the American Century,” RSAJournal, 23/2012, open access, https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/rsajournal/issue/view/691 - HODGSON, Godfrey, “The American Century,” in The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture, New York: Cambridge U.P., 2006, pp. 33-52. - SAPIRO, Gisèle, “The Transnational Literary Field between (Inter)-nationalism and Cosmopolitanism,” Journal of World Literature, 2020, 5 (4), pp. 481-504, https:// shs.hal.science/halshs-03047800 - Santin, Bryan M., The Cambridge Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Novel and Politics, Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Lectures; students class presentations; class discussions.

NARRATIVES FROM THE “AMERICAN CENTURY”: We will read and discuss a selection of twentieth-century US novels. This century is often referred to as “the American century”, in reference to the US leading role in governing globalization, world politics and finance. In investigating a range of major novels of this period, we will see how writers and texts symbolically reproduce, negotiate, question, and challenge the U.S. dominant discourse. We will see how, in contrast with the notion of the “American century”, these novels also voice the emergence of a multifaceted new social reality, in which transnationalism, multiculturalism, and multilateralism play a decisive role in shaping contemporary US life.

Students are expected to have a good knowledge of English. Class will be held in English

Primary texts: - Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (1929), any unabridged edition; - William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929), New York: Norton, 2014, or any other unabridged edition; - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (2000), any unabridged edition; - Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse- Five (1969), any unabridged edition; - Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977), any unabridged edition; - Don Delillo, White Noise (1985), Text and Criticism, Penguin, 1998, or any other unabridged edition; - Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (1970), any unabridged edition; - Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior (1976), any unabridged edition. *** Students will choose 6 out of these 8 texts we will read in class Selected critical bibliography: - LUCE, Henry R., “The American Century,” Diplomatic History, Spring 1999, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 159-171.* - WHITFIELD, Stephen J., “The American Century of Henry R. Luce,” Revue LISA/LISA e-journal, open access, https://doi.org/10.4000/lisa.917 - “Turning In and Out of the American Century,” RSAJournal, 23/2012, open access, https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/rsajournal/issue/view/691 - HODGSON, Godfrey, “The American Century,” in The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture, New York: Cambridge U.P., 2006, pp. 33-52. - SAPIRO, Gisèle, “The Transnational Literary Field between (Inter)-nationalism and Cosmopolitanism,” Journal of World Literature, 2020, 5 (4), pp. 481-504, https:// shs.hal.science/halshs-03047800 - Santin, Bryan M., The Cambridge Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Novel and Politics, Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Not mandatory, but strongly recommended.

The final oral exam will consist of a number of questions (from 3 to 5) on the literary works included in the syllabus, and on the notion of “the American century” which they are expected to critically define and discuss. The exam will assess the following abilities: detailed knowledge and contextualization of the literary works; textual analysis and knowledge of the main formal and thematic features of the literary works; discussion of their relevance in connection with the American century ideology. Students will receive an excellent score (26-30) when showing a detailed knowledge and an ability to contextualize the literary texts, to discuss and critically apply the ideology of the American century to the literary works studied. They will get a sufficient score (10-25) when showing an overall knowledge of the literary works and of the American century notion. The score will be insufficient when the minimum knowledge of texts and critical bibliography is lacking.

Primary texts: - Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (1929), any unabridged edition; - William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929), New York: Norton, 2014, or any other unabridged edition; - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (2000), any unabridged edition; - Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse- Five (1969), any unabridged edition; - Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977), any unabridged edition; - Don Delillo, White Noise (1985), Text and Criticism, Penguin, 1998, or any other unabridged edition; - Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (1970), any unabridged edition; - Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior (1976), any unabridged edition. Selected critical bibliography: - LUCE, Henry R., “The American Century,” Diplomatic History, Spring 1999, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 159-171.* - WHITFIELD, Stephen J., “The American Century of Henry R. Luce,” Revue LISA/LISA e-journal, open access, https://doi.org/10.4000/lisa.917 - “Turning In and Out of the American Century,” RSAJournal, 23/2012, open access, https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/rsajournal/issue/view/691 - HODGSON, Godfrey, “The American Century,” in The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture, New York: Cambridge U.P., 2006, pp. 33-52. - SAPIRO, Gisèle, “The Transnational Literary Field between (Inter)-nationalism and Cosmopolitanism,” Journal of World Literature, 2020, 5 (4), pp. 481-504, https:// shs.hal.science/halshs-03047800 - Santin, Bryan M., The Cambridge Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Novel and Politics, Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Lectures; students class presentations; class discussions.