Notizie
Cari Studenti,
I miei corsi di Letteratura Inglese I (triennale, primo anno) e di Letteratura Inglese II-M (magistrale, secondo anno) si svolgeranno rispettivamente nel primo e nel secondo semestre dell'anno accademico 2024-2025.
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 vr4p5oa (qui sotto troverete una breve descrizione del corso).
Per dettagli su Letteratura Inglese II, usate il codice google classroom o5k3umt (qui sotto troverete una breve descrizione del corso).
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Dear Students,
My English Literature I (triennale, first year) will take place in Semester I, 2024-25.
My English Literature II (magistrale, second year) will take place in Semester II, 2024-25.
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: vr4p5oa (see also brief module description pasted below).
For more information about English Literature II, please use this google classroom code: o5k3umt (see also brief module description pasted below).
Letteratura Inglese I / English Literature I
A World Elsewhere: A Rough Guide to Shakespeare
Timetable and Room Numbers (semester I 2024-25)
Tuesdays, 12:00-14:00, room 105 (Marco Polo)
Fridays, 12:00-14:00, room 205 (Marco Polo)
Classes will begin on Tuesday, 1 October, and will end on Friday, 20 December
Exam Dates and Room Numbers
Friday, 6 June, 14.00-15:00 ---> aula 101
Friday, 27 June, 10.00-11:00 ---> aula 101
Thursday, 17 July, 14.00-15:00 ---> aula 102
Sample Exam Script
A sample exam script is posted on google classroom.
Brief Module Description
This programme consists of three blocks of four weeks, each devoted to one primary text.
Each block will begin with ONE two-hour introductory lecture about each of the three primary texts listed below in weeks 1, 5, and 9.
The following three weeks in each block (weeks 2-4, 6-8, and 10-12) will be devoted to exploring each ONE of the three primary texts, along with
- significant intertexts (e.g. sources, analogues, adaptations, etc.)
- a range of critical approaches, drawn from theatre history, performance studies, early modern critical race and gender studies
- and other ways of reading, interpreting and mobilizing the Shakespearean text that resonate both historically (what do we know about how Shakespeare was originally performed and read in his own time?) and in our own time (how is Shakespeare performed and read today?).
weeks 1, 5, and 9: 1x2-hour lecture per week
weeks 2-4, 6-8, and 10-12: 2x2-hour workshops per week
TOTAL 42 hours
Essential Reading
1. The three primary texts you will be studying on this module in 2024-2025 are:
Titus Andronicus
Twelfth Night
The Tempest
Please try to use good modern editions of Titus Andronicus, Twelfth Night, and The Tempest, 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
You are welcome to read Titus Andronicus, Twelfth Night, and The Tempest in Italian first, if reading the entire play in English is too challenging. But note that we will work with the original text in English, so please bring an English edition to class.
2.
Essential secondary reading:
a). Rocco Coronato, Letterature Inglese: da Beowulf a Brexit (Le monnier Università, 2022), chapter two, ‘Fioriture e Affioramenti: Le Rinascenze in Inglese Medio’ (1066-1485), and chapter three, ‘Mappe. Riforme e Rinascenze nella prima Modernità’ (1485-1625)’. PS If your first language is not Italian, you can use any reputable introduction to medieval and early modern English literature (e.g. The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature or The Short Oxford History of English Literature)
b). Roberta Mullini and Romana Zacchi, Introduzione allo Studio del Teatro Inglese (Napoli: Liguori, 2003), chapter one, ‘Parte Prima: Il Teatro Medievale (dalle origini al XVI secolo)’, and chapter two, ‘Parte Seconda: Il Teatro Rinascimentale (1567-1642)’. PS If your first language is not Italian, you can read 'The Playhouses' and 'The Staging' in Andrew Gurr, The Shakespearean Stage (any edition).
3. I will occasionally recommend short essays to support our discussion of recent critical approaches to these three plays; digital copies of these essays will be made available on google classroom.
Assessment
One written exam, consisting of 30 multiple-choice questions about the primary texts (Titus Andronicus, Twelfth Night and The Tempest) and about the history of English Literature, with a focus on drama, from its origins to 1642
Alternative Assessment (to be arranged with me via email):
Oral presentation of your close analysis of one of the extracts from the primary texts studied in this module; your close analysis should consider linguistic features and theatrical conventions; detailed analysis of historical contexts and relevant critical approaches.
English Literature II
Shakespeare 2.0
Timetable and Room Numbers
Mondays, 16:00-20:00, room T03 (Marco Polo)
Fridays, 16:00-20:00, room 103 (Marco Polo)
Classes will begin on Monday, 24 February, and will end on Friday, 23 May
Assessment Dates
Tbc
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 and reception of commercial drama in the age of Shakespeare
Part II: The afterlife of Shakespeare: stage
Part III: The afterlife of Shakespeare: page
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 theatrical forms and traditions, and on the interplay between theatrical and print cultures in early modern London
- PART II the re-presentation of Shakespeare's works in historical and contemporary performance and across national, linguistic and cultural borders
- PART III 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
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.
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'.