Esame orale in lingua inglese

/

By investigating the web of rhetorical and cultural representations which characterized the post-WWII period up to the present day, this course explores concepts of nation and tradition across multiple public spheres and the media, focusing on the conflicting aspects of Englishness and Britishness. Drawing on literary criticism, cultural studies and discourse analysis, it ranges from fiction to political communication to disclose the strategies and results of this process of identity construction. After a methodological introduction and a brief overview of the social and cultural legacy of WWII, the module will investigate the consequences of Margaret Thatcher’s policy on the nation’s sense of itself in the 1980s, followed by the conceptual freshness of "New Labour" and the discursive branding of Great Britain that started in the mid-1990s.

Selected chapters from:

A.Marzola, Englishness: percorsi nella cultura britannica del Novecento, Roma : Carocci, 1999 (parte seconda).
L. De Michelis, L'isola e il mondo : intersezioni culturali nella Gran Bretagna d'oggi, Milano : Franco Angeli, 2008 (paragrafi da 1.1 a 2.2, da 3.1 a 4.3 e 6.3; capitolo 3.1 solo per la seconda parte del corso – IV trimestre).
K.Kumar, The making of English national identity, Cambridge : Cambridge university press, 2003 (capitoli 1 e 8; già presenti nella dispensa).

Solo per chi frequenta la seconda parte del corso (9 CFU):
Connor, The English Novel in History, capitolo “Outside In”.
Poole, An Introduction to Contemporary Fiction, capitolo “Graham Swift and the Mourning After”.
De Michelis, L’Isola e il Mondo, Par. 3.1.

Lettura integrale di almeno 1 dei seguenti libri (almeno 2 per chi frequenta anche la seconda parte del corso - 9 CFU):
K. Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
G.Swift, Last Orders
J.Barnes, England England
H.Kureishi, My Beautiful Laudrette

La dispensa sarà disponibile presso il Dipartimento di Lingue (Anna e Roberto) e presso la copisteria CLU di corso Carlo Alberto. Ulteriore materiale sarà scaricabile dalla pagina personale del docente.