Contemporary English Literature
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
This course explores the various developments of contemporary English literature, starting from a methodological reflection on the area of the discipline. It provides students with cultural and literary knowledge of the period ranging from the second half of the twentieth century to the present and offers reading paths and critical analysis of texts belonging to different literary currents and trends (Postmodernism, Postcolonialism, etc.). In addition, it draws attention to the continuities and discontinuities between past and present literature, to the contamination of literary genres and to the intersections between written works and other media (cinema, television, etc.).
Expected learning outcomes
KNOWLEDGE: By the end of the course, students should be able to discuss the contents of the discipline, contextualise the literary texts included in the programme within the cultural and literary background in which they were produced, and provide critical interpretations of the literary works included in the programme. LINGUISTIC AND LITERARY ABILITIES: Students should be able to read the texts and acknowledge their linguistic complexity. Students should also be able to critically analyse the texts included in the programme and be able to connect different authors, texts and literary trends. They should demonstrate understanding of the different critical approaches and of the various levels of textual interpretation. In addition, students are expected to express themselves with clarity and precision and to use the specific terminology of the discipline correctly.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Course title: Waterscapes in contemporary English literature.
Description: The course, which includes an introduction concerning contemporary English litera-ture and its chronological, geographical and critical frames, as well as an examination of some fundamental concepts related to the literary canon, focuses on the multiple representations of watery spaces in a selection of novels. Waterscapes play a central role in insular, colonial and post-colonial English culture. The issues of national identity, its formation and transformations, the questions of hybridity and liminality, and the motifs of travel, exile and displacement will be ex-plored in relation to different narrative forms. The symbolic dimension of water is also empha-sised by the extensive intertextuality that shapes the narratives and will be an essential element of their analysis.
The course is addressed to graduate students. Students interested in the 6 credit exam can choose Part I and Part II or Part I and Part III or Part II and Part III; students interested in the 9 credit ex-am are required to study Part I, II and III.
The syllabus is valid until February 2027.
Description: The course, which includes an introduction concerning contemporary English litera-ture and its chronological, geographical and critical frames, as well as an examination of some fundamental concepts related to the literary canon, focuses on the multiple representations of watery spaces in a selection of novels. Waterscapes play a central role in insular, colonial and post-colonial English culture. The issues of national identity, its formation and transformations, the questions of hybridity and liminality, and the motifs of travel, exile and displacement will be ex-plored in relation to different narrative forms. The symbolic dimension of water is also empha-sised by the extensive intertextuality that shapes the narratives and will be an essential element of their analysis.
The course is addressed to graduate students. Students interested in the 6 credit exam can choose Part I and Part II or Part I and Part III or Part II and Part III; students interested in the 9 credit ex-am are required to study Part I, II and III.
The syllabus is valid until February 2027.
Prerequisites for admission
The course is taught in English. Students are expected to read English literary texts and criticism and to discuss them in English, therefore a very good knowledge of English is required. A good knowledge of English literature, especially from the 19th century onwards, and a good ability to read and analyse literary texts are also recommended.
Teaching methods
The course adopts lectures with reading, analysis and contextualisation of the texts on the sylla-bus; it also makes use of audiovisual materials, such as sequences from television or film adaptations, documentaries, interviews, etc. Students are encouraged to actively participate in textual analysis and in the discussions in class and in the Team of the course.
Teaching Resources
Geenral bibliography:
"British Fiction in a Global Frame" in A Concise Companion to Contemporary British Fiction, ed-ited by James F. English (available on the website of the course)
"Framing the Present" in The Cambridge Companion to British Fiction 1980-2018, edited by Peter Boxall (available on the website of the course)
Serpil Oppermann, "The Blue Humanities: Crisscrossing Boundaries", in Blue Humanities (avail-able on the website of the course).
Further materials will be suggested in class and made available on the website or through links.
Part I: AQUATIC IDENTITIES
Literary texts:
Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (any edition in English)
Graham Swift, Waterland (any edition in English)
Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac (any edition in English)
Part II: CROSSINGS AND TRANSFORMATIONS
Literary texts:
Yann Martell, Life of Pi (any edition in English, the film adaptation will also be used)
Abdulrazak Gurnah, By the Sea (any edition in English)
Ian McEwan, On Chesil Beach (any edition in English, the film adaptation will also be used).
Part III: WATER BETWEEN HISTORY AND MEMORY
Literary texts:
Romesh Gunesekera, Reef (any edition in English)
Andrea Levy, Small Island (any edition in English, the television miniseries will also be used)
Kate Grenville, The Secret River (any edition in English).
The website of the course is online on the myAriel platform (http://myariel.unimi.it): students will be able to download materials and slides. The website also contains general information on the course and is continuously updated.
Those who have already read one of the texts in the syllabuses of other courses or previous syllabuses of Contemporary English Literature may reread it or agree with the responsible of the course to replace it.
Students will be invited to participate in a study day at the end of the course, which may include their presentations.
The course is also connected to the workshop 'Geolitterae. Interdisciplinary Explorations'. This workshop will take place in the first semester in blended mode and will include interventions from lecturers at other Italian universities as part of the Geolitterae Inter-University Research Centre.
"British Fiction in a Global Frame" in A Concise Companion to Contemporary British Fiction, ed-ited by James F. English (available on the website of the course)
"Framing the Present" in The Cambridge Companion to British Fiction 1980-2018, edited by Peter Boxall (available on the website of the course)
Serpil Oppermann, "The Blue Humanities: Crisscrossing Boundaries", in Blue Humanities (avail-able on the website of the course).
Further materials will be suggested in class and made available on the website or through links.
Part I: AQUATIC IDENTITIES
Literary texts:
Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (any edition in English)
Graham Swift, Waterland (any edition in English)
Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac (any edition in English)
Part II: CROSSINGS AND TRANSFORMATIONS
Literary texts:
Yann Martell, Life of Pi (any edition in English, the film adaptation will also be used)
Abdulrazak Gurnah, By the Sea (any edition in English)
Ian McEwan, On Chesil Beach (any edition in English, the film adaptation will also be used).
Part III: WATER BETWEEN HISTORY AND MEMORY
Literary texts:
Romesh Gunesekera, Reef (any edition in English)
Andrea Levy, Small Island (any edition in English, the television miniseries will also be used)
Kate Grenville, The Secret River (any edition in English).
The website of the course is online on the myAriel platform (http://myariel.unimi.it): students will be able to download materials and slides. The website also contains general information on the course and is continuously updated.
Those who have already read one of the texts in the syllabuses of other courses or previous syllabuses of Contemporary English Literature may reread it or agree with the responsible of the course to replace it.
Students will be invited to participate in a study day at the end of the course, which may include their presentations.
The course is also connected to the workshop 'Geolitterae. Interdisciplinary Explorations'. This workshop will take place in the first semester in blended mode and will include interventions from lecturers at other Italian universities as part of the Geolitterae Inter-University Research Centre.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of an oral interview. The minimum score is 18, the maximum is 30. The oral exam (in English) will entail general questions on the English novel and will also include method-ological questions on the frame of contemporary literature, the literary representation of national identity, the issues concerning the literary canon as well as the main critical approaches to fiction. More specific questions will pertain to the literary texts included in the syllabus, their language and motifs, their connections and intertextual quality.
Students may accept or reject the mark, in this case it will be recorded as "ritirato".
Students may accept or reject the mark, in this case it will be recorded as "ritirato".
Modules or teaching units
Part A and B
L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Part C
L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)