Ateneo - UPO

INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH ROMANTIC CULTUREThis course is intended as an introduction to English Romantic culture from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century, exploring its historical, political, and social contexts, as well as the forms of sociability — literary circles, salons, correspondence, publishing networks, and transnational exchanges — through which it was produced and circulated. Alongside major Romantic themes such as nature, imagination, childhood, memory, subjectivity, and the Gothic, the course gives substantial attention to Britain’s imperial expansion, abolitionism, and the gendered structures of Romantic culture. Authors discussed will include William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary Wollstonecraft, Olaudah Equiano, Anna Letitia Barbauld, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, Felicia Hemans, and Mary Shelley.

S. T. Duncan Wu (a c. di), Romanticism: An Anthology, Oxford, Blackwell, 2006; Duncan Wu (a c. di), A Companion to Romanticism, Oxford, Blackwell, 1998; Stuart Curran (a c. di), The Cambridge Companion to British Romanticism, Cambridge, C.U.P., 1993; Diego Saglia, Modernità del Romanticismo, Marsilio, 2023.

The course is consistent with the specific educational objectives of the Degree Program in Modern Foreign Languages, which include the acquisition of advanced linguistic and literary competences in the languages studied, as well as the ability to read and critically interpret literary texts within their historical and cultural contexts.
The course’s foundational learning objectives are:to introduce students to the main developments in English Romantic literature, its major figures, and the genres through which it was expressed;to situate the texts analyzed within their broader historical and cultural context, focusing in particular on how literary discourse engages with the complex events that shaped the Romantic period — industrialization, revolutionary movements, the post-Napoleonic Restoration, the making of the British Empire — and with debates on issues such as slavery, women’s rights, and scientific progress;to present, in both written and oral form, the essential results of individual work on the texts.A more advanced objective is the development of analytical skills relating to the different types of texts studied — lyric poetry, the novel, and the essay — with the ability to recognize their formal peculiarities.

B2 level of English

Of the course’s 6 ECTS credits, 30 hours are devoted to in-person taught instruction, organised into teaching units. These hours also include interactive learning activities, such as guided seminar discussions. The remaining workload is devoted to guided independent study through the individual reading and analysis of the texts included in the syllabus.
Each teaching unit comprises:
- a lecture introducing the relevant historical, literary, and cultural contexts;
- the reading of the primary texts;
- student presentations based on their individual work on the texts, carried out through Google Drive activities accessible via links provided in the “Assignments” section of the course’s DIR page.

Classes and exams are in English. The syllabus is the same for attending and non-attending students.Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via reference office consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities. Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

Assessment consists of an oral examination lasting approximately 20 minutes, designed to evaluate:
1. knowledge of the historical, social, political, and gender-related contexts of Romanticism;
2. knowledge of significant themes, aspects, figures, and texts from the Romantic period;
3. the ability to analyse one or more passages from the texts on the syllabus, with particular attention to the relationship between text and context and to linguistic, rhetorical, and stylistic features.
Criteria for awarding grades:
28–30: a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the topics covered; excellent ability to contextualise, synthesise, and analyse texts; excellent command of expression.
26–27: a substantially accurate presentation, with some minor imperfections in content and expression.
23–25: a largely mechanical and/or rote-based knowledge of the subject matter; expression is not always appropriate.
18–22: minimal knowledge of the syllabus; inability to go beyond a simple summary of the plots when discussing the texts; poor command of expression.
A failing grade will be awarded for an oral exam that demonstrates lack of familiarity with the syllabus, inability to contextualise, use of inappropriate language.
Honours will be awarded for the ability to develop a personal and critical interpretation of the topics covered and for in-depth study of specific subjects, including beyond the material presented in class and listed in the examination syllabus.
Completion, within the stated deadlines, of all the activities supporting the reading of the texts, available in the “Assignments” section of the course’s DIR page, will entitle students to a reduction of the examination syllabus by TWO teaching units, chosen by the student.

Unit 1 Romantic cultural geographies: chronological limits, historical contexts, and forms of sociabilityReadings: Peter J. Kitson, «The Romantic Period, 1780-1832» (Romantic Chronology and Historical Overview)Unit 2 Revolution, rights, and reform Readings: Blake, «London»; Shelley, «England in 1819»; Wollstonecraft, «A Vindication of the Rights of Women» Unit 3: The transatlantic slave trade and abolitionismReadings: Cowper, «Pity for poor Africans»; Wilberforce, «A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade»; Edgeworth, «The Grateful Negro»; Olaudah Equiano, selections from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; Hannah More, «Slavery, A Poem»Unit 4 Romantic keywords: nature, childhood, imaginationReadings: Bowles, «To the River Itchin»; Coleridge, «To the River Otter»; Wordsworth, «The Old Cumberland Beggar», «Michael», selections from the Preface to Lyrical Ballads; Coleridge, selections from Chapter 13 Biographia Literaria; Unit 5 Transnational RomanticismReadings: Byron, selections from Childe Harold IV and Don Juan; Percy Bysshe Shelley, «Ozymandias»; Coleridge, «Kubla Khan»Unit 6 Gender and domestic/public worldsReadings: Charlotte Smith, selected sonnets; Felicia Hemans, «The Homes of England»; Dorothy Wordsworth, selections from The Grasmere JournalsUnit 7: The GothicReadings: Mary Shelley's Frankestein

In order to achieve the knowledge and skills corresponding to a passing level, students are required to demonstrate the following:KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDINGknowledge of the main features of English Romantic culture and of its major figures;knowledge of the ways in which English Romantic culture relates to its historical, political, and cultural context.SKILLSthe ability to analyze and summarize the texts on the syllabus, with particular attention to their linguistic dimension and to the relationship between text and context;the ability to present the results of individual work on the texts and discuss them with the rest of the class.TRANSFERABLE SKILLSthe ability to present knowledge, information, and opinions on the topics covered clearly and effectively, using appropriate language and terminology.In order to achieve an advanced level, students must demonstrate the ability to analyze the texts on the syllabus with particular attention to their linguistic dimension, and to read them from a critical perspective, identifying both their distinctive features and points of connection.