ENGLISH LITERATURE I [F - O] (2006/2007)
Instructor: Lisanna Calvi
Credits: 3.00
Period: 2nd semester
Brief course description:
«Victorian types: the revival of biblical typology».
Taking a selection of late Victorian literary texts as a starting-point, this course aims at exploring the presence of narrative and poetical paths which echo scriptural interpretation and namely biblical typology. In the late nineteenth century, the occurrence of biblical figures (or types) stood for the creation of a sort of mask through which authors and poets filtered their existence as individuals but also attended the religious crisis of those decades, yet enhancing literary imagination.
Required reading:
R. Browning, «One Word More», in Men and Women (1855).
R. Browning, «Caliban Upon Setebos», in Dramatis Personae (1864).
G. M. Hopkins, «A Soliloquy of One of the Spies left in the Wilderness» (1864).
E. Gosse, Father and Son (1907), Penguin, 1989.
A. Righetti, «Introduzione» in R. Browning, Poems/Poesie, Mursia, 1990, pp. 5-33
G. P. Landow, Victorian Types, Victorian Shadows. Biblical Typology in Victorian Literature, Art and Thought, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980, pp. 3-63; 179-187.
H. Henderson, The Victorian Self. Autobiography and Biblical Narrative, Cornell University Press, 1989, pp. 119-158.
L. H. Peterson, «Biblical Typology and the Self-Portrait of the Poet in Robert Browning», in George P. Landow (edited by), Approaches to Victorian Autobiography, Ohio University Press, 1979, pp. 235-268.
Textbooks (one of the following):
D. Daiches, A Critical History of English Literature, Mandarin, 1994 (vol. 2: The Restoration to the Present Day).
D. Daiches, Storia della letteratura inglese, Garzanti, 1998.
M. Praz, Storia della letteratura inglese, Sansoni, 2000.
A. Sanders, The Short Oxford History of English Literature, Clarendon Press, (third edition), 2004.
Supplementary reading:
A. Marchese, L’officina della poesia, Mondadori, 1997 or R. Ceserani, Il testo poetico, Il Mulino, 2005.
P. Stefani, Le radici bibliche della cultura occidentale, Mondadori, 2004, pp. 1-19.
A. Shapiro, «Browning’s Psalm of Hate: `Caliban upon Setebos’, Psalm 50, and The Tempest», Papers on Language and Literature, 10 (1972), pp. 53-62.
Method of evaluation: Oral exam
Please be advised: Students who do not attend classes are required to contact the instructor for the preparation of the exam.
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