ATS3841 · Writing Italy

Overview

Italy has lured writers to its shores for centuries. In this unit you will survey a selection of fiction and nonfiction to discover exactly why the country has been a source of such fascination and inspiration for English-speaking authors. You will read the narratives of writers who have visited Italy as tourists (e.g. Henry James) as well as ones who have decided make the country their home (e.g. Jhumpa Lahiri) to investigate the role of place in the production and consumption of literature and travel’s potential for transformation and discovery. A focus of this unit will be in-situ reading and writing, whereby you will become an artistic seeker yourself, developing pieces of creative and critical writing based upon a set of curated encounters with Tuscan cities and landscapes, famous works of art and architecture, and everyday experiences that embrace the spirit of “la dolce vita” celebrated in our texts.

Areas of study: Literary Studies

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. critically discuss a range of cultural responses to Italy as described in a variety of literary texts;
2. analyse and explain the relationship between environment and the production and reception of literary texts;
3. understand and apply a number of critical, creative and theoretical approaches to travel and its written representation;
4. produce informed critical or creative responses to literary texts that are set in Italy in oral and written form.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.