Languages, Cultures, Literature, Translation

“Silence is the Only Voice”: Journeys through Nineteenth-Century American Literature This course, taught in the second semester, provides a critical introduction to nineteenth-century American literature by exploring silence as a symbolic space and a narrative strategy across a selection of key texts. Starting from reflections on suppressed or denied voices, students will analyze works by Irving, Hawthorne, Melville, Dickinson, and Douglass to understand how silence emerges as a narrative device, a symbol of resistance, and a testimony of social and cultural marginalization. The course examines central tensions such as individual versus society, freedom versus repression, identity versus otherness, while addressing major themes like slavery, alienation, moral rebellion, and the quest for an authentic poetic voice. By understanding these dimensions of nineteenth-century American literature, students will also gain fundamental insights into contemporary American society. Intended for second-year students, the course aims to foster the critical skills and interpretative competencies necessary to contextualize and comprehend literary works within the historical and cultural landscape of the United States during the 1800s.

Basic knowledge of early Anglo-American literature is preferred, as well as proficiency in written and spoken English.

Edgar Allan Poe, “William Wilson” (1839) Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Scarlet Letter" (1850) Herman Melville, “Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” (1853); “Benito Cereno” (1855) Emily Dickinson, poesie scelte. Frederick Douglass, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave" (1845). All primary texts will be provided by the teacher, with the exception of "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave" (1845). Students are encouraged to use the Marsilio edition with text both in English and Italian ("Narrazione della vita di Frederick Douglass", Marsilio 2015), whose introductory essay by M. G. Fabi is also part of the required exam materials.

Although attendance is not mandatory, it is strongly recommended, as classes are designed to foster collective discussion and in-depth analysis. Students will be expected to participate actively through in-class discussions, textual commentary, and individual contributions to the proposed activities.

The oral exam (conducted in both English and Italian, or entirely in English) is intended to assess students’ knowledge of the authors and texts studied during the course, as well as their understanding of the relevant historical and biographical context. Particular emphasis will be placed on the student’s ability to develop a critical and analytical discourse on the texts, through close reading of selected passages and by identifying intertextual connections between different authors and contexts. Assessment will take into account the student's knowledge of the contents and texts, their ability to carry out critical and stylistic analysis, their skill in performing close readings, and their capacity to establish connections between different texts, authors, and contexts. Language proficiency in English, both in comprehension and oral expression, as well as clarity, coherence, and organization of the exposition will also be evaluated. The final grade will be assessed according to a structured evaluation grid.

For a general overview of American literature, the main recommended reference is Giorgio Mariani (ed.), Il romanzo americano. Storia, forme, canoni, Carocci, Rome, 2025. For the purposes of this course, students are specifically required to study the following chapters in depth: Chapter 1, "From the Origins to the American Renaissance"; Chapter 8, "The Historical Novel"; Chapter 21, "Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter"; Chapter 22, "Herman Melville, Moby-Dick". ALTERNATIVELY, students may refer to: Richard Gray, "A Brief History of American Literature", Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, Chapter 2: "Inventing Americas: The Making of American Literature 1800–1865". Mario Corona, “American Renaissance (1941): A Historiographical Invention,” in Un Rinascimento impossibile. Letteratura, politica e sessualità nell’opera di Francis Otto Matthiessen, Ombre Corte. Ugo Rubeo, “The Discovery of Narrative,” in Genio in bilico. Testo, contesto, intertesto in Edgar Allan Poe, Mimesis. ALTERNATIVELY: Nicholas Tyler Reich, “Bottom Terror in Poe’s ‘William Wilson’,” The Edgar Allan Poe Review, vol. 21, no. 1, Spring 2020, pp. 86–108. Valerio Massimo De Angelis, “In the Beginning…” and “An American Re-Naissance,” in La prima lettera. Miti dell’origine in The Scarlet Letter di Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lozzi & Rossi, Rome, pp. 9–42. ALTERNATIVELY: Sacvan Bercovitch, “The A-Politics of Ambiguity in The Scarlet Letter,” New Literary History, vol. 19, no. 3, Spring 1988, pp. 629–654. Paolo Simonetti, “‘Silence is the Only Voice’: Herman Melville’s Letters to Hawthorne and the Discovery of a New Female Voice,” LEA – Lingue e letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente, vol. 9, pp. 1–13. Anna Scacchi, “From Grey to Black and White,” in A una voce sola. Il racconto della storia in “Benito Cereno” di Herman Melville, Lozzi & Rossi, Rome 2000. Gilles Deleuze, “Bartleby; or, The Formula,” in Essays Critical and Clinical, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 1997, pp. 68–90. Marisa Bulgheroni, “Lighting a Lamp and Disappearing,” in Emily Dickinson, Tutte le poesie, I Meridiani Mondadori, Milan, pp. ix–xxxiv. ALTERNATIVELY: Deirdre Fagan, “Emily Dickinson’s Unutterable Word,” Emily Dickinson Journal, vol. 14, no. 2, Fall 2005, pp. 70–75. Maria Giulia Fabi, “Introduction” to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Marsilio, Venice 2015, pp. 9–34. ALTERNATIVELY: Mark K. Burns, “‘A Slave in Form but Not in Fact’: Subversive Humor and the Rhetoric of Irony in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” Studies in American Humor, vol. 3, no. 12, 2005, pp. 83–96.

The course will alternate between lecture-based sessions, during which the teacher will present the historical, cultural, and biographical context of the authors studied, and seminar-style meetings focused on student-led reading and analysis of the texts. Active participation will be expected through in-class discussions, presentations, and individual contributions. Each week, specific chapters from the assigned novels or short stories will be indicated for reading in preparation for class. In some cases, students may be asked to write short abstracts or presentations to be shared and discussed collectively.

“Silence is the Only Voice”: Journeys through Nineteenth-Century American Literature This course, taught in the second semester, provides a critical introduction to nineteenth-century American literature by exploring silence as a symbolic space and a narrative strategy across a selection of key texts. Starting from reflections on suppressed or denied voices, students will analyze works by Irving, Hawthorne, Melville, Dickinson, and Douglass to understand how silence emerges as a narrative device, a symbol of resistance, and a testimony of social and cultural marginalization. The course examines central tensions such as individual versus society, freedom versus repression, identity versus otherness, while addressing major themes like slavery, alienation, moral rebellion, and the quest for an authentic poetic voice. By understanding these dimensions of nineteenth-century American literature, students will also gain fundamental insights into contemporary American society. Intended for second-year students, the course aims to foster the critical skills and interpretative competencies necessary to contextualize and comprehend literary works within the historical and cultural landscape of the United States during the 1800s.

Basic knowledge of early Anglo-American literature is preferred, as well as proficiency in written and spoken English.

Edgar Allan Poe, “William Wilson” (1839) Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Scarlet Letter" (1850) Herman Melville, “Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” (1853); “Benito Cereno” (1855) Emily Dickinson, poesie scelte. Frederick Douglass, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave" (1845). All primary texts will be provided by the teacher, with the exception of "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave" (1845). Students are encouraged to use the Marsilio edition with text both in English and Italian ("Narrazione della vita di Frederick Douglass", Marsilio 2015), whose introductory essay by M. G. Fabi is also part of the required exam materials.

Although attendance is not mandatory, it is strongly recommended, as classes are designed to foster collective discussion and in-depth analysis. Students will be expected to participate actively through in-class discussions, textual commentary, and individual contributions to the proposed activities.

The oral exam (conducted in both English and Italian, or entirely in English) is intended to assess students’ knowledge of the authors and texts studied during the course, as well as their understanding of the relevant historical and biographical context. Particular emphasis will be placed on the student’s ability to develop a critical and analytical discourse on the texts, through close reading of selected passages and by identifying intertextual connections between different authors and contexts. Assessment will take into account the student's knowledge of the contents and texts, their ability to carry out critical and stylistic analysis, their skill in performing close readings, and their capacity to establish connections between different texts, authors, and contexts. Language proficiency in English, both in comprehension and oral expression, as well as clarity, coherence, and organization of the exposition will also be evaluated. The final grade will be assessed according to a structured evaluation grid.

For a general overview of American literature, the main recommended reference is Giorgio Mariani (ed.), Il romanzo americano. Storia, forme, canoni, Carocci, Rome, 2025. For the purposes of this course, students are specifically required to study the following chapters in depth: Chapter 1, "From the Origins to the American Renaissance"; Chapter 8, "The Historical Novel"; Chapter 21, "Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter"; Chapter 22, "Herman Melville, Moby-Dick". ALTERNATIVELY, students may refer to: Richard Gray, "A Brief History of American Literature", Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, Chapter 2: "Inventing Americas: The Making of American Literature 1800–1865". Mario Corona, “American Renaissance (1941): A Historiographical Invention,” in Un Rinascimento impossibile. Letteratura, politica e sessualità nell’opera di Francis Otto Matthiessen, Ombre Corte. Ugo Rubeo, “The Discovery of Narrative,” in Genio in bilico. Testo, contesto, intertesto in Edgar Allan Poe, Mimesis. ALTERNATIVELY: Nicholas Tyler Reich, “Bottom Terror in Poe’s ‘William Wilson’,” The Edgar Allan Poe Review, vol. 21, no. 1, Spring 2020, pp. 86–108. Valerio Massimo De Angelis, “In the Beginning…” and “An American Re-Naissance,” in La prima lettera. Miti dell’origine in The Scarlet Letter di Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lozzi & Rossi, Rome, pp. 9–42. ALTERNATIVELY: Sacvan Bercovitch, “The A-Politics of Ambiguity in The Scarlet Letter,” New Literary History, vol. 19, no. 3, Spring 1988, pp. 629–654. Paolo Simonetti, “‘Silence is the Only Voice’: Herman Melville’s Letters to Hawthorne and the Discovery of a New Female Voice,” LEA – Lingue e letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente, vol. 9, pp. 1–13. Anna Scacchi, “From Grey to Black and White,” in A una voce sola. Il racconto della storia in “Benito Cereno” di Herman Melville, Lozzi & Rossi, Rome 2000. Gilles Deleuze, “Bartleby; or, The Formula,” in Essays Critical and Clinical, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 1997, pp. 68–90. Marisa Bulgheroni, “Lighting a Lamp and Disappearing,” in Emily Dickinson, Tutte le poesie, I Meridiani Mondadori, Milan, pp. ix–xxxiv. ALTERNATIVELY: Deirdre Fagan, “Emily Dickinson’s Unutterable Word,” Emily Dickinson Journal, vol. 14, no. 2, Fall 2005, pp. 70–75. Maria Giulia Fabi, “Introduction” to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Marsilio, Venice 2015, pp. 9–34. ALTERNATIVELY: Mark K. Burns, “‘A Slave in Form but Not in Fact’: Subversive Humor and the Rhetoric of Irony in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” Studies in American Humor, vol. 3, no. 12, 2005, pp. 83–96.

The course will alternate between lecture-based sessions, during which the teacher will present the historical, cultural, and biographical context of the authors studied, and seminar-style meetings focused on student-led reading and analysis of the texts. Active participation will be expected through in-class discussions, presentations, and individual contributions. Each week, specific chapters from the assigned novels or short stories will be indicated for reading in preparation for class. In some cases, students may be asked to write short abstracts or presentations to be shared and discussed collectively.