Introductory description

For centuries Italy has been a favoured destination for travellers, from medieval pilgrims to the Grand Tourists of the 1700s and 1800s. More recently it has become a site of mass tourism while millions more experience 'Destination Italy' by staying in one of the hyperreal hotels of Las Vegas or by strolling through Renaissance Florence in the virtual world of a video game. In this module we will explore how Italy has been constructed in popular imagination through the accounts of both foreign travellers to the peninsular and by Italian writers. We will interrogate common notions of travel as a means of self-fulfillment and quest for authenticity and consider the impact that gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity and class have on travel. The module also examines the ethical and environmental implications of travel and considers alternatives such as ecotourism, slow travel and virtual travel. Discussions will be informed by theoretical works on travel, identity, postmodernism, postcolonial studies and semiotics.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1: Introduction to travel and travel writing studies: questions of genre and truth
Week 2: Destination Italy: the Grand Tour
Week 3: Destination Italy: contemporary tourism
Week 4: Italian domestic travel writing
Week 5: Peripheries and margins
Week 6: Reading week
Week 7: Colonial and postcolonial travel
Week 8: Ecotravel and Slow tourism
Week 9: Travels in hyperreality
Week 10: Virtual travel: from the stereoscope to Assassin's Creed

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Level 6: Demonstrate the ability to critically analyse and evaluate writings on travel in English and in Italian applying theoretical concepts such as semiotics, postmodernism and postcoloniality.
• Level 6: Demonstrate sophisticated knowledge and critical understanding of key concepts in travel writing studies.
• Levels 5&6: Build on research skills, academic writing skills and communication skills and present ideas in a variety of forms to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Level 6: Demonstrate an ethical awareness of how gender, ethnicity, and class impact on the ability to travel and write about travel showing sensitivity to the cultural and linguistic context. Critically evaluate the environmental and societal impact of travel.
• Level 6: Apply and extend their knowledge of Italian travel writing to other contexts.
• Level 5: Demonstrate the ability to critically analyse writings on travel by applying relevant theoretical concepts.
• Level 5: Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of key concepts in travel writing studies.
• Level 5: Demonstrate awareness of the way that gender, ethnicity, and class impact on the ability to travel and write about travel showing sensitivity to the cultural and linguistic context. Reflect on the environmental and societal impact of travel.
• Level 5: Apply knowledge obtained from lecture presentations and seminar discussions to other contexts.

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

International

All modules delivered in SMLC are necessarily international. Students engage with themes and ideas from a culture other than that of the UK and employ their linguistic skills in the analysis of primary materials from a non-Anglophone context. Students will also be encouraged to draw on the experiences of visiting exchange students in the classroom and will frequently engage with theoretical and critical frameworks from across the world.

Subject specific skills

This module will develop students’ linguistic skills through engaging with primary materials in the target language. It will build students’ capacity to engage with aspects of Italian culture through analysis of this primary material and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students’ awareness of both travel writing on Italy, Italian travel writers, and theoretical perspectives on travel will be enhanced through lectures and seminars.

Transferable skills

All SMLC culture modules demand critical and analytical engagement with artefacts from target-language cultures. In the course of independent study, class work and assessment students will develop the following skills: written and oral communication, creative and critical thinking, problem solving and analysis, time management and organisation, independent research in both English and their target language(s), intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between languages and cultures, ICT literacy in both English and the target language(s), personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.