The Course on Contemporary English Literature B focuses on literary texts, literary criticism, and literary theory produced in the United Kingdon and Ireland from 1945 to nowadays.

The student who completes this course will acquire a general knowledge of literature in English produced in the UK and Ireland from 1945 to the present day. He/She will be able to interpret and discuss accurately the connections between theories of modernity/postmodernity and the contemporary literary production with specific reference to poetry, narrative texts, and the theatre. In the light of recent linguistic and cultural theories, he/she will enhance the study of the most representative authors, poetics and literary movements and adopt flexible reading strategies selecting them among those currently practised both in the European and the American world. He/She will refine his/her critical skills and knowledge in order to interpret contemporary literary texts with the instruments provided in the first place by hermeneutics, semiotics and stylistics. The integration of close reading and comparative attitudes will enable him/her to clarify the connections between literary texts and the cultural context and eventually develop a critical thought on the issues at stake.