OVERVIEW

The course is part of the Basic Learning Activities for the Bachelor’s course in Modern Languages and Cultures, and bestows 9 ECTS, corresponding to 54 hours of classroom teaching and 171 hours reserved for personal study. It introduces the student to the study of major authors, most significant works, main poetics, and most relevant cultural movements in the history of Italian literature; it contributes to the acquisition of knowledge and skills useful for the professional outlets envisaged by the bachelor degree course in Modern Languages and Cultures, and in particular for: 

- access to teacher training

- cultural services (publishing, journalism, radio and television, Italian and foreign cultural institutes and foundations, book heritage preservation)

- cultural tourism

- organization of artistic and cultural events and exhibitions.

This page relates to section B of Italian Literature (students E-O).

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at providing students with an exhaustive overviewing of the Italian literary tradition and its relations with foreign cultures; this outcome will be reached by analyzing exemplary texts, cultural contexts, forms, genres.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to illustrate (in a historical-critical perspective) a selection of significant works and authors of Italian literature, providing students with the essential conceptual and methodological tools to understand the poetic language and analyze a literary passage from a content and metric-stylistic perspective.

At the end of the course the student will be able to:

a) identify and define the most significant movements and poetics in the history of Italian literature

b) interpret, paraphrase, and analyse autonomously literary passages in poetry and prose, recognising their structural aspects (genre, metric form, rhetorical apparatus) and linking them to the historical-cultural contexts in which they were composed

c) make appropriate use of literary criticism terminology

d) compare passages from different periods and authors

e) explain and discuss in oral form the topics discussed in class with clarity and language properties.

PREREQUISITES

Basic knowledge (at high school level) of the history of Italian literature

TEACHING METHODS

The course includes frontal lessons with the help of multimedia tools and materials. During the lectures there will be commented readings of literary excerpts and in-depth cultural studies aimed at contextualising the works examined: both the readings and the in-depth studies are to be understood as examples of work on the literary text, hopefully aimed at stimulating the reflections of the students, who will be invited to actively participate with interventions and questions. The teacher will also make available to students, in a special section of the AulaWeb e-learning portal, the slides used in the classroom and other study support materials.

Course attendance is not compulsory, but warmly recommended. Students who, for justified reasons, expect not to be able to attend at least 50% of the lessons (i.e. at least 27 of the 54 hours of classroom teaching) are required to contact the teacher by e-mail at the beginning of the course in order to agree on an alternative examination programme. It is also recommended to attend the first lesson, during which the teaching programme and the exam rules will be presented.

Lectures will be held in presence, unless stated otherwise.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The lessons will be dedicated to the following topics.

PART ONE - Forms of Comedy in Dante and Boccaccio

What was meant by 'comedy' in the Middle Ages? What genres of medieval comic literature can be found in the masterpieces of Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio? In the first part of the course, an attempt will be made to answer these questions, starting with the definition of 'comic' in medieval rhetoric, and then moving on to a series of anthology readings taken mainly from Dante's Inferno and Boccaccio's Decameron.

PART TWO - 18th century Europe and America in the works of Vittorio Alfieri

An intellectual of European stature, Vittorio Alfieri (1749-1803) undertook several journeys during his lifetime through the major European nations (the Italian states, France, England, Holland, Prussia, Sweden, and others) and broadened his gaze beyond the continental borders, taking an interest in the birth of the United States of America. In the lessons dedicated to this topic, a series of readings taken from various works by Alfieri (particularly the Vita) will be presented, with the aim of deepening and contextualising the judgements (often polemical) pronounced by the writer on the nations he visited and on the main historical and cultural events that affected Europe and North America in the second half of the 18th century.

PART THREE - Beppe Fenoglio narrator of the Resistance

The last part will be dedicated to Beppe Fenoglio's two major Resistance novels, Una questione privata (1963) and Il partigiano Johnny (1968), which will be read in their entirety. An anthology reading will be proposed in the classroom, in which various aspects of these works will be analysed, including the story of their composition, the ways in which the partisan war is represented, and the links with Anglo-Saxon narrative.

Course attendance is not compulsory, but warmly recommended. For further information, see the sections Recommended reading/bibliography, Teaching methods and Exam description. 

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for attending students

- Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, ed. by Anna Maria Chiavacci Leonardi, Milano, Mondadori; or the edition by Giorgio Inglese, Roma, Carocci; or the edition by Bianca Garavelli, Milano, Bompiani (only the passages read in class)

- Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron, ed. by Amedeo Quondam, Maurizio Fiorilla e Giancarlo Alfano, Milano, BUR-Rizzoli, 2013, or other recent edition (only the passages read in class)

- Vittorio Alfieri, Vita, ed. by Carla Forno, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2020 or other recent edition (only the passages read in class)

- Beppe Fenoglio, Una questione privata, Torino, Einaudi, 2014 or other recent edition (unabridged)

- Beppe Fenoglio, Il partigiano Johnny, Torino, Einaudi, 2022 or other recent edition (unabridged)

The list of texts is subject to change and it is therefore advisable to wait until the start of the lessons and the presentation of the programme before purchasing or borrowing. The bibliography will in any case be supplemented with additional readings presented in class and made available on AulaWeb during the course.

Non-attending students must contact the teacher to arrange a specific bibliography.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MATTEO NAVONE (President)

ANDREA LAZZARINI

GIORDANO RODDA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

February 21, 2024

Class schedule

ITALIAN LITERATURE B

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The examination is an oral test lasting approximately 30 minutes and covering the entire programme.

Students are free to take the exam as many times as they wish to improve their mark.

During the course, further information will be provided regarding the conduct of the examination.

There are six exam sessions each year (two per session), to which additional special sessions may be added, mainly for out-of-session students.

To take part in the tests, you must register at least five days before the date of the exam on the website https://servizionline.unige.it/studenti/esami/prenotazione.

Non-attending students must contact the teacher by email to arrange an alternative programme.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral test consists of an examination on the topics included in the syllabus, and aims to assess the ability to:

- paraphrase and summarise a literary passage;

- contextualise the works studied from a historical and cultural point of view and illustrate their metrical and stylistic characteristics;

- make connections and comparisons between the topics covered in the course;

- use appropriate and effective exposition;

- develop a personal critical opinion on the topics covered.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who, for justified reasons, expect not to be able to attend at least 50% of the lessons (i.e. at least 27 of the 54 hours of classroom teaching) are required to contact the teacher by e-mail at the beginning of the course in order to agree on an alternative examination programme. It is also recommended to attend the first lesson, during which the teaching programme and the exam rules will be presented.

All students, whether attending or not, are kindly requested to enrol in AulaWeb to receive communications and notices regarding the course.

Erasmus students or non-native Italian speakers are kindly requested to contact the teacher to agree on the examination programme.

Students with a certified DSA, disability or other special educational needs are recommended to contact the prpfessor at the beginning of the course to agree on teaching and examination methods that, while respecting the teaching objectives, take into account individual learning methods and provide suitable compensatory tools. The same students are also invited to make use of the various services the University offers to support them (for further information see https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa). In e-mail communications to the teacher, please always copy the relevant sector (disabili@unige.it or dsa@unige.it) and Prof. Sara Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it).