OVERVIEW

Compulsory course

The course (which consists of 54 hours of lectures, equivalent to 9 credits) allows students of different educational and cultural backgrounds to come in possession of the fundamental elements of general culture through the study of Italian literature

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

Acquisition of historiographical expertise in Italian literary history. Ability to analyse a literary text (narrative and poetic) through the tools of paraphrase and commentary (metrics - rhetorical figures - content). Enhancement of written and oral communication skills. Study of the relationships between Italian and European cultures

TEACHING METHODS

Traditional lessons (using computer and projector), textual commentary. Students are required to attend classes with the books that will be indicated for every lesson.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Part A (written exam): 28 hours

1. Dante’s political thought in the cantos of the Divine Comedy: analysis of Inferno VI (vv. 40-90), X (vv. 22-114), XIX (vv. 31-117), XXVII (vv. 61-123), XXXIII (in full); Purgatorio VI (vv. 58-151), XVI (vv. 82-114); Paradiso VI (in full), XV (vv. 97-129), XVII (vv. 46-142)
2. Anthology of texts from 14th century Italian literature (Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio)

Part B (oral exam): 26 hours

1. Anthology of texts from 16th century Italian literature (Machiavelli, Ariosto, Tasso)
2. "Giovanni Verga and French Naturalism". This part of the course will provide outlines of the evolution of the novel genre in Italy in 19th century and a more detailed analysis of Giovanni Verga’s  I Malavoglia (that must be read in full) and of the connections between Italian Verismo and French Naturalism
3. “The narrative of Beppe Fenoglio”. This part of the course will analyse Fenoglio’s literary production (in particular La malora and Una questione privata, that must be read in full) in the wider context of the narrative about Resistance movement and the influence exercised by American and British literature on Italian novels between the Thirties and the Fifties

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for attending students

Part A (written exam)

1. Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia (suggested editions: a cura di A.M. Chiavacci Leonardi, Milano, Mondadori; a cura di U. Bosco e G. Reggio, Milano, Le Monnier)
2. Texts available in Aulaweb (14th century Italian literature: Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio)

Part B (oral exam)

1. Texts available in Aulaweb (16th century Italian literature: Machiavelli, Ariosto, Tasso)
2. Giovanni Verga, I Malavoglia, Torino, Einaudi, 2014 (or other full edition)
3. Beppe Fenoglio, La malora, Torino, Einaudi, 2014; Una questione privata, Torino, Einaudi, 2014 (or other full editions)
4. A novel to be chosen between: Italo Calvino, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno, ed. Einaudi o Mondadori; Cesare Pavese, La casa in collina, Einaudi; Elio Vittorini, Uomini e no, ed. Einaudi o Mondadori
5. Gino Tellini, Storia del romanzo italiano, Milano, Le Monnier, 2017: chapters IV, VI, VIII, IX, X (only par. 5-6), XIV (only par. 1 e 4), XVI. This book is  optional for attending students

Bibliography for non attending students

Part A (written exam)

1. Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia (suggested editions: a cura di A.M. Chiavacci Leonardi, Milano, Mondadori; a cura di U. Bosco e G. Reggio, Milano, Le Monnier)
2. Texts available in Aulaweb (14th century Italian literature. Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio)
3. Giorgio Inglese, Guida alla Divina Commedia, Roma, Carocci, 2012 (chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Part B (oral exam)

1. Texts available in Aulaweb (16th century Italian literature: Machiavelli, Ariosto, Tasso)
2. Giovanni Verga, I Malavoglia, Torino, Einaudi, 2014 (or other full edition)
3. Beppe Fenoglio, La malora, Torino, Einaudi, 2014; Una questione privata, Torino, Einaudi, 2014 (or other full editions)
4. A novel to be chosen between: Italo Calvino, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno, ed. Einaudi o Mondadori; Cesare Pavese, La casa in collina, Einaudi; Elio Vittorini, Uomini e no, ed. Einaudi o Mondadori
5. Gino Tellini, Storia del romanzo italiano, Milano, Le Monnier, 2017: chapters III (only par. 1-3), IV, VI, VIII, IX, X (only par. 5-6), XI (only par. 1-4), XIV (only par. 1 e 4), XVI. This book is mandatory for non attending students

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MATTEO NAVONE (President)

ALESSANDRO BASSO

SIMONA MORANDO

STEFANO FERNANDO VERDINO

LESSONS

LESSONS START

October 18th, 2017

Class schedule

ITALIAN LITERATURE B

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Written part (Dante; anthology of 14th century texts): students will be asked to paraphrase some extracts and to answer to some essay questions.

Oral part (anthology of 16th century texts; Verga, Fenoglio).

Students must have passed the written part of the exam in order to access the oral part.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Written part: acquisition of text analysis skills; writing skills in Italian

Oral part: text analysis skills; knowledge of Italian cultural and literary history

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Non-attending students are requested to contact the teacher and to register for the course in aulaweb