OVERVIEW

The course is part of the Basic Learning Activities for the Degree Course of History (literary and historical-artistic disciplines), and bestows 12 ECTS, corresponding to 72 hours of classroom teaching and 228 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 of Italian Literature history, from its origins to the twentieth century.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Having a good knowledge of Italian literature, its evolution, its relations with Italian (and European) history and culture;
Developing a method to read and critically analyze texts; learning to use the basic bibliographical tools and the most common on-line resources;
Being able to recognize the value of an Italian literary text by referring to the poetics of its author and to its historical, artistic and cultural context.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Knowledge and understanding: through lectures, guided analysis, and class discussions students will learn the most important methods in textual analysis of a literary text and to achieve the ability to understand critical texts.

Applying knowledge and understanding: through independent perusal of literary texts and translations, the student can apply the analytical skills previously achieved, to identify both structural aspects of the analyzed text and the relationship of the text and the cultural and historical context in which it was produced.

Making autonomous judgments: through an oral presentation student is able to understand, critically discuss and explain the specific literary characteristic of the text.

Communication skills: final oral discussion improve the skill in presenting analysis results in an efficient and synthetic way; they also allow students to communicate the concepts learned, with an appropriate language, and to hold a discussion on the topics taught in class.

Learning skills: to acquire basic skills in the history of Italian literature, useful for accessing the master degree classes in historical and literary fields.

PREREQUISITES

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

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures (with computer and projector). It is strongly recommended to attend classes with the books the teacher will indicate for every lesson. Students participation will be encouraged through questions and interventions. The course also provides students with learning tools (such as slides used during classes, supplementary or support materials) available in AulaWeb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course consists of six modules: modules A and B are dedicated to the history of Italian literature from its origins to the twentieth century, and are largely entrusted to the student's personal study. The modules C, D, E and F, fully developed in class, focus instead on the specific analysis of authors, works and themes of interest.

The acquisition and understanding of the topics included in module A will be assessed by a written test; the oral exam will instead verify the knowledge of the topics covered by the other modules (for more details, see "Exam description" and "Assessment methods").

Syllabus for attending students (12 ECTS)

- Module A (written text). Outlines of Italian literature history from its origins to the seventeenth century (the list of topics, authors and texts to be studied will be provided at the beginning of the course)

- Module B (oral text). Outlines of Italian literature history from the 18th to the 20th century (the list of the texts will be provided during the course)

- Module C (oral text). Writing and power in 14th century Italian literature: selected readings from Dante Alighieri (Divina Commedia) and Francesco Petrarca (Canzoniere, epistolary)

- Module D (oral text). Writing and power in Italian literature from 16th to 18th century: selected readings from Ludovico Ariosto (Orlando Furioso, Satire) and Vittorio Alfieri (Del principe e delle lettere)

- Module E (oral text). Novel and History: from the historic novel to Ippolito Nievo’s Le Confessioni d’un Italiano (selected readings)

- Module F (oral text). Anti-fascism, Resistenza, post-war period in Einaudi novels: Cesare Pavese, La casa in collina; Carlo Levi, L’Orologio; Natalia Ginzburg, Lessico famigliare (full reading of the three novels)

Syllabus for attending students (9 ECTS)

- Module A (written text). Outlines of Italian literature history from its origins to the seventeenth century (the list of topics, authors and texts to be studied will be provided at the beginning of the course)

- Module B (oral text). Outlines of Italian literature history from the 18th to the 20th century (the list of the texts will be provided during the course)

- Module C (oral text). Writing and power in 14th century Italian literature: selected readings from Dante Alighieri (Divina Commedia) and Francesco Petrarca (Canzoniere, epistolary)

- Module D (oral text). Writing and power in Italian literature from 16th to 18th century: selected readings from Ludovico Ariosto (Orlando Furioso, Satire) and Vittorio Alfieri (Del principe e delle lettere)

- Module E or Module F (oral text). Novel and History: from the historic novel to Ippolito Nievo’s Le Confessioni d’un Italiano (selected readings), or Anti-fascism, Resistenza, post-war period in Einaudi novels: Cesare Pavese, La casa in collina; Carlo Levi, L’Orologio; Natalia Ginzburg, Lessico famigliare (full reading of the three novels).

Syllabus for attending students (6 ECTS)

- Module A (written text). Outlines of Italian literature history from its origins to the seventeenth century (the list of topics, authors and texts to be studied will be provided at the beginning of the course)

- Module B (oral text). Outlines of Italian literature history from the 18th to the 20th century (the list of the texts will be provided during the course)

- Module C (oral text). Writing and power in 14th century Italian literature: selected readings from Dante Alighieri (Divina Commedia) and Francesco Petrarca (Canzoniere, epistolary)

- Module D (oral text). Writing and power in Italian literature from 16th to 18th century: selected readings from Ludovico Ariosto (Orlando Furioso, Satire) and Vittorio Alfieri (Del principe e delle lettere)

Syllabus for non-attending students

Non-attending students are also required to study the syllabus for modules A and B (see above). Module A will be verified with the written test; the oral exam will instead focus on module B and on the study of the following works and the following critical essays:

- Dante, Divina Commedia: paraphrase and commentary of 10 complete cantos of your choice (NB: the cantos must be selected from all the three cantiche, and must be different from those indicated in the program of module A) 

- Giorgio Inglese, Dante: Guida alla Divina Commedia, Roma, Carocci (chapters 1-5 only)

- Niccolò Machiavelli, Il Principe (dedica e capitoli I, VII, VIII, XV, XVIII, XXV, XXVI) e La Mandragola (unabridged)

- Riccardo Bruscagli, Machiavelli, Bologna, Il Mulino (chapters 1-2, 4-5 e 8-9 only)

- Giacomo Leopardi, Canti (All’italia, Sopra il monumento di Dante che si preparava in Firenze, Alla luna, Alla sua donna, Le ricordanze); Operette morali (Cantico del Gallo Silvestre, Dialogo di Federico Ruysch e delle sue mummie, Dialogo di Plotino e di Porfirio) 

- Marco Bazzocchi, Leopardi, Bologna, Il Mulino

- Beppe Fenoglio, La malora and Una questione privata (both unabridged)      

NB: non-attending students are asked to contact the teachers before starting to study for the exam.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Modules A and B. For the study of Italian literature from the thirteenth to the twentieth century (limited to the authors and texts indicated at the beginning of the course) it is advisable to use a recent manual of Italian literature with an anthology section (e.g. Romano Luperini, Pietro Cataldi, Lidia Marchiani, Franco Marchese, Le parole le cose, Palermo, Palumbo, 2016 (voll. 1-2-3a-3b + Leopardi: il primo dei moderni); or Guido Baldi, Silvia Giusso, Mario Ranzetti, Giuseppe Zaccaria, Le occasioni della letteratura, Milano-Torino, Pearson Italia-Paravia, 2017 (voll. 1-2-3); or Claudio Giunta, Cuori intelligenti, Novara, De Agostini Scuola - Garzanti Scuola, 2016 (voll. 1-2-3a-3b + Giacomo Leopardi), or others   

- Module C. Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, edited by Umberto Bosco and Giovanni Reggio, new edition, Milano, Le Monnier, 2016, 3 voll. (alternatively: Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, edited by Anna Maria Chiavacci Leonardi, Milano, Mondadori, 3 voll.); Francesco Petrarca, Canzoniere, edited by Marco Santagata, Milano, Mondadori, 2018, or previous edition (alternatively: Francesco Petrarca, Canzoniere, edited by Paola Vecchi Galli, Milano, Rizzoli-BUR, 2012

- Module D. Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, commentary by Emilio Bigi, edited by Cristina Zampese, Milano, Rizzoli (BUR), 2013; Vittorio Alfieri, Della tirannide-Del principe e delle lettere-La virtù sconosciuta, introduction by Marco Cerruti, commentary by Ezio Falcomer, Milano, Rizzoli (BUR), 1996 (or subsequent reprints)

- Module E. Handouts (Mario Scotti, Valerio Marucci, Romanticismo europeo e Romanticismo italiano, in Storia della letteratura italiana, vol. VII, Il primo Ottocento, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 1998, §§ 7, 18; Quinto Marini, La letteratura del pieno Romanticismo e del Risorgimento. Niccolò Tommaseo, in Storia della letteratura italiana, vol. VII, Il primo Ottocento, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 1998, §§ 4, 10); Ippolito Nievo, Le Confessioni d’un Italiano, edited by Sergio Romagnoli, Venezia, Marsilio, 2000, or the edition by Claudio Milanini, Milano, Rizzoli BUR, 2007 (selected readings)

- Module F. Natalia Ginzburg, Lessico famigliare, Torino, Einaudi, 2014; Carlo Levi, L’Orologio, Torino, Einaudi, 2015; Cesare Pavese, La casa in collina, Torino, Einaudi, 2014 (full reading of the three novels)

NB: possible supplementary readings will be made available in AulaWeb.

Bibliography for non attending students

For the study of Italian literature from the thirteenth to the twentieth century (limited to the authors and texts indicated at the beginning of the course) it is advisable to use a recent manual of Italian literature with an anthology section (e.g. Romano Luperini, Pietro Cataldi, Lidia Marchiani, Franco Marchese, Le parole le cose, Palermo, Palumbo, 2016 (voll. 1-2-3a-3b + Leopardi: il primo dei moderni); or Guido Baldi, Silvia Giusso, Mario Ranzetti, Giuseppe Zaccaria, Le occasioni della letteratura, Milano-Torino, Pearson Italia-Paravia, 2017 (voll. 1-2-3); or Claudio Giunta, Cuori intelligenti, Novara, De Agostini Scuola - Garzanti Scuola, 2016 (voll. 1-2-3a-3b + Giacomo Leopardi), or others.   

- Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, curated by Umberto Bosco and Giovanni Reggio, new ed., Milano, Le Monnier, 2016, 3 voll.; or the edition curated by Anna Maria Chiavacci Leonardi, Milano, Mondadori, 3 voll; or the edition curated by Giorgio Inglese, Roma, Carocci, 3 voll.

- Giorgio Inglese, Dante: Guida alla Divina Commedia, Roma, Carocci, 2012

- Niccolò Machiavelli, Il Principe, new edition curated by Giorgio Inglese, Torino, Einaudi, 2014 (or the edition curated by Raffaele Ruggiero, Milano, Rizzoli, 2008); La Mandragola, introduction and notes by Gennaro Sasso, notes to the text and appendix by Giorgio Inglese, Milano, Rizzoli, 1997 (or the edition curated by Rinaldo Rinaldi, Milano, Rizzoli, 2010)

- Riccardo Bruscagli, Machiavelli, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2008

- Giacomo Leopardi, Canti, curated by Franco Gavazzeni, Milano, Rizzoli, 1998; Operette morali, curated by Laura Melosi, Milano, Rizzoli, 2008 

- Marco Bazzocchi, Leopardi, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2008

- Beppe Fenoglio, La malora, Torino, Einaudi, 2014 e Una questione privata, Torino, Einaudi, 2014

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LUCA BELTRAMI (President)

MATTEO NAVONE (President)

QUINTO MARINI

GIORDANO RODDA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

1 October 2019

Class schedule

ITALIAN LITERATURE

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of a written and an oral test.

The written test focuses on the program for the module A, the oral test on the programs for the other modules (B, C, D, E, F). 

It is necessary to take the written test to access the oral exam. It is not possible to take a written and an oral exam on the same date.

The final grade is given by comparing the results obtained in the two tests.

To take part in the written tests, the student must register within two days before the exam date on the Aulaweb page for the course. To take part in the oral tests, the student must register within two days before the exam date on the website https://servizionline.unige.it/studenti/esami/prenotazione.
Further information about the exams will be provided during the lessons.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The written test includes some open-ended questions and is aimed at verifying the ability to paraphrase and comment on a literary piece, the possession of some basic knowledge of Italian literary history, the ability to write in proper Italian.

The oral exam consists of an interview on the topics discussed during the lessons, to evaluate the skills to contextualize a literary text in the frame of the Italian cultural history; to illustrate its metric-stylistic features; to make connections and comparisons among Italian and foreign literatures; to expose the contents with an appropriate language and to discuss the topics learned during the lessons.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Non-attending students, as well as attending ones, are requested to register for the course in AulaWeb.