OVERVIEW

Through the theme of humor, the module will accompany the student to know some of the greatest authors of Polish literature of the twentieth century.

In October the chair of Polish Studies of the University of Genoa will join the project of the Polish Institute of Rome on the work of Gustaw Herling Grudzinski

6 CFU: 36 hours of frontal teaching

9 CFU: 52 hours of frontal teaching

In the teaching for 9 credits, will be deepened the study of literary currents of the twentieth century

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of this teaching is to make the student approach to the very rich and articulated literary heritage of Poland, from the XVIIII century until nowadays

At the end of the course, the student should be able to find an orientation in the geographical and cultural space of Poland and to individuate some of its more important peculiarities on a European contest

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students must be able to orient themselves and understand Polish literature of the twentieth century, in particular as regards the general themes of teaching. They will have to know at least in broad terms the complex geo-political history of Poland of the last century. They will also have acquired a first knowledge of translation techniques from Polish into Italian and will be able, through group work and on-line support, to carry out simple translations from literary texts.

PREREQUISITES

The accomplishment of at least one year of Polish Literature

TEACHING METHODS

Frontal lessons. Reading, explanation and commentary in class of some of the main texts. At least once during the semester students will be asked to prepare, in small groups of two or three people, a brief comment on one of the topics covered and to present it to the rest of the class

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The aim of the course is to present students with an overview of 20th-century Polish literature using the theme of humor, satire and the spirit of contradiction as a guiding file. The image of Poland as a country dedicated to punitive remembrance, the evocation of ghosts and mourning must in fact necessarily be tempered with the other side of national character, enjoyable, light and biting.

In the twentieth century, the greatest representatives of this humorous Poland were the novelist Witold Gombrowicz (1904-1969), the great author of epigrams and aphorisms Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (1909-1966), e), the playwright Slawomir Mrozek (1930-2013) and the poet Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012), winner of the Nobel prize for literature in 1996.

The study of these authors will also allow an in-depth reflection on the translation of their works (in the cases of Lec and Szymborska, the unparalleled translator was my predecessor to the chair of Polish Studies in Genua, Pietro Marchesani) and on the linguistic use of metaphor.

The first month of teaching will have a different theme and, on the occasion of its centenary, will be dedicated to the writer Gustaw Herling Grudzinski (Kielce 1919- Naples 2000). The chair of Polish Studies of the University of Genoa joins the national project launched by the Polish Institute of Rome, proposing to the students the translation of two short passages of this author and a stay in Naples in his footsteps, organized by the Polish Institute, on October 24th-26th.

The teaching will be supplemented by two international conferences on the topics of translation, whose program will be provided at the beginning of the academic year. A further integration could be provided by a meeting with Erasmus professors and a lesson with international lecturers on Ukraine, an integral part of the Kingdom of Poland for centuries.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Storia della letteratura polacca, a cura di Luigi Marinelli, Einaudi (Nuova ed 2019)

Fragments from  Witold Gobrowicz, Slawomir Mrozek, Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, Wislaw Szymborska and Gustaw Herling Grudzinski will be indicated shortly. We will also read passages from Laura Salmon, The Mechanisms of Humor

The Program for NON ATTENDING students will be defined personally with the teacher

Before entering the exam, at least one week in advance, all students, attending or not, will have to prepare a short paper (one or two pages), on one of the topics of teaching, following the instructions in the file Norme per tesi e tesine  available in the Teacher’s Page

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

October 2nd

Class schedule

POLISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE III

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The oral exam will allow to evaluate the student's ability to put in relation the various topics discussed during the course. During the exam, which includes open questions and feedbacks on the entire program covered, will be evaluated the quality of the presentation, the correct use of the vocabulary (in particular in relation to the literary movements and the currents of thought studied), the capacity of critical and temporal orientation. Attendance and active participation in the lessons and at the conferences, which are an integral part of the teaching, is also obviously evaluated.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The student will demonstrate to have assimilated the program, to have acquired the basic knowledge provided during the teaching, to be able to elaborate a short speech both on the subject at will and on those required and to comment on the texts studied during the course semester, placing them in the Polish and European historical and cultural context. Attendance and active participation in the lessons will not only facilitate the exam path but will also be evaluated in the final score.
The essay submitted before the exam will be discussed and evaluated

Exam schedule