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 of Italian Literature history, from its origins to the 20th century.

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 the topics discussed in class with clarity and language properties, both in written and oral form

PREREQUISITES

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

TEACHING METHODS

Classes will be conducted in mixed mode, in-person and online on Teams. Students must register for the "Letteratura italiana B 2021-22 (Navone)" team, access code b61bxed).

The course includes frontal lessons with the help of multimedia tools and materials. During the lessons various examples of interpretation and textual analysis will be proposed, and the active participation of the students (with questions and interventions) will be encouraged. The teacher will also make available to students, in a special section of the AulaWeb e-learning portal, various didactic tools (slides used in the classroom, supplementary or study support materials).

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Module 1

Autonomous study of an anthology of texts, representative of the most important authors of Italian literature from the fourteenth to the early twentieth century. These excerpts – accompanied by short introductions and analysis sheets – will be available on the e-learning portal of the University of Genoa (AulaWeb) from the beginning of the course. In addition to these handouts, students can deepen their study of the anthologized authors by using a textbook of Italian literature.

Module 2

The lessons of the course will be dedicated to the following topics:

a) «Luogo è in inferno detto Malebolge»: selected reading from cantos XVIII-XXX of Dante’s Inferno

b) Niccolò Machiavelli between the Principe and the Mandragola

c) Literature and satire between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: from Giacomo Leopardi's Operette morali to Eugenio Montale's Satura

Class attendance is strongly 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 professor 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.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for attending students

Module 1

- handouts in AulaWeb

Module 2

- Dante Alighieri, Inferno, 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)

- Niccolò Machiavelli, Mandragola, ed. by Pasquale Stoppelli, Milano, Mondadori, 2016 (or another recent annotated edition) (unabridged)

- Giacomo Leopardi, Operette morali, ed. by Laura Melosi, Milano, Rizzoli-BUR, 2008 (only the passages read in class)

- Eugenio Montale, Satura, ed. by Riccardo Castellana, Milano, Mondadori, 2018 (only the passages read in class)

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 of module 2 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)

LUCA BELTRAMI

ANDREA LAZZARINI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

14 February 2022

Class schedule

ITALIAN LITERATURE B

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The examination will take place in a single oral test covering the entire programme, consisting of the selection of anthological texts (module 1) and the topics presented during the lectures (module 2). It is not possible to divide the examination into two separate sessions.

Unless otherwise indicated due to the evolution of the health situation, the exam will be held in presence. If it is not possible to guarantee the necessary safety standards, the exam will be held on Teams.

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.

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

Non-attending students must contact the professor by email to arrange an alternative programme (see 'Syllabus/contents' section).

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.

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 professor 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.