OVERVIEW

The course is part of the Basic Learning Activities for the Degree Course of 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 aim of this University Course is to give an idea of Italian literary tradition, from its origins to the actual days, with a particular eye to the different cultural typologies, interpretation of texts and contexts (musical, artistic, historical), and principally to the relationship with other foreign cultural systems.

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) recognize and explain the most important moments of the Italian literary tradition

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 dealt with in written and oral form with clarity and language properties

PREREQUISITES

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

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures will be held with the aid of multimedia tools and materials. Lectures will consist in commented readings of literary excerpts and in-depth cultural contextualisations, aimed at stimulating the reflections of students, who will often be invited to actively take part with their questions. The lecturer will also upload on the AulaWeb e-learning portal the slides used in classroom and other supplementary materials.

Attendance is not compulsory, but it 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 lecturer by e-mail at the beginning of the course and ask for an alternative examination programme. It is also advisable to attend the first lecture, during which the teaching programme and examination methods will be presented.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

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

PART ONE - Love, Luck, and Ingenuity in the Decameron

A selection of novellas from Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron will be presented and commented upon. Specifically, the crucial relationship between love and luck (the forces that animate the world of Boccaccio) and ingenuity, which determines the characters' ability to react to unexpected events, will be explored in depth.

PART TWO - The Italian Novella between the 15th and 18th Centuries

The genre of the novella underwent significant development between the 15th and 18th centuries, drawing inspiration from Boccaccio's Decameron. In this section of the course, novellas in prose and verse by authors from the three centuries will be read and discussed. The authors will include Anton Francesco Grazzini, Giovan Battista Basile, and Giovan Battista Casti, among others.

PART THREE - The Leopard

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard was not only one of the most striking literary successes of the mid-20th century but also provided our era with a category known as "Gattopardismo," the frequent misuse of which often signifies a misunderstanding of the novel's profound message. The work and its ideological implications will be analyzed primarily in the light of its most direct literary predecessors: Federico De Roberto's I Viceré and Luigi Pirandello's The Old and the Young.

Non-attending students are required to contact the lecturer to agree on a specific bibliography.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for attending students

• Dante Alighieri, Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso, edited by Anna Maria Chiavacci Leonardi, Milan, Mondadori (or the edition edited by Giorgio Inglese, Rome, Carocci, or the edition edited by Bianca Garavelli, Milan, Bompiani): reading, commentary, and paraphrase of Cantos I-V of Inferno.
• Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron, edited by Amedeo Quondam, Maurizio Fiorilla, Giancarlo Alfano, Milan, Rizzoli-BUR, 2018. Only the specified passages covered in class are required to be studied. Italian Novellas: The Cinquecento, edited by Marcello Ciccuto, Milan, Garzanti, 1995. Only the specified passages covered in class are required to be studied.
• Novelle italiane: Il Seicento, Il Settecento, edited by Davide Conrieri, Milan, Garzanti, 1982. Only the specified passages covered in class are required to be studied.
• Federico De Roberto, I Viceré, in Federico De Roberto, Romanzi, Novelle, Saggi, edited by Carlo Alberto Madrignani, Milan, Mondadori, 1984 (or another complete edition). Only the specified passages covered in class are required to be studied.
• Luigi Pirandello, I vecchi e i giovani, edited by Massimo Onofri, Milan, Garzanti, 2002. Only the specified passages covered in class are required to be studied.
• Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Il Gattopardo, Milan, Feltrinelli. Full reading is required.
• Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, I Racconti, Milan, Feltrinelli. Full reading is required."

The list may vary and it is therefore advisable to wait until the start of the lectures and the lecturer's presentation of the syllabus before purchasing or borrowing these books. The bibliography for module 2 will be supplemented with additional readings presented in class and made available on AulaWeb during the course.

Non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher to agree on a specific bibliography.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ANDREA LAZZARINI (President)

MATTEO NAVONE

GIORDANO RODDA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

February 21, 2024 (Aula 17 - Albergo dei Poveri)

Class schedule

ITALIAN LITERATURE A

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The examination will take place in a single oral test covering the entire programme, consisting of the topics presented during the lectures.

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

Non attending students are invited tocontact the lecturer by e-mail (andrea.lazzarini@unige.it) to arrange an alternative examination programme.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam tests the expertise to paraphrase and comment a literary text in poetry or prose. It aims to assess the skill to contextualise the texts in the frame of the Italian cultural history; to illustrate their metrical and stylistic features; to make connections and comparisons among different authors and works, to expose the contents with an appropriate language and to discuss the topics learned during the lessons.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

All students, whether attending or not, are requested to register for the course on AulaWeb in order to receive communications and notices concerning the course.

Erasmus students or non-native speakers of Italian must contact the lecturer to agree on the examination programme.
Students with a certified DSA, disability or other special educational needs are advised to contact the lecturer at the beginning of the course to agree on teaching and examination methods which, while respecting the teaching objectives, take account of individual learning methods and provide suitable compensatory tools. The same students are also invited to make use of the various services provided to accompany them on their university journey (for further information, please refer to https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa).