OVERVIEW

The course is part of the Basic Learning Activities for the Bachelor’s course in “Teorie e tecniche della mediazione interlinguistica”, 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 the main authors, the most significant works, poetics and cultural movements of contemporary Italian literature.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course is intended to broaden students’ knowledge of contemporary Italian literature, to get them accustomed to doing critical reading and to be familiar with the phenomena of literary creativity in relation with publishing and cultural reviews.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with the essential conceptual and methodological tools for understanding the evolution of Italian literary modernity and its links with other literatures. It is divided into a general part, which briefly illustrates the most important stages in the evolution of poetry and narrative between the second half of the 19th century and the 20th century, and a more specific part, dedicated to an in-depth study of specific movements, works and authors.

At the end of the course the student will be able to:

a) identify and define the most significant movements and poetics in contemporary Italian literature

b) paraphrase and interpret autonomously literary passages in poetry and prose, analysing their contents and structural aspects (genre, metric form, rhetorical apparatus) also on the basis of 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 orally the topics treated in class with clarity and language properties

PREREQUISITES

Basic knowledge (at high school level) of Italian literature and history from national unity to the end of the twentieth century.

TEACHING METHODS

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

The program focuses on the routes, works and protagonists of contemporary Italian literature, from the beginning of the Twentieth century to the new millennium, and is divided into two parts, one part dedicated to prose (from Pirandello onwards) the other part dedicated to poetry (from Pascoli and D'Annunzio onwards). A series of texts, read and analysed in the classroom, is an integral part of the programme; in addition, students will have to study a manual for which refer to the "Texts/Bibliography" item. Eugenio Montale's Ossi di seppia, on the occasion of the centenary of the first edition (1925-2025), will be read and commented with special attention.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Cento anni di letteratura italiana. 1910-2010, edit by Marco A. Bazzocchi, Einaudi, Torino 2021. 

- Eugenio Montale, Ossi di seppia, edit by Pietro Cataldi and Floriana D'Amely, Mondadori, Milano 2003.

-  The bibliography indicated will be supplemented with additional readings presented in class and made available on AulaWeb during the course.

Non-attending students are additionally required to read the following books: I ventitré giorni della città di alba by Beppe Fenoglio (1952), Lessico famigliare by Natalia Ginzburg (1963) and Sostiene Pereira by Antonio Tabucchi (1994). In any available and complete edition, better if commented. 

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ALESSANDRO FERRARO (President)

VERONICA PESCE

LESSONS

LESSONS START

3rd October 2024 (first semester)

Class schedule

CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of an oral test which aims to verify the student's knowledge of the topics and texts treated in class, as well as to assess the student's critical and interpretative skills.

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 exam, students must register at least four days before the date of the exam at https://servizionline.unige.it/studenti/esami/prenotazione.

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

DSA students are invited to contact the teacher for any clarifications and agreements.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The examination consists of an oral interview on the topics covered in the course, and aims to assess the ability to paraphrase and analyse a literary passage, to contextualise the works studied from a historical-cultural point of view, to illustrate their metrical-stylistic characteristics, to establish links and comparisons between the topics covered in the course, and to use appropriate and effective exposition.

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.

DSA students are invited to contact the teacher for any clarifications and agreements.