OVERVIEW

The course is part of the Basic Learning Activities for the Bachelor degree course of Letters and Humanities (curriculum Music and Performance) and bestows 9 credits, corresponding to 60 hours of classroom teaching and about 165 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.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course's aim is to deepen the discipline's historiographical lines, from its origins up to the end of the 19th century, providing a method of reading and critical interpretation of texts which pays particular attention to thematic, stylistic and metrical elements. The specific subject of the course is the Italian poetic text, analysed within the tradition of literary genres, authorial poetics and historical, artistic and cultural contexts. The course is preparatory to the teaching of the discipline in all educational contexts.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

- recognize and present the most important moments of the Italian literary tradition, from its origins to the 19th century

- identify genres in poetry and prose, the main metrical types, styles and the rhetorical strategies of texts

- demonstrate the ability to perform accurate paraphrasing and mature commentary of texts in verse and prose, in oral and written form

- use the terminology of literary criticism appropriately

- present and discuss the topics covered in oral and written form, with clarity and propriety of language.

Furthermore, students will also acquire the following transversal skills

- functional literacy, communicating effectively in oral and written form, with contextual awareness and the ability to use books and digital media

- learning-to-learn skills, organising and evaluating their own learning.

PREREQUISITES

Good level of comprehension of written and oral Italian Those who feel they have gaps in their skills are advised to attend the “Laboratorio di tecniche dell'italiano scritto” (1 cfu).

TEACHING METHODS

The course will consist of lectures with the use of multimedia tools and materials; active student participation will be encouraged.

Lessons will be held in person; a blended or remote format will be adopted only in the event of public transport strikes or weather warnings. Attendance is not mandatory, but is strongly recommended. Those who expect not to be able to attend at least 50% of the lectures (i.e., 30 hours out of 60) will take the exam as non-attending students and are required to contact the instructor at the start of the lesson to discuss additions to the syllabus listed here. In any case, it is recommended that students attend the first lesson, during which the course syllabus and exam procedures will be presented.

Students may record audio of the lessons, requesting prior permission from the instructor; the recordings must be published on Teams, where they will be available to all students, both attending and non-attending.

The instructor also makes classroom slides and other supplementary or study aid materials available to students in a dedicated section of the AulaWeb e-learning portal. It is therefore recommended that students register for the AulaWeb account dedicated to this course.

A workshop is planned for the study of the textbook and Dante's cantos, organized in collaboration with the Italian Literature course for the classical and modern curricula, taught by Prof. Simona Morando. Attendance at the workshop (which will take place between October and December, in conjunction with the curricular classes) is optional but highly recommended. Attendance at least 75% of the workshop hours will earn 1 credit (counting for other credits) and the open badges “Imparare a imparare (livello base)” e “Competenza alfabetica funzionale (livello avanzato)”. Further information about the workshop will be provided during the first lessons of the course.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Syllabus for attending students

The programme will be partly carried out in lectures and partly entrusted to the students' autonomous study, through the textbook and the bibliography indicated. The detailed list of topics, authors and texts to be studied will be made available on AulaWeb during the lecture period.

The programme is divided into three parts:

1) study of Italian literature from its origins to the end of the 19th century (partly carried out in lectures and partly entrusted to the students' autonomous study of the textbook Profilo di letteratura italiana. Dalle origini a fine Ottocento: see, for further details, the section ‘Texts/Bibliography’; only the parts indicated in AulaWeb at the beginning of the lectures will be studied from the textbook)

2) study of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (partly carried out in lectures and partly entrusted to the students' autonomous study of the 15 cantos indicated by the instructor at the beginning of the lessons in AulaWeb);

3) in-depth analysis carried out during lessons, through various readings centred around the following topic: the representations of hell in Italian literature.

After a brief introduction on the concept of hell in classical culture, some literary representations of hell will be analysed, starting from Dante's Inferno and then moving on to the works of Petrarca, Boccaccio, Ariosto, Tasso, Arcangela Tarabotti, Manzoni and Leopardi.

Through these readings, an attempt will be made, on the one hand, to provide some models for analysing the literary text at university level and, on the other, to illustrate the main ways in which hell is depicted (from the serious to the comic), as well as the metaphorical and allegorical meanings inherent to these representations. Literary works that deal with hell as an otherworldly place (which, however, always alludes to human society, either by mirroring or by paradox) will be examined, as well as works that describe 'hells on earth', i.e. realities of suffering created by human wickedness, hatred and superstition.

Syllabus for non-attending students

Non-attending students do not have a separate syllabus for Parts 1 and 2; for Part 3, they must contact the instructor after class begins to arrange a supplementary reading list.

All students, whether attending or not, are required to register for the course on AulaWeb, where the necessary study materials will be uploaded.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for attending students

For Part 1 of the syllabus: Giancarlo Alfano, Paola Italia, Emilio Russo, Franco Tomasi, Profilo di letteratura italiana. Dalle origini a fine Ottocento, Milano, Mondadori, 2021. Students are required to study only the parts indicated by the instructor at the beginning of the course.

For Part 2 of the syllabus: Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, commento di Anna Maria Chiavacci Leonardi, Milano, Mondadori, 3 vols. (or the edition edited by Giorgio Inglese, Roma, Carocci, or the one edited by Bianca Garavelli, Milano, Rizzoli). Students are required to read and study only the 15 cantos indicated by the instructor at the beginning of the lectures in AulaWeb.

For Part 3 of the syllabus, besides all materials used during the lectures and made available on AulaWeb, it is also recommended to consult (even in the library) a recent annotated edition of the following works, which will be covered in class:

 - F. Petrarca, Canzoniere (ad es. l’edizione a cura di M. Santagata, Milano, Mondadori);

- G. Boccaccio, Decameron (ad es. l’edizione a cura di A. Quondam, M. Fiorilla e G. Alfano, Milano, BUR-Rizzoli);

- L. Ariosto, Orlando furioso (ad es. l’edizione con commento di E. Bigi, a cura di C. Zampese, Milano, BUR-Rizzoli);

- T. Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata (ad es. l’edizione a cura di F. Tomasi, Milano, BUR-Rizzoli; oppure quella a cura di C. Gigante e T. Artico, Milano, Mondadori);

- A. Tarabotti, Inferno monacale (ad es. l’edizione a cura di M. K. Ray, E. B. Weaver, L. L. Westwater, Roma, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura);

- A. Manzoni, Storia della colonna infame (ad es, l’edizione a cura di L. Weber, Edizioni ETS);

- G. Leopardi, Paralipomeni alla Batracomiomachia (ad es. l’edizione a cura di a cura di M. A. Bazzocchi e R. Bonavita, Roma, Carocci).

The list of texts is subject to change, and it is therefore advisable to wait until the lessons start before purchasing or borrowing. The bibliography of the monographic part may be supplemented with additional readings presented in class and made available on AulaWeb during the course.

Non-attending students are required to contact the instructor to arrange additions to the bibliography indicated here.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Classes will begin the week of September 15th, according to the timetable

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

At the student's choice, the examination may be conducted in two alternative modes:

- first mode, written and oral. In this case, there are two examinations: a written exam relating to the literary history textbook (part 1 of the syllabus) and an oral exam (coinciding with the final exam) on the topics covered in the classroom (parts 2 and 3 of the syllabus). The written exam is preparatory to the oral exam and, must therefore be taken before the oral exam (the written test will be held starting from December 2026, with subsequent sessions in January and May 2027; the oral test will be held starting from January 2027.). In the event of a positive result in the written test, the textbook will no longer be subject to verification in the oral test; in the event of a negative result, the textbook will instead be taken in the oral test. 

- second mode, oral only. In this case, you take the entire programme (textbook + 15 cantos of Divine Comedy + classroom topics) to the final examination and do not have to take the written test. This single test can be taken starting in January 2027.

In any case, it is advisable to start studying the textbook from the beginning of the lectures.

A grading rubric will be agreed upon with students at the end of the course.

The mark communicated at the end of the exam can be rejected. Further guidance on the course of the examination will be provided during the lectures.

At least seven oral and three written examinations are scheduled each year.

To take part in the tests, you must register online at least five days before the exam date.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The written test, which is optional (see “Exam description”), consists of a series of multiple-choice or open-ended questions that will test knowledge of the basics of Italian literary history from its origins to the seventeenth century.

The oral examination consists of an interview on the cantos of the Divine Comedy and the topics covered in class and aims to assess the ability to

- paraphrase and summarise a literary passage

- contextualise the works studied from a historical-cultural point of view and illustrate their metric-stylistic characteristics;

- use appropriate and effective exposition;

- elaborate a personal critical judgement on the topics dealt with.

Those students who demonstrate an organic vision of the topics addressed, combined with the ability to add personal contributions, to master the tools of literary analysis and the specific vocabulary, to use effective and appropriate exposition, will be given a mark of excellence.

Those students who demonstrate a mnemonic knowledge of the subject with a more superficial analytical ability and ability to synthesize, a correct command of the language but not always appropriate, will be given a fair mark.

A superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a scarce analytical and expressive ability that is not always appropriate will be rewarded with a pass mark or just above a pass mark.

Students who demonstrate gaps in their knowledge of the subject matter, inappropriate language use, lack of familiarity with the literature in the programme bibliography will not be given a pass mark.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who will not to be able to attend at least 50% of the lessons (i.e. at least 40 of the 80 hours of classroom teaching) are required to contact the instructor by e-mail at the beginning of the course in order to agree on an alternative syllabus. It is also recommended to attend the first lesson, during which the teaching programme and the exam description 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 students who are not native speakers of Italian must contact the lecturer to agree on the examination programme. In any case, they may only sit the examination if they are sufficiently familiar with the Italian language.

Students with disabilities or specific learning disabilities can find guidance on requesting services, compensatory tools, or dispensatory measures, and specific aids in the document available at the following link.