75361 - Women's Cultural Memory in Scandinavian Tradition

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will be able to understand the particular role played by women in Nordic society, both from a literary and – more generally – cultural point of view. The student will be able to analyze some fundamental topics connected with women in Nordic society in a diachronic and thematic perspective through the direct knowledge of some texts from the Middle Ages till the contemporary times, in Italian or English translation. The student will be able to manifest a personal critical thinking about the female condition taking into account the Nordic literary and artistic production.

Course contents

1st Semester: (from 30th September) 30 hours (6 CFU)

Ask yourself about silence

 The immense Icelandic spaces, the endless Scandinavian forests, the solitary fjords are part of our Northern stereotype. We admire the primordial strength of those places, their sublime silence. The course intends to investigate a particular aspect of that perception of the Nordic world: the concept of silence. This is an increasingly rare situation in the contemporary world: silence is often sought, bought. In the Nordic literature - so attentive to the reactions of the soul - we find texts about various forms of that absence of sound: muteness, lack of voices and noises, will that lead to avoid words or telling, talking which shows an evident silence of sincere communication. Our journey will start from two well-known Andersen fairy tales, will continue with Ibsen and one of his beautiful plays, followed by the Icelandic Gunnar Gunnarsson and the Swedes Pär Lagerkvist, Ingmar Bergman, until we reach Tomas Tranströmer, the poet who more than any other has core of his inspiration.

Readings/Bibliography

Works:

Opere:

- Hans Christian Andersen, La sirenetta e Il tenace soldatino di stagno, in Hans Christian Andersen, Fiabe e storie, a cura di Bruno Berni, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2015, pp.56-74 e 108-111.

- Henrik Ibsen, Gli spettri, a cura di Anita Rho, Torino, Einaudi, 1959 (o qualsiasi altra edizione).

- Gunnar Gunnarsson, Il pastore d'Islanda, Milano, Iperborea, 2016.

- Pär Lagerkvist, Il boia, Milano, Iperborea, 1997

- Ingmar Bergman, Persona, in Ingmar Bergman, Sei film, Torino, Einaudi, 1979, pp.

- Tomas Tranströmer, Poesia dal silenzio, Milano, Crocetti, 2001 (testi indicati dal docente).

 

Critics:

David Le Breton, Sul silenzio. Fuggire dal rumore del mondo, Milano, Cortina, 2017, pp. 11-117.

Gado, Frank. The Passion of Ingmar Bergman. Durham: Duke University Press, 1986, pp. 481-486

Wood, Robin. Ingmar Bergman. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2013, pp. 1-23

- Storia delle letterature scandinave. Dalle origini a oggi, a cura di Massimo Ciaravolo, Milano, Iperborea, 2019, pp. 207-213; 254-258; 281-289; 300-313; 465-471; 489-496; 533-544, 570-574.

Maria Cristina Lombardi, Introduzione, in Tomas Tranströmer, Poesia dal silenzio, Milano; Crocetti, 2001, pp.7-15

Non-attending students:

- David Le Breton, Sul silenzio. Fuggire dal rumore del mondo, Milano, Cortina, 2017 (lettura integrale)

- Davidson, Peter, L'idea di Nord, Roma, Donzelli, 2005 (lettura integrale);

- Perrelli, Franco, Introduzione a Ibsen, Bari, Laterza, 1988;

- Trasatti, Sergio, Ingmar Bergman, Milano, Il castoro, 2000.

Teaching methods

The course is structured as a seminar. Students are invited to participate actively to the lessons.

Assessment methods

The exam consists inan oral interview. During the interview the methodological and critical skills acquired by the student willbe evaluated. The student will be invited to discuss the texts covered during the course andtomove within the sources and bibliographical material in order to be able to identify in them the useful information that will enableto illustrate the similarities and cultural areas of the discipline. The achievementof an organic vision of the issues addressed during the classes and theircritical use, which demonstrateownership of a mastery of expression and specific language, will be assessed with marks of excellence. Mechanical and / or mnemonic knowledge of matter, synthesis and analysis of non-articulating and / or correct language but not always appropriatewill lead to discrete assessments; training gaps and / or inappropriate language - although in a context of minimal knowledgeof the material - will lead to votes that will not exceed the sufficiency. Training gaps, inappropriate language, lack of guidance within the reference materials offered during the course will lead to failed assessments.

Teaching tools

During the course, some audiovisual material will be used. Teaching material will be posted on the web platform of the course.

Office hours

See the website of Alessandro Zironi