09435 - Theory of Literature

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the students have a basic knowledge of some general concepts of literature, of literary institutions, of relationships between text and contest and of the dynamic of literary communication. They know and can apply some basic methodologies to analyse literary texts.

Course contents

The literary text: Instructions for use

The political imagination

The course is intented as an introduction to text analysis and to a variety of critical operations: reading, interpreting, commenting, translating etc. The main topic will be the Nineteenth Century novel and its social and political features, with particular attention to the concept of realism.

Period: First semester (october-december 2014)

Timetable of lessons, classrooms etc: See School of Foreign Languages, Literature and Translation website

Readings/Bibliography

I. TEXTS

·      Stendhal, Il rosso e il nero (1830), Garzanti o Feltrinelli

·      Alessandro Manzoni, I promessi sposi (1840-42), qualunque edizione

·      Honoré de Balzac, Illusioni perdute (1837-43), Rizzoli o Garzanti

·      Charles Dickens, Grandi speranze (1860), Einaudi

·      Emile Zola, Germinale (1885), Feltrinelli

II. CRITICAL TEXTS

Students will choose one texts from Group A and one text from Group B:

Group A

·      Erich Auerbach, All'Hôtel de la Mole, e Germinie Lacerteux, capitoli contenuti in Erich Auerbach, Mimesis. Il realismo nella letteratura occidentale, Einaudi, vol. II, pp. 220-304

·      Federico Bertoni, Percorsi, seconda parte del volume Realismo e letteratura. Una storia possibile, Einaudi, pp. 125-306

·      Fredric Jameson, Sull'interpretazione. La letteratura come atto socialmente simbolico, capitolo contenuto in Fredric Jameson, L'inconscio politico, Garzanti, pp. 17-125

·      Guido Mazzoni, Il paradigma ottocentesco, capitolo contenuto in Guido Mazzoni, Teoria del romanzo, il Mulino, pp. 247-289

·      Franco Moretti, Il romanzo di formazione, Einaudi

·      Christopher Prendergast, Balzac: Narrative Contracts, e Stendhal: the Ethic of Verisimilitude, capitoli contenuti in Christopher Prendergast, The Order of Mimesis: Balzac, Stendhal, Nerval, Flaubert, Cambridge University Press, pp. 83-147

·      Jacques Rancière, Politica della letteratura, capitolo contenuto in Jacques Rancière, Politica della letteratura, Sellerio, pp. 13-38

Group B

·      Federico Bertoni, Postfazione, in Stendhal, Il rosso e il nero, Feltrinelli, pp. 549-560

·      Italo Calvino, «I promessi sposi»: il romanzo dei rapporti di forza, saggio contenuto in Italo Calvino, Una pietra sopra. Discorsi di letteratura e società, Mondadori

·      György Lukács, Balzac: «Les illusions perdues», capitolo contenuto in György Lukács, Saggi sul realismo, Einaudi, pp. 67-89

·      Henri Mitterand, Le savoir et l'imaginaire: «Germinal» et les idéologies, e L'idéologie et le mythe : «Germinal» et les fantasmes de la révolte, capitoli contenuti in Henri Mitterand, Le discours du roman, Puf, pp. 123-149

·      Edward Said, Narrativa e spazio sociale, capitolo contenuto in Edward Said, Cultura e imperialismo, Gamberetti, pp. 87ss.

 

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures

Assessment methods

The exam consists of an oral test that will assess the knowledge of the texts and the student's critical and interpretative skills. It will also assess the student's methodological awareness, the ability to master the bibliography in the course programme and the the field-specific language of the discipline. The ability to establish links between the theoretical framework and the texts will be expecially appreciated. A wide and systematic knowledge of the texts, interpretative insight, critical understanding and rhetorical effectiveness will be evaluated with a mark of excellence, while 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 evaluated with a “fair” mark. A superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a scarce analytical and expressive ability will be evaluated with a pass mark or a negative mark.

Teaching tools

Projection of Power point slides. For further teaching material see the website (link "Teaching material" on the right side of this page).

Links to further information

http://www.unibo.it/SitoWebDocente/default.htm?UPN=federico.bertoni@unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Federico Bertoni