13339 - Contemporary Italian Literature (2) (R-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of this class, students are expected to achieve a wide knowledge of Italian Twentieth-Century literature, with a main focus on relationships between literature and sociology, anthropology and civilization; the course load goes together with general notions in criticism and textual analysis, in formal, structural, compositional matters, and in their reception as well.

Course contents

Specific topic 2015-2016: The Space of Diary (1950-2004)

This course lasts 60 hours, and equals to 12 credits. Its general aim is the study of diary as a meta-literary practice and as an analytical way of writing, in both verse and prose, with the help of theoretical tools and notions of history of contemporary literature.

This course assumes a minimum of knowledge upon Twentieth-Century Italian literature.

Lectures begin on Monday 5th October, 2015, and go further with the following schedule:

Monday, 11-13 am, Room II, Via Zamboni 38;

Tuesday, 11-13 am, Room II, Via Zamboni 38;

Wednesday, 11-13 am, Room I, Via Zamboni 38.

Readings/Bibliography

Throughout the course, the following texts (even in other available editions) will be read and discussed, to be prepared towards the final oral exam:

a. Cesare Pavese [1908-1950], Il mestiere di vivere [posth., 1952], Turin: Einaudi, 2014; 

b. Giaime Pintor [1919-1943], Doppio diario, Turin: Einaudi, 1978;

c. Pietro Chiodi [1915-1970], Banditi [n.d., maybe 1946], Turin: Einaudi, 2002;

d. Ottiero Ottieri [1924-2002], La linea gotica [1962], Parma: Guanda, 2012;

e. Amelia Rosselli [1930-1996], Diario in tre lingue, in Primi scritti 1952-1963 [1980], and Diario ottuso 1954-1968 [1990], both in L'opera poetica, Milan: Mondadori, 2012; 

f. Antonio Porta [1935-1989], Invasioni [1984], in Tutte le poesie, Milan: Garzanti, 2009; 

g. Giancarlo Majorino [1928], Prossimamente, Milan: Mondadori, 2004.

Readings and discussions will take place in parallel with a theoretical framing upon diary in modern and contemporary literature, with a focus on excerpts from the following books and articles:

h. Philippe Lejeune, Signes de vie. Le pacte autobiographique 2, Paris: Seuil, 2005 [Composer un journal, 63-75];

i. Filippo Secchieri, Oltre lo specchio. Dinamiche della scrittura diaristica, "Strumenti critici", 1, 2008, 75-94;

l. Giovanni Falaschi, La resistenza armata nella letteratura italiana, Turin: Einaudi, 1976 [Chapter II, La memorialistica, 25-53, and III, Il racconto (e il romanzo), 54-80];

m. Italo Calvino, Una pietra sopra, Turin: Einaudi, 1980 [Pavese: essere e fare, 58-63];

n. Anna Nozzoli, Pavese e Pintor, in Cesare Pavese. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Torino, Santo Stefano Belbo, 24-27 ottobre 2001, ed. by Margherita Campanello, Florence: Olschki, 2005, 173-190;

o. Cristina Nesi, Due culture, due città: La linea gotica, "Autografo", 49, 2013, 25-36;

p. Claudia Bonsi, Dal Taccuino industriale a La linea gotica di Ottiero Ottieri: un viaggio testuale,  "Autografo", 49, 2013, 37-57;

q. Daniela La Penna, "La promessa d'un semplice linguaggio". Lingua e stile nella poesia di Amelia Rosselli, Rome: Carocci, 2013 [3. Testualità e performance nel laboratorio di Primi scritti, 84-120];

r. Niva Lorenzini, "Bucare la pagina": il progetto della poesia, in Antonio Porta, Tutte le poesie, Milan: Garzanti, 2009, 9-64. 

To get a general frame on contemporary Italian literature the following reading is recommended: Stefano Colangelo, Il secondo Novecento, in Manuale di Italianistica, ed. by Vittorio Roda, Bologna: Bup, 2005, 305-332.

Further explanations on these and other resources will be provided throughout the class. Copies will be partially made available to students on time with a view to the exam; any other information will be available through a dedicated mailing list. The preparation of the texts and resources marked above as "d.", "o.", and "p.", is not mandatory for Overseas and Erasmus+ exchange students. 

 

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures with a strong interaction between students and teacher.

Assessment methods

The final exam consists of an oral appointment, which aims to verify some students' methodological, personally developed skills. It focuses on the main theoretical matters approached throughout the class, and verifies the knowledge of texts and essays that acted as subjects of a common consideration. Students could be invited to read and comment some samples to show their initial ability towards an original way of interpretation.

A positive or excellent score (27 to 30/30, with possible distinction) corresponds to a full mastering of technical, theoretical, historical and terminological resources of Twentieth-Century and contemporary literature, and to a proved ability to make connections among single aspects of the course contents, and to show awareness of textual features with appropriate language; an average score (23 to 26/30) goes to students who reveal some lacks in one or more topics or analytical proofs, or are able to use just mechanically their ability in interpretation; a pass or low score (18 to 22/30) to students with severe lacks in one or more topics or exercises, or not enough accurate while they use or quote notions and samples. A negative score is to be assigned to students who are not able to recall general notions in a sample of text and/or in general.

Students should sign up at the AlmaEsami web site (https://almaesami.unibo.it). The registration ends two days before the oral examination.

Teaching tools

Excerpts from texts and criticism in digital scans and photocopied transcripts.

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Colangelo