28883 - Literature and Rhetoric (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student knows the nomenclature, definitions, and persuasive implications of the main argumentative techniques of the rhetoric code, with particular attention to rhetorical devices and their classification. The student knows how to apply all of the above to analyses of literary texts.

Course contents

 

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of literary theory and textual analysis is required, together with an in-depth knowledge of the history of medieval and Renaissance Italian literature.

Course Contents

The course is divided into two modules.

1. Rhetoric and Literature

The first module (30 hours) examines the foundations of rhetoric, outlining its theoretical status, historical development, and fields of application. It traces the most significant stages in the history of rhetoric from classical antiquity to its contemporary revival, with particular attention to the leading figures of the so-called “Bolognese school” (Ezio Raimondi and Andrea Battistini). Through close analysis of literary texts, the module investigates the persuasive implications of the argumentative techniques that constitute the rhetorical code, as well as the analysis and classification of the various types of rhetorical figures.

2. “Con parole di donna”: Rhetorical Images of the Feminine in Medieval and Renaissance Italian Literature

The second module of the course (30 hours) focuses on the rhetorical construction of the idea of the feminine (or of “femininities”) and on representations of women, examining the processes of normalisation, neutralisation, dialectical tension, and opposition through which they are shaped. The plurality of rhetorical models of the feminine—including the angelic woman, the cruel woman, the resistant woman, the heroic woman, the seductive woman, and the sorceress-witch—will be analysed through readings of selected texts by Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Ariosto, and Tasso.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Rhetoric and Literature

Students are required to study two texts selected from the following:

Ch. Perelman L. Olbrechts Tyteca, Trattato della argomentazione. La nuova retorica, Torino, Einaudi, 2013 (esclusivamente pp-71-199).

F. Piazza, La retorica di Aristotele. Introduzione alla lettura, Roma, Carocci, 2015.

E. Raimondi, La retorica d'oggi, Bologna, il Mulino 2002.

In addition, knowledge of one of the following titles is required:

M.P. Ellero, Retorica. Guida alla argomentazione e alle figure del discorso Roma, Carocci, 2017.

B. Mortara Garavelli, Manuale di retorica, Milano, Bompiani, 2005.

2. “Con parole di donna”: Rhetorical Images of the Feminine in Medieval and Renaissance Italian Literature

Reading and analysis of selected passages from the following works: Dante, Vita Nuova, Rime, and Commedia; Petrarch, Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta; Boccaccio, Decameron, and Corbaccio; Ariosto, Orlando Furioso; Tasso, Gerusalemme Liberata (Paperback or low-cost editions are also acceptable, provided they include a commentary of the texts).

Supplementary materials will be distributed during lectures and/or uploaded to the university’s Virtuale platform.

Teaching methods

Frontal lesson and flipped classroom

Assessment methods

Final oral examination.

Office hours

See the website of Anna Gabriella Chisena