30133 - Theory of Literature (LM)

Learning outcomes

Students possess a high awareness of the specificity of literary language as an expressive mode of the imaginary and a tool for interpreting reality. They possess in-depth knowledge of the general concepts of literature, the functioning of literary institutions, the relationship between text and context, the dynamics of literary communication, as well as stylistic traditions, genres, modes and forms of representation. They know and are able to use the interpretative tools and practical methodologies for the analysis of the literary text, in its rhetorical, formal, stylistic, thematic and ideological components. They are able to elaborate autonomous reflections and formulate judgements on theoretical and methodological questions.

Course contents

Fiction and non-fiction: literary forms and the archival turn

One of the fundamental issues in literary theory concerns the relationship between facts and fiction. This is a problem that looms particularly large in contemporary works, which are increasingly characterised by a blending of certain forms typical of narrative fiction (particularly at the diegetic level) with content that either adheres to real-world referents or attempts to simulate their material connotations. From the theory of possible worlds to metalepsis, from non-fiction modalities to iconotextuality as a (pseudo)documentary strategy, the course aims to explore the blurring of boundaries between facts and fictions from a specific perspective: the central role that the reflection on and the representation of archives have acquired over the last fifty years, to the extent of a proper ‘archival turn’.


The first lessons of the course will focus on a number of theoretical and narratological concepts (point of view, narrative techniques, literary genre, etc.) necessary to contextualise the issue of fact versus fiction. We shall then proceed with an in-depth examination of literary forms—considered also in their diachronic dynamics—which centre on the representation of the archive at the intersection of fiction and non-fiction: from the postmodern ‘romance of the archive’ by English-speaking authors such as A.S. Byatt and Carol Shields (in which archival research is staged whilst simultaneously being deconstructed), to the so-called contemporary ‘littérature de terrain’ from the French-speaking world, in which the coincidence (whether explicit or more nuanced) between the ‘authorial self’ and the ‘narrative self’ grapples with the aporias of narrativised archives and research that cannot be concluded, as seen in the works of Nathalie Léger and Hélène Giannecchini. Finally, the discussion will conclude with an analysis of ‘documentary fictions’ (as defined by Muriel Pic) that blend images and poetic language, for example in the works of the Franco-Swiss author Pic herself or in those of the Italian poet Mariangela Guatteri.

Readings/Bibliography

Students will read carefully three literary works from the list below, choosing one for each group (where possible, they are encouraged to read the texts in their original language):

Group A: Romance of the archive

- A.S. Byatt, Possession. A Romance, Chatto & Windus, 1990 (any English edition is fine) / trad. it. Possessione. Una storia romantica, Einaudi.

OR

- Carol Shields, Swann. A Mistery, Stoddart, 1987 (any English edition is fine) / trad. it. Mary Swann, Voland.

Group B: Littérature de terrain

- Hélène Giannecchini, Une histoire peut-être vraie. Alix Cléo Roubaud, Seuil, 2014 (or Points nel 2026) / english translation: Alix Cléo Roubaud: a portrait in fragments, Sylph, 2024

OR

-Nathalie Léger, Supplément à la vie de Barbara Loden, POL, 2012 / trad. it. Suite per Barbara Loden, La nuova frontiera, 2020.

Gruppo C: Finzioni documentarie poetiche

- Muriel Pic, Élégies documentaires, Macula, 2016 (2° ed. 2021) / trad. it. Elegie documentarie, Castelvecchi, 2026

OR

- Mariangela Guatteri, Casino Conolly, il verri, 2024

 

Students will study the following essays: 

Riccardo Castellana, Fiction e non fiction. Storia, teorie e forme, Carocci, 2021, limited to chapters 1 and 5.

Raffele Donnarumma, Ipermodernità. Dove va la narrativa contemporanea, il Mulino, 2014, limited to pp. 117-125, 129-134, 165-176

Aleida Assmann, Ricordare: forme e mutamenti della memoria culturale, il Mulino, limited to chapters XII and XIII.

Sara Callahan, Art + Archive. Understanding the archival turn in contemporary art, Manchester University Press, 2022, limited to pp. 56-84

Suzanne Keen, Romances of the Archive in Contemporary British Fiction, University of Toronto Press, 2001, llimited to pp. 28-62

Dominique Viart, Les littératures de terrain, in "Revue critique de fixxion française contemporaine", 18 | 2019, pp. 1-15 OR Dominique Viart, Fieldwork in Contemporary French Literature, Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, 20:4-5, pp. 569-580.

Muriel Pic, LA FICTION DOCUMENTAIRE (XIXe-XXIe SIÈCLES) :DEVINETTE, DIVINATION, DEUIL, in "La Licorne", 2014, pp. 31-44

 

Optional readings on single literary works, highly recommended for those unable to attend:

On Possession and Swann: Beatrice Seligardi, Finzioni accademiche. Modi e forme del romanzo universitario, Franco Cesati, 2018, limited to pp.121-127 e 146-160.

On Une image peut-être vraie: Lou Stoppard, The Photographer Who Made Absence Her Muse, "Aperture", 4 giugno 2026, https://aperture.org/editorial/the-photographer-who-made-absence-her-muse/

On Supplément à la vie de Barbara Loden: Dominique Viart, Le cinéma interrogé par la Littérature de terrain, "French Forum", WINTER 2021, Vol. 46, No. 2/3 (WINTER 2021), pp. 197-211.

On Élégies documentaires: Silvano Facioni, Maurizio Balsamo, Giuseppe Armogida, "Note a Margine", in Muriel Pic, Elegie documentarie, Castelvecchi, 2026, pp. 87-103.

On Casino Conolly: review by Fabio Zinelli in "Semicerchio", LXXII-LXXIII 01-02/2025, pp. 162-164.

Teaching methods

The course is based on 30 hours of lectures, during which students will be encouraged to participate and discuss.

Assessment methods

Oral examination.

Questions will focus both on the contents of critical texts and on the analysis of literary and visual works. The oral test aims to verify the following: knowledge of the course contents; appropriate linguistic register and the specific lexicon of literary studies; ability to re-elaborate and expand the acquired knowledge, as well as to propose new and individual interpretations.

An insufficient assessment is determined by the absence of a minimum level achieved in the above criteria. A sufficient assessment (18-23/30) is determined by an acceptable level achieved in the above criteria; an average assessment (24-27/30) is given to those who demonstrate a more than sufficient (24-25/30) or good (26-27/30) level achieved in the above criteria; an excellent assessment (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) is assigned to those who demonstrate an excellent level in all the above criteria.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities: any requests for adjustments must be  submitted to the professor at least 15 days before the exam by sending an email to the professor as well as disabilita@unibo.it (in case of disability) or dsa@unibo.it (for students with SLD).

With regard to the use of AI: any uncritical or simplistic use of AI tools intended to replace or trivialise the in-depth reading and interpretation of texts, whether literary or essayistic, is strongly discouraged. As for the assessment, this takes the form of an oral examination; herefore, the use of AI is not envisaged, nor permitted.

Teaching tools

Additional materials as well as texts that are difficult to find will be indicated in class and made available on the Virtuale platform.

Office hours

See the website of Beatrice Seligardi