30931 - Italian Literature 1 (GR. B)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has a good understanding of the Italian literary tradition, knows the fundamental issues of the critical discussion about the authors and texts and is able to use the main methods of analysis of texts and contexts; he has also acquired the ability of adequately expressing himself in writing.

Course contents

Literature, Science, Science Fiction

The course explores the Italian literary tradition—from Galileo and Leopardi to Calvino and Primo Levi—along a cross-cutting theme: its encounter with scientific thought and with the imaginative worlds that science and technology help to shape. Among the themes we will address include imagination, utopia, cosmic wonder, the relationship with machine, and the fantastic. Against this backdrop, the issue of the relationship between science and literature—and the so-called “two cultures”—serves as the theoretical backbone of the entire course.

The 60-hour course takes place in the first semester.

Group B includes students from ... to .... The division will be announced before the start of the course and applies also to Erasmus students.

Course changes are not permitted.

Non-attending students should contact the lecturer for specific instructions on exam preparation.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Readings/Bibliography

Texts:

1. Galileo Galilei, Il Saggiatore (selected passages, available for download from Virtuale)

2. Giacomo Leopardi: Operette morali: Storia del genere umano; Dialogo della Natura e di un Islandese; Il Copernico; Dialogo di un folletto e di uno gnomo. Recommended edition by L. Melosi, Milano, BUR, or another annotated edition. From the Canti, La ginestra, o il fiore del deserto.

3. Italo Calvino: Le cosmicomiche, Milano, Mondadori (Oscar). Reading of eight short stories: La distanza della Luna; Sul far del giorno; Un segno nello spazio; Tutto in un punto; Senza colori; I Dinosauri; La forma dello spazio; La spirale.

4. Primo Levi: Il sistema periodico, Torino, Einaudi. Reading of five chapters: Argon; Ferro; Piombo; Mercurio; Carbonio. Two short stories from Storie naturali e Vizio di forma, Torino, Einaudi: Il Versificatore and Verso occidente.

5. A text of your choice from either Ennio Flaiano, Un marziano a Roma, in Diario notturno, Milano, Adelphi or Dino Buzzati, Il grande ritratto, Milano, Mondadori (Oscar).

Bibliography:

Andrea Battistini, Letteratura e scienza, a cura di A. Di Franco, introduzione di G. Baffetti, Bologna, Pàtron, 2024

Darko Suvin, Le metamorfosi della fantascienza. Poetica e storia di un genere letterario, Bologna, il Mulino, 1985: the chapters on cognitive estrangement and novum.

The reference manual is Alfano-Italia-Russo-Tomasi, Profilo di Letteratura italiana. Dalle origini a fine Ottocento, Milano, Mondadori, 2021 or later reprints (single volume).

Further indications and bibliographical materials will be provided during the course.

Teaching methods

Lectures and analyses of literary texts.

Assessment methods

The assessment of the student's acquired knowledge and skills consists of an oral test designed to verify general preparation on all course topics.

During the year 6 oral tests are delivered.

The oral test consists in an oral interview which has the aim of evaluating the critical and methodological ability of the students. The students will be invited to discuss the tests on the course programme. The student must demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the bibliography in the course programme. Access to the oral test depends on having passed the written test. The final mark is not a mathematical average of the two tests.

 

Those students who are able to demonstrate a wide and systematic understanding of the issues covered during the lessons, are able to use these critically and who master the field-specific language of the discipline will be given a mark of excellence.

 

Those students who demonstrate 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 given a ‘fair' mark.

 

A superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a scarce analytical and expressive ability that is not always appropriate will be rewarded with a pass mark or just above a pass mark.

 

Students who demonstrate gaps in their knowledge of the subject matter, inappropriate language use, lack of familiarity with the literature in the programme bibliography will not be given a pass mark.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Some texts will be made available on the Internet (http://virtuale.unibo.it)            

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Baffetti