13338 - Contemporary Italian Literature (R-Z)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student has acquired a working knowledge of wide areas of twentieth-century literary history, with special emphasis on the relation between literature and historical, social, anthropological, and more broadly cultural phenomena. Study is assisted by secondary literature and face-to-face tuition and covers close reading of the text as well as problems of form, structure, composition, and reception.

Course contents

Masks of the Self in Modern Italian Fiction. Figures, Metamorphoses, and Revelations of Identity in Literary Modernity

This course explores the multiple forms through which identity is constructed, represented, and destabilized in modern Italian fiction. Focusing on the masks of the self, their metamorphoses, and the processes of self-revelation that constitute a defining feature of literary modernity, the course adopts the dialectic between mask and persona as a key interpretative framework and as one of the fundamental categories of Western culture.

Beginning with the crisis of the subject at the turn of the Twentieth century and extending to the transformations of contemporary society, the course examines a range of literary representations of the self in Italian and European literature. Particular attention is devoted to the themes of aestheticism, the double, metamorphosis, female emancipation, the body and clothing, self-writing, and the deconstruction of social roles, investigating the many configurations of the relationship between being and appearance.

Through a plurality of authors and perspectives, the selected works enable students to reconstruct a constellation of literary identities that encompasses the masks of D’Annunzian aestheticism, the fragmentation of the self in Pirandello, new forms of female self-representation in Vivanti, Aleramo, de Céspedes and Masino, the crisis of bourgeois identity in Moravia, and Pasolini’s radical unveiling of social conventions.

The primary texts will be read alongside a selection of European classics devoted to the themes of the mask, the double, and the metamorphosis of the self, which will provide complementary perspectives and serve as the basis for further discussion throughout the course.

The course adopts a methodological approach that combines historical and literary contextualization with close textual analysis, encouraging an interdisciplinary interpretation of literary works at the intersection of literature, philosophy, art history, fashion studies, psychoanalysis, anthropology, and other cultural languages of modernity.

Readings/Bibliography

PRIMARY BIBLIOGRAPHY

- G. d'Annunzio, Il piacere

- A. Vivanti, Circe

- L. Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal

- S. Aleramo, Andando e stando

- A. Moravia, Gli indifferenti

- A. de Céspedes, Quaderno proibito, Milano, Mondadori, 2022

- P. Masino, Album di vestiti, Roma, Elliot, 2015

- P. P. Pasolini, Teorema (romanzo)

 

SECONDARY BIBLIOGRAPHY

- D. Baroncini, La moda nella letteratura contemporanea, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2010

- M.A. Bazzocchi (a cura), Cento anni di letteratura italiana 1910-2010, Torino, Einaudi, 2021

- Any materials published in "Virtuale" during lessons

TEXTS TO BE STUDIED FOR THE 6 CREDITS COURSE

PRIMARY BIBLIOGRAPHY

- G. d'Annunzio, Il piacere

- A. Vivanti, Circe

- L. Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal

- S. Aleramo, Andando e stando

 

SECONDARY BIBLIOGRAPHY

- D. Baroncini, La moda nella letteratura contemporanea, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2010

- M.A. Bazzocchi (a cura), Cento anni di letteratura italiana 1910-2010, Torino, Einaudi, 2021 (N.B. : I: Inizio secolo; II: Nell'orbita del modernismo; III: Dalla fine del fascismo agli anni Cinquanta)

- Any materials published in "Virtuale" during lessons

Teaching methods

The course will be delivered primarily through lectures, focusing on the historical and literary contextualization, close reading, and critical interpretation of the texts included in the syllabus.

Class sessions will also encourage active student participation through discussion, the exchange of interpretative perspectives, and collective textual analysis, fostering critical engagement with the works studied and the development of independent analytical skills.

Particular emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinary approaches and on the intersections between literary texts and their broader cultural contexts, with references to philosophy, art history, fashion studies, psychoanalysis, anthropology and other cultural expressions of modernity.

Although attendance is not compulsory, it is strongly recommended, as it enables students to develop a rigorous and informed approach to literary study while acquiring the critical and methodological tools necessary to analyse and interpret literary texts within their broader historical, cultural and interdisciplinary contexts.

Assessment methods

Assessment consists of an oral examination designed to evaluate students' knowledge of the prescribed texts, their ability to analyse and interpret them critically, and their capacity to situate them within their broader historical, literary, and cultural contexts.

During the examination, students are expected to demonstrate:

• comprehensive and thorough knowledge of the prescribed texts;
• the ability to contextualise authors and works within their historical, literary, and cultural frameworks;
• the ability to analyse and interpret literary texts critically, with attention to their formal, thematic, and ideological dimensions;
• the ability to establish connections among the works studied during the course and with the principal cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives discussed in class;
• clarity and effectiveness of oral expression, together with the appropriate use of disciplinary terminology.

Successful completion of the examination requires the careful and complete reading of all the prescribed texts. Preparation based solely on summaries, study guides, or general knowledge of the works will not be considered adequate.

To achieve the highest marks, students are expected not only to demonstrate extensive and confident knowledge of the course content, but also to display independent critical judgement in the interpretation of literary works, the ability to develop original and well-argued connections, full command of the discipline-specific vocabulary, and a mature and rigorous style of academic discussion.

Throughout the course, supporting teaching materials (including presentations, handouts, outlines, and other learning resources) may be provided to facilitate textual analysis and to support further exploration of the principal topics addressed during the lectures.

The interpretation of literary works will also be enriched through the use of iconographic, documentary, and audiovisual materials (including works of art, photographs, historical documents, films, and other multimedia resources), employed as tools for critical analysis and interdisciplinary comparison.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Examinations

The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) during any assessed examination is strictly prohibited. Any use of AI in the examination constitutes a violation of the principles of academic integrity.

 

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible ( https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Throughout the course, supporting teaching materials (including presentations, outlines, handouts, and other learning resources) may be provided to facilitate the analysis of the prescribed texts and to support a more in-depth exploration of the principal themes addressed in class.

The interpretation of the literary works will also be enriched through the use of iconographic, documentary and audiovisual materials—including works of art, photographs, historical documents, film excerpts and other multimedia resources—which will serve as tools for critical inquiry and interdisciplinary analysis.

Office hours

See the website of Daniela Baroncini