30127 - SOCIOLOGIA DELLA LETTERATURA (LM)

Learning outcomes

Students possess in-depth knowledge of the functioning of literary institutions, the relationship between text and context, the dynamics of literary communication and the related political, ideological, socio-economic and editorial factors. They know how to use literary critical tools, with particular attention to the thematic and sociological aspects of literary texts.

Course contents

Lyric and Society: the Case of Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire’s Les fleurs du mal (1857) is one of the most famous books of poetry of all time. Criticised upon its publication, admired by readers of the subsequent era, it has been analysed by all methods of literary criticism: stylistic and historical criticism, thematic criticism, existentialism, Marxism, formalism and structuralism. For example, Erich Auerbach sought to capture the “extreme realism” that registers the horror of the world, while Walter Benjamin insisted on the technique of shock, by which Baudelaire expresses his conflictual relationship with the emerging mass society. Jean-Paul Sartre then launched into a tight existentialist and psychological interpretation. Hugo Friedrich spoke of “abnormality,” “dissonance” and “dictatorial fantasy” as effects of reading these texts. Finally, Roman Jakobson and Claude Lévi-Strauss interpret Baudelaire’s poetry as a structured whole of meaning, stylistically and formally.

All these interpretations demonstrate, first of all, that poetry is a testing ground for literary theory on a par with fiction. Moreover, in this course, built on these and other studies, we will interrogate lyric poetry from a sociological perspective that would seem alien to it. We will learn that even this genre, enclosed in the jealous and solitary enunciation of the poet and seemingly the most distant from ideological concerns, is subject to the forces at work in society. Through Les fleur du mal, we will understand how lyric poetry is, as Theodor Adorno argues, “always also the subjective expression of a social antagonism.”

Readings/Bibliography

The integral reading of Les fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire is mandatory.

Knowledge of French is not compulsory.

All texts listed below constitute exam materials. Foreign students can use original editions or English translations while studying, but a good reading knowledge of Italian is required in order to follow classes and understanding teaching materials. Foreign students can also ask for the substitution of some of them or a general reduction from this list:

• Theodor Adorno, Discorso su lirica e società (1957), in Note per la letteratura 1943-1961, Torino, Einaudi, 1979, pp. 46-64 (available in PDF on Virtuale).
• Erich Auerbach, Les Fleurs du Mal di Baudelaire e il sublime (1951), in La corte e le città. Saggi sulla storia della cultura francese, Roma, Carocci, 2007.
• Walter Benjamin, Di alcuni motivi in Baudelaire (1939), in Angelus Novus. Saggi e frammenti, Torino, Einaudi, 2006, pp. 89-130.
• Jonathan Culler, Theory of the Lyric, Cambridge (MA)-London, Harvard University Press, 2015 (only the chapter Lyric and Society, pp. 296-348, is mandatory).
• Franco Fortini, Oscurità e difficoltà, in «L’Asino d’Oro», II, 3 (L’oscurità in poesia), 1991, pp. 84-88 (available in PDF on Virtuale).
• Franco Fortini, Sui confini della poesia (1978), in I confini della poesia, a cura di L. Lenzini, Roma, Castelvecchi, 2015, pp. 15-38 (available in PDF on Virtuale).
• Hugo Friedrich, La struttura della lirica moderna (1956), Milano, Garzanti, 2016 (only the chapters Considerazioni preliminari and the one on Baudelaire are mandatory, pp. 13-59).
• Käte Hamburger, La logica della letteratura (1957), Bologna, Pendragon, 2015 (only the chapter III, Il genere lirico, pp. 237-286, is mandatory).
• Roman Jakobson e Claude Lévi-Strauss, Les chats di Charles Baudelaire (1962), in Roman Jakobson, Poetica e poesia. Questioni di teoria e analisi testuali, Torino, Einaudi, 1985, pp. 149-169 (available in PDF on Virtuale).
• Jean-Paul Sartre, Baudelaire (1947), Milano, Mondadori, 2006. 

Not attending students: In addition to the required course readings, students are expected to study selected chapters from a textbook that is forthcoming. Full bibliographic details will be provided as soon as they become available. These chapters will replace the historical overviews of the different theoretical approaches discussed during the course.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. Please, 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 professor in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Teaching methods

This course is based on the reading, analysis and discussion of literary and non-literary texts, with appropriate references to their relationship with history, society and the various artistic representations. Students will be invited to take an active part during frontal lessons, with questions and insights. The course is specially designed to allow students to share autonomous reflections and present their thoughts about the connections between study materials and current and past society and history.

Assessment methods

Oral exam

The examination will consist of an oral exam of approximately 20 minutes, designed to assess students’ knowledge of the required readings as well as their critical and interpretive skills. The examination will be divided into two parts:

1. Close reading of a poem from Les fleurs du mal selected by the professor, which may not have been discussed in class. In this first part, students will be assessed on their knowledge of the collection and their ability to analyze the poem’s key features, including its themes, situations, rhetorical devices, and stylistic choices.

1. Connections and contextualization. Building on the analysis of the selected poem, students will be expected to relate it to other texts in the corpus and to draw on the most relevant critical and theoretical readings, demonstrating a thorough knowledge of the course bibliography.
   

N.B. Students who have attended the course may write a commentary on a poem of their choice from Les fleurs du mal, following the guidelines provided by the professor during class. However, this optional assignment does not exempt students from studying the entire volume, which remains part of the examination syllabus.

Top marks will be awarded to students showing a wide and systematic understanding of the issues covered in class, but also capable of using these notions critically to elaborate clear and relevant analyses through an appropriate vocabulary (28-30L).

Average marks will be awarded to students showing a mostly mnemonic knowledge of the subject matter, a moderate ability to summarize and elaborate on key topics and using a correct vocabulary, though not always relevant (24-27).

A superficial knowledge and understanding of the primary sources and related bibliography, accompanied by scarce analytical and expressive competences, will be rewarded with a pass mark or just above (18-23).

Students showing significant gaps in their knowledge of the subject and related bibliography and/or expressing themselves in a confused and inappropriate way will not be given a pass mark.

Teaching tools

Students are requested to register on the course on Virtuale platform, which is the official tool used by the professor for communications, notices and to provide additional teaching material. Students will find there PowerPoint presentations in PDF format, downloadable materials in support of the lessons, audio materials, precise indications in order to prepare themselves for the exam.

Links to further information

https://virtuale.unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Guido Mattia Gallerani