30931 - Italian Literature 1 (GR. C)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student is expected to have a deep knowledge on diachronical aspects of the Italian literary tradition, knows the critical discussion on the keys issues about texts and authors and is able to use the main tools of the methodological analysis of texts and contexts. Students must demonstrate competence in written form

Course contents

Truth, lie, justice. Paths in Italian literature

The course, divided into two parts, is dedicated to surveys in literature from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The first module has a general character (evolution and development of Italian literature from the 13th to the 16th century) with in-depth studies of Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron (10 novels) and Dante's Inferno (10 cantos). The second module is  dedicated to the reading of Machiavelli, Tarchetti e Capuana.

Readings/Bibliography

Recommended readings:

First unit
Letteratura italiana.1 Dalle origini al Seicento, a cura di Andrea Battistini, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014 (vol 1: le parti relative a Dante, pp. 79-123; Boccaccio, pp. 165-189; Machiavelli, pp 317-331).
Boccaccio, Decameron, Proemio; Introduzione; I, 1; II 7; III 1; V, 4 e 9; VI 7; VII 5; IX 2; X 6 e 10.
Please note that you can read the text in the websites:
www.letteraturaitaliana.net/gli autori/Boccaccio Giovanni/Decameron
www.liberliber.it/Autori/Boccaccio, Giovanni/Decameron www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/
E' altresì richiesto lo studio dei seguenti testi critici:

FRANCESCO BAUSI, Leggere il "Decameron", Bologna, il Mulino, 2017; Dante, Inferno (cantos I, III, V, X, XIII, XV, XIX, XXVI, XXVII, XXXIII). Please use a commented edition: E. PASQUINI - A. QUAGLIO, Milano, Garzanti, 1988; B. GARAVELLI - L. MAGUGLINI, Milano, BUR, 2000; T. DI SALVO, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2003; A. M. CHIAVACCI LEONARDI, Milano, Mondadori, 2007; P. STOPPELLI, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2008.You can also read the text on the website dante.dartmouth.edu.

Second unit

N. Machiavelli, Mandragola,edited by G.Davico Bonino, Milano, BUR Rizzoli, 2013; I. U. Tarchetti, Fosca, Milano, Mondadori, 2004; L. Capuana, Un caso di sonnambulismo in Novelle del mondo occulto, a cura di A. Cedola, Bologna, Pendragon, 2007, pp. 79-98 (available online); L. Capuana, Il marchese di Roccaverdina, Milano, Garzanti, 1969.

Teaching methods

The course will be divided in frontal lessons and laboratories on the texts.

Assessment methods

The evaluation of the students' competencies and abilities acquired during the course consists of two phases:
a written test leading up to and preparatory to the specific subjects contained in the course programme, and an oral test aimed at ascertaining a general knowledge of all the subjects covered during the course.
The written test responds to criteria relating to orthography, morphology, syntax and semantics, clarity of expression, the ability to summarize.
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.

Teaching tools

Audio and video aids may be used in support of lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Lara Michelacci