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.

Course contents

Guilt and atonement: literary surveys

 

1 Module: Survey in Boccaccio and Pirandello
The module investigates the theme of violation (of speech, bodies, psyche, environment) in the literature of the Middle Ages and the 20th century. The first part is dedicated to the reading of selected tales from Boccaccio's Decameron, the second to the analysis of Enrico IV by L. Pirandello. The first part of the course participates in the teaching innovation project.

2 Module: Guilt and Atonement: a Journey Between Dante's Purgatorio and Verga

Through a selection of cantos, the first part of the course will propose a dual reading of the themes of guilt and atonement in Dante’s Purgatorio, declining them in their individual and collective dimensions and also providing an insight into some of the founding themes and issues of medieval society, namely salvation, fame, free will, political engagement, as well as the ancient/modern duality. In the second part, a similar path will be taken within Verga’s work by tracing its evolution from Storia di una capinera to the Malavoglia. The narrative structures, the linguistic and philological peculiarities, the individual and choral dimension of the characters and the attention to the social reality of Southern Italy, typical of Verism, will be highlighted, also through the reading and comparison with other texts by Verga and contemporary authors.

Readings/Bibliography

1 Module (Prof. Lara Michelacci)

The study of the following textbook is required: Letteratura italiana. Manuale per studi universitariItalian Literature (From the origins to the mid-sixteenth century and 2. Da Tasso a fine Ottocento), edited by G. Alfano, P. Italia, E. Russo, F. Tomasi, Florence, Mondadori Università, 2018 (vol 1: Boccaccio, pp. 243-300. The course includes the reading and in-depth critical examination of the following texts and essays:

1) Decameron, in a recent annotated edition: Proem; Introduction; I, 1; II 7; III 1; IV, 1; V, 4; VI, 3 and 7; VII 5; IX 2; X 6 and 10.

The text, without notes and commentary, is available on the following websites:
www.letteraturaitaliana.net/gli authors/Boccaccio Giovanni/Decameron
www.liberliber.it/Autori/Boccaccio, Giovanni/Decameron www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/
The study of the following critical texts is also required:

F. Bausi, Leggere il "Decameron", Bologna, il Mulino, 2017

2) Enrico IV by Luigi Pirandello in a recent economical edition;

Readings: M. Polacco, Pirandello, Bologna, Il Mulino 2011.

S. Brunetti, Enrico IV ovvero il potere salvifico dell’immaginazione, in Scritture della performance, 4,2, 2015, pp. 23-32 available online: https://journals.openedition.org/mimesis/1082

P. Piredda, L'idea dell'etica dell'artista di Pirandello nella rappresentazione tragica dell'Enrico IV; MLN 2013, pp. 151-165 available online: https://scholar.archive.org/work/kqld7pap6nbbtoanm5xojvigz4

M, Sabbatino, Enrico IV o l’apologo della follia, Rivista di letteratura teatrale,2020, pp. 109-118.

2 Module (Prof. S. Ferrilli)

Texts:

- Dante: Preparation of 10 cantos of the Purgatorio in an annotated edition (I, II, VI, XI, XVI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXVI, XXX).

Among the most recent ones, the following editions are recommended (also in reprint): E. Pasquini-A. Quaglio, Milano, Garzanti, 1988; B. Garavelli, M. Corti, Milano, Bompiani, 1994; A.M. Chiavacci Leonardi, Milano, Mondadori, 2007; G. Inglese, Roma, Carocci, 2007; C. Ossola, Venezia, Marsilio, 2021; R. Mercuri, Torino, Einaudi, 2021.

The text, without notes and commentary, is also available online at the following addresses: https://www.danteonline.it/index.html; https://dante.dartmouth.edu/; http://www.bibliotecaitaliana.it/ .

-Giovanni Verga, I Malavoglia, any unabridged edition; among the most recent ones, the following are recommended (also in reprint): G. Carnazzi, Milano, Rizzoli, 1978; C. Riccardi, Milano, Mondadori 1981; T. Di Salvo, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1990; F. Cecco, Torino, Einaudi, 1995; G. Pontiggia, Milano, Frassinelli, 1997; F. Cecco, Novara, Interlinea, 2014 (critical edition); E. Ghidetti, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2014; N. Merola, Milano, Garzanti, 2015.

- Giovanni Verga, Storia di una capinera, any unabridged edition; among the most recent ones, the following are recommended (also in reprint): G. Carnazzi, Milano, Rizzoli, 2004; M.L. Celona, Palermo, Selino, 2008; S. Rota Sperti, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2015; S. Pautasso, Milano, Mondadori, 2017; S. Campailla, Roma, Newton and Compton, 2017.

The texts, without notes and commentary, are also available online at the following addresses: www.letteraturaitaliana.net ; http://www.bibliotecaitaliana.it/ ; https://www.liberliber.it/online/

Literary History:

G. Alfano, P. Italia, E. Russo, F. Tomasi, Letteratura italiana. Manuale per studi universitari, Firenze, Mondadori Università, 2018.

- vol. I, Dalle Origini a metà Cinquecento (the study of the part on Dante Alighieri is required: pp. 95-180).

- vol. II, Da Tasso a fine Ottocento (the study of the part on Giovanni Verga is required: pp. 649-662).

Secondary Litterature:

- G. Ledda, Leggere la ‘Commedia’, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2016.

- Dante, a cura di R. Rea e J. Steinberg, Roma, Carocci, 2020, only ch. 4 (pp. 79-94), ch. 5 (pp. 95-114), ch. 14 (pp. 267-285), ch. 18 (pp. 345-361).

- L. Spera, Storia e destino nell’opera di Verga. Una nuova prospettiva etica, Roma, Carocci, 2022.

Other supplementary texts and studies will be made available by the lecturer on the virtual platform.

Teaching methods

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

Please take note: The first module of the course ( Prof. Michelacci), is part of the project of innovative didactics of the University of Bologna and will be combine place-based formal classes with online educational materials and opportunities for interaction. Further information on how the course will be conducted will be provided at the beginning of the course.

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.

Non attending students are required to do the same readings and to study the same bibliography of attending students.

Teaching tools

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

Office hours

See the website of Lara Michelacci

See the website of Sara Ferrilli