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

Facts and fictions. Literature and science

According to the traditional 'two cultures' view, science deals with facts and literature with fictions. But historically, the discoveries and worldviews of scientists have always exerted a profound influence on the imagination of writers. On the other hand, science has always made use of the forms of literature and figures of rhetoric to report and testify about its experiences. This course aims to verify the terms of this contrasted but fertile dialogue, moving backwards through some fundamental stages. From Italo Calvino and Primo Levi, whose interest in science results into the experimentation of new forms of writing, we will then move on to Galileo, following the effects of the seventeenth-century scientific discoveries on contemporary literature, and finally arrive at Dante's Commedia, whose calculated architecture reflects the ordered and hierarchical cosmos of medieval science.

Group B includes students with surnames CON to K. This subdivision also applies to Erasmus students.

Non-attending students must contact the teacher to agree on the program and receive further indications.

Readings/Bibliography

Reading and commenting on a choice of 10 cantos from Dante's Comedy is required (e.g. Inf. I, II, V, X, XXVI, XXXIII; Purg. I, III, XXVI; Par. I). The site dante.dartmouth.edu is also very useful. It is recommended to show up for the exam with a list of the chosen cantos. Some lessons will be devoted to the reading of Dante's cantos, in order to provide, in addition to the basics of metrics and rhetoric, models of textual analysis.

For the historical and literary contexts related to the authors examined the reference manual will be Letteratura italiana, a c. di A. Battistini, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014.

Texts:

Dante, Commedia ed. by E. Pasquini-A. Quaglio, Milano, Garzanti (or any other commentary);

Galileo, Il Saggiatore; Dialogo sopra i massimi sistemi; Scritti letterari (examined pieces will be available on the Virtuale platform);

I. Calvino, Lezioni americane; Le Cosmicomiche (Oscar Mondadori):

P. Levi, Storie naturali; Il sistema periodico; L'altrui mestiere (Einaudi).

 

Bibliography:

P. Boyde, L'uomo nel cosmo. Filosofia della natura e poesia in Dante, Bologna, Il mulino, 1984;

G. Baffetti, La retorica, l'ingegno e l'anima. Studi sul Seicento, Pisa, Pacini, 2006;

Ch.P. Snow, Le due culture, a cura di A. Lanni, Venezia, Marsilio, 2005;

M. Bucciantini, Pensare l'universo. Italo Calvino e la scienza, Roma, Donzelli, 2023;

E. Mattioda, Levi, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2010.

 

Directions on the use of  bibliography 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.

Teaching tools

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

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Baffetti