90841 - Contemporary Italian Literature

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student is expected to acquire knowledge and skills in the field of contemporary Italian literature from the origin of modernity up to the present, with particular reference to the themes of fashion, dress, body, beauty and lifestyles; knows significant texts for the interweaving of literature and fashion not only in the Italian scene, but also in Europe and America; is able to critically interpret the most representative works of contemporary imagery between literature and fashion also in an interdisciplinary perspective.

Course contents

Clothes, bodies, identities: fashion, genders, emancipation in contemporary literature

The course aims to analyze the interweaving of literature and fashion in the imagination of modernity through central themes such as city, body, clothes, beauty, seduction, artificial. Special attention will be given to the evolution of dandy, femme fatale and garçonne, who become protagonists of Nineteenth and Twentieth century novels. These characters will be read as mirror of the radical changes of sensibility and perception of the world announced by Baudelaire and interpreted by Zola, Huysmans, d'Annunzio, Pirandello, Moravia, Pasolini, but also female writers such Annie Vivanti, Amalia Guglielminetti, Irene Brin. Through an intersective and multidisciplinary method the course will analyze the main phenomena of the modernity, from aestheticism, futuristic avant-garde, the novel of the crisis, gender identity, to the representation of fluid and virtual modernity.

 

Readings/Bibliography

- C. Baudelaire, Il pittore della vita moderna, chapters I, III, IV, IX, X, XI, XII

- G. d'Annunzio, Il piacere

- V. Margueritte, La garçonne, Milano, Sonzogno, 2014

- A. Moravia, Gli indifferenti

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

- D. Baroncini, Moda, metropoli e modernità letteraria, in Moda, metropoli e modernità, a cura di D. Baroncini, Milano, Mimesis, 2018

- E. Wilson, Vestirsi di sogni. Moda e modernità, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2008, chapters: 2. La storia della moda; 6. Genere e identità; 7. Moda e vita urbana

 

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures.

Attendance is not mandatory, but strongly recommended to improve learning and the study method.

 

Assessment methods

Written test. The test will be available after enrolling on AlmaEsami and will take place at the Campus Labs. It consists of a multiple choice test on the texts as listed in the exam program. The test lasts 15 minutes and consists of 21 closed-ended questions, each question has 3/4 alternative answers of which only one is correct. Each correct answer is worth 1 point. The total is 31 points (“30 e lode” - full grade with honours). The exam is deemed to be passed successfully if the final grade is equal to or higher than 18/30.

The aim of the test is to verify the knowledge of the topics and themes of the works as listed in the “Texts / Bibliography” section, that is how literature and fashion interact to inform each other in Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries. The candidate is required to demonstrate the ability to interpret and contextualize such texts and themes set in the background of literary modernity.

Those students who are about to graduate are strongly advised not to take the test in the last available exam date before the graduation session, but in a previous one. In no case will extraordinary sessions be added. In no case will oral exams be carried out.

On the day of the exam, you must show up 10 minutes before your allotted shift with your badge and your valid institutional credentials. For insurance reasons, the computer lab system does not recognize the credentials of those who are not up to date with the payment of their tuition fees. Please make sure that you have paid your tuition fees in order to access the test.

N.B. Those students who are enrolled up to the academic year 2020/2021 included are not allowed to take the written test. They must take the oral exam, therefore register in exam dates specifically reserved for them.

Office hours

See the website of Daniela Baroncini