13338 - Contemporary Italian Literature (M-R)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student has acquired a working knowledge of wide areas of twentieth-century literary history, with special emphasis on the relation between literature and historical, social, anthropological, and more broadly cultural phenomena. Study is assisted by secondary literature and face-to-face tuition and covers close reading of the text as well as problems of form, structure, composition, and reception.

Course contents

Topic of the course: Beware of Avant-gardes! Metamorphoses, Contradictions, and Outgrowings of a 20th Century Great Legacy.

The course lasts 60 hours, equivalent to 12 training credits. This is a reading path through twentieth-century and contemporary Italian works in verse and prose that can be traced back to debates on the idea of the "avant-garde," its transformations and its function in literary research in the present. The course requires a basic knowledge of Italian literature of the twentieth century.

The course starts on Monday, 18 September, 2023. Lectures take place in person. Here is the timetable from 18 September to 25 October, 2023:

- Monday, 5-7 pm, Aula A, Via Azzo Gardino 19-29;

- Tuesday, 5-7 pm, Aula A, Via Azzo Gardino 19-29;

- Wednesday, 5-7 pm, Aula A, Via Azzo Gardino 19-29.

Since 8 November, 2023 lectures will take place as follows:

- Monday, 5-7 pm, Aula A2 Berti Pichat, Viale Berti Pichat 6-6/2;

- Tuesday, 5-7 pm, Aula A2 Berti Pichat, Viale Berti Pichat 6-6/2;

- Wednesday, 5-7 pm, Aula 3, Piazza Scaravilli 1-2.

Readings/Bibliography

This course splits in a series of lectures and an individual study programme, which is not mandatory for Erasmus and Overseas students.

Lectures

Readings and discussions of narrative, poems and criticism are framed in four units as detailed below. All resources can be read in editions and reprints that are different from those suggested, even in e-reading formats.  

1. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Zang Tumb Tumb, in Teoria e invenzione futurista [Futurist Theory and Invention], preface by Aldo Palazzeschi; introduction, text and notes by Luciano De Maria, Milan: Mondadori, 1968; Ardengo Soffici, BIF ZF+18: simultaneità e chimismi lirici [BIF ZF+18: Lyrical Simultaneities and Chemisms], new enlarged edition, Florence: Vallecchi, 2002; Benedetta, Le forze umane [The Human Forces], in Le forze umane [The Human Forces], Viaggio di Gararà [The Gararà's Journey], Astra e il sottomarino [Astra and the Submarine], preface by Simona Cigliana, Rome: Edizioni dell'Altana, 1998.

2. Edoardo Sanguineti, some excerpts from Triperuno [Three-by-One], in Segnalibro. Poesie 1951-1981 [Bookmark. Poems 1951-1981], Milan: Feltrinelli, 2010; Nanni Balestrini, Come si agisce [How to Take Action], in Come si agisce e altri procedimenti. Poesie complete [How to Take Action and Other Proceedings], 1, Rome: DeriveApprodi, 2015; Patrizia Vicinelli, à, a. A, and Apotheosys of Schizoid Woman, in Non sempre ricordano. Poesia prosa performance [They Don't Always Remember. Poetry, Prose, Performance], edited and with an essay by Cecilia Bello Minciacchi, with a multi-media anthology edited by Daniela Rossi, and with the cooperation of Paolo Fresu; introductory essay by Niva Lorenzini, Florence: Le Lettere, 2009.

3. Gabriele Frasca, some texts from Prime. Poesie scelte 1977-2007 [Premieres. Selected Poems 1977-2007], Rome: Luca Sossella, 2007; Marco Berisso, some texts from Annali [Annals], postface by Andrea Cortellessa, Milan-Salerno: Oedipus, 2002; Mariano Bàino, Il clelo per Roma [The Sky towards Rome], Rome: Exòrma Edizioni, 2021.

4. Ivan Schiavone, Tavole e stanze [Tables and Stanzas], Oedipus, Salerno-Rome: Oedipus, 2019; Florinda Fusco, some texts from Il compleanno e altre opere [The Birthday and Other Works], Ancona: Argolibri, 2021; Marco Giovenale, Statue linee [Statues Lines], Perugia: Pièdimosca Edizioni, 2022.

Along with reading the texts, knowledge of the following volume is required: Stefano Colangelo, Come si legge una poesia. nuova edizione [How to Read a Poem. New Edition], Rome: Carocci, 2023.

As a support on the history of the European avant-gardes, various optional materials, some of which can be found in electronic format, will be provided during the lectures within a time frame useful for exam preparation.

Unibo Students who attend the course for six credits are expected to choose and study an amount of three units on those making up the course as a whole.

Erasmus and Overseas exchange students who are attending the course for 6 credits will be requested to write a short essay (up to 20000 bytes) upon a topic related to the course programme. This topic will be negotiated with the teacher, who will assign a specific set of bibliographical references. The essay will be discussed at the oral examination session. Beyond this essay, Erasmus+ and Overseas exchange students who are attending the course for 12 credits will be requested to study at least one unit among those included in the forementioned lectures, and to briefly explain it during the oral examination appointment.

Students who are not going to attend the class will add: Sistema periodico. Il secolo interminabile delle riviste [Periodical System. The Endless Century of the Reviews], edited by Francesco Bortolotto, Eleonora Fuochi, Davide Antonio Paone, and Federica Parodi, Bologna: Pendragon, 2018.

Individual Study Programme

This study programme has to be prepared individually by students. It is not mandatory for Erasmus and Overseas exchange students. Throughout the series of lectures some directions will be provided, and some of the texts discussed will be put in relationship with those included in the individual study programme.

Please note that B.0 Section is mandatory for students in Humanities (code 8850), as well as in History (code 0962). However, it is not mandatory for students in Communication Sciences (code 8885), and for all students enrolled in Erasmus and Overseas international programmes.

In addition to this section, students will read three texts, each of which must be chosen in a single section among those listed below from B.1 to B.6.

B.0) The Origins of the Modern

-Giacomo Leopardi, Canti [Songs], Milan: Rizzoli, 1998 [Ultimo canto di Saffo, Alla sua donna, Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell’Asia, A se stesso, Aspasia, La ginestra];

- Giacomo Leopardi, Operette morali [Little Moral Pieces], Milan: Rizzoli, 2008 [Dialogo della moda e della morte, Dialogo di Torquato Tasso e del suo genio familiare, Dialogo della natura e di un islandese, Cantico del Gallo Silvestre, Dialogo di Federico Ruysch e delle sue mummie, Dialogo di Tristano e di un amico];

- Alessandro Manzoni, I promessi sposi [The Betrothed], Turin: Einaudi, 2015 [chapters 1, 2, 8, 37, 38].

B.1) Avantgarde and Experimentation

- Aldo Palazzeschi, L'incendiario [The Incendiary], Milan: Mondadori, 2001;

- Guido Gozzano, I colloqui [The Talks], in Tutte le poesie, Milan: Mondadori, 2016;

- Dino Campana, Canti orfici e altre poesie [Orphic Songs and Other Poems], Milan: Garzanti, 2007.

B.2) Poetic Streams of the Early Twentieth Century

- Giuseppe Ungaretti, L'Allegria [The Joy], in Vita d'un uomo. Tutte le poesie, Milan: Mondadori, 2009;

- Eugenio Montale, Ossi di seppia [Cuttlefishbones], ed. by Pietro Cataldi and Floriana d'Amely, with an essay by Pier Vincenzo Mengaldo and a writing by Sergio Solmi, Milan: Mondadori, 2016;

- Umberto Saba, Mediterranee [Mediterranean Poems], in Il canzoniere, Turin: Einaudi, 2014.

B.3) Neorealism and the "Resistenza"

- Elio Vittorini, Uomini e no [Men and No-Men], Milan: Mondadori, 2016;

- Renata Viganò, L'Agnese va a morire [Agnese Goes to Die], Turin: Einaudi, 2014;

- Italo Calvino, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno [The Path of Spider's Nests], Milan: Mondadori, 2014;

- Primo Levi, La tregua [The Truce], Turin: Einaudi, 2014.

B.4) Literature and Protest Movements

- Pier Vittorio Tondelli, Altri libertini [Other Libertines], Milan: Feltrinelli, 2013;

- Natalia Ginzburg, Caro Michele [Dear Michael], Turin: Einaudi, 2006;

- Enrico Palandri, Boccalone. Una storia vera piena di bugie [Boccalone. A True Story Full of Lies], Milan: Bompiani, 2000;

- Gianni Celati, Comiche [Slapsticks], Macerata: Quodlibet, 2012.

B.5) The Postmodern

- Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa [The Rose's Name], Milan: Bompiani, 2018;

- Italo Calvino, Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore [If a Traveler on a Winter's Night], Milan: Mondadori, 2016;

- Antonio Tabucchi, Il gioco del rovescio e altri racconti [The Reverse Game and Other Stories], Milan: Feltrinelli, 2013.

B.6) The Late Twentieth Century Poetry

- Vittorio Sereni, Gli strumenti umani [The Human Tools], Milan: Il Saggiatore, 2018;

- Pier Paolo Pasolini, Le ceneri di Gramsci [The Gramsci's Ashes], Milan: Garzanti, 2015;

- Milo De Angelis, Somiglianze [Similarities], in Tutte le poesie, Milan: Mondadori, 2017;

- Amelia Rosselli, Serie ospedaliera [The Hospital Series], in Le poesie, Milan: Garzanti, 1999.

Students attending the course for 6 credits will prepare the B.0 section (not compulsory for students of Communication Sciences), plus a text from another section of the Individual Study Programme at their choice.

Erasmus and Overseas students, as already specified, are not requested to prepare the Individual Study Programme.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures with a strong interaction between students and teacher.

Assessment methods

The final exam consists of an oral appointment, which aims to verify some methodological, personally developed skills. It lasts approx. 20 minutes, split in two parts. The first one focuses on the main theoretical matters approached throughout the class, verifiyng the preparation upon at least two units among those included in the study programme. The second one will consist of the brief exposition of an individual in-depth analysis, even previously submitted in a written sample, upon a review, a topic or a period included in the study programme.

A positive or excellent score (27 to 30/30, with possible distinction) corresponds to a full mastering of technical, theoretical, historical and terminological resources of Twentieth-Century and contemporary literature, and to a proved ability to make connections among single aspects of the course contents, and to show awareness of textual features with appropriate language; an average score (23 to 26/30) goes to students who reveal some lacks in one or more topics or analytical proofs, or are able to use just mechanically their ability in interpretation; a pass or low score (18 to 22/30) to students with severe lacks in one or more topics or exercises, or not enough accurate while they use or quote notions and samples. A negative score is assigned to students who are not able to recall general notions in text samples and/or in general.

Exam sessions take place once in a month, and are scheduled in turns. Students must sign up at the AlmaEsami web site (https://almaesami.unibo.it). Registrations end two days before the oral examination.

Teaching tools

Excerpts from texts and criticism in digital scans.

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Colangelo