31145 - French Literature 2

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course the student will adequately know the overall problems and the single aspects of the history of literature; he/she will be able to understand and translate original texts; he/she will possess the basic knowledge which are indispensable to undertake their critical interpretation, and will be able to comment upon them and to expound them by specific literary methods.

Course contents

Through the reading (full texts or selected passages) of some narrative texts published during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, we will study, on the one hand, the forms of novel, from Prévost's “realism” to the contes philosophiques (Lettres persanes, Zadig, Nouvelle Héloïse, Candide); on the other hand, the developments of the novel will be followed, paying particular attention to the ways of representing the Parisian metropolis (including lyric poems, with Baudelaire, and tales, with Maupassant), but above all by insisting on what constituted the fracture that marked, starting from Balzac (Ferragus), the transition to naturalist narration with the Goncourt brothers (Germinie Lacerteux) and, with Zola, the naturalist “experimental novel”.

Readings/Bibliography

 

Bibliography for the students whether attending or not attending

Storia europea della letteratura francese, II. Dal Settecento all'età contemporanea, edited by L. Sozzi, Torino, Einaudi, 2013, parte IV, “Il Settecento” (pp. 5-113) e parte V, “L’Ottocento” (pp. 129-226). These two chapters of Storia europea della letteratura francese is MANDATORY STUDY for all the students, whether attending or non attending, and is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to pass the examination.

R. Campi, Il fango e l’oro, Roma, Carocci, 2017.

Integral reading in french text of these three novels:

Prévost, Manon Lescaut (edizione consigliata Gallimard, Folio);

Balzac, Ferragus (edizione consigliata, Gallimard, Folio);

Goncourt, Germinie Lacerteux (edizione consigliata Garnier-Flammarion GF).

Selected texts in dossier I and II free download at the web page of the teacher (“Materiali didattici”)

Teaching methods

Lectures

Assessment methods

During the oral test, partly in Italian and partly in French language, the basic knowledge of the subject matter of the course, that is to say the historical and literary period of the XVIII and XIX centuries, will be assessed. See the bibliography for the pages of Storia europea della letteratura francese (edited by L. Sozzi), which is MANDATORY STUDY for ALL the students, whether attending or non attending, and is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to pass the examination.

Furthermore, the knowledge of the selected texts and of the single authors’ works dealt with during the lectures and present in bibliography will be assessed to evaluate the student’s critical and interpretative skill. Therefore, an in-depth knowledge of the historical development of the two centuries, together with the skill to correctly interpret the texts, will be evaluated as excellent, while the purely descriptive skill to sum up and to set forth the historical and literary problems emerging from the reading of single texts will be evaluated as sufficient. The incapacity to grasp the logical and descriptive connections between historical and cultural phenomena, critical and theoretical notions and literary works will be evaluated as insufficient.

 

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Teaching tools

Didactic materials will be available to the students online: free download at the web page of the teacher (“Materiali didattici”)

Office hours

See the website of Riccardo Campi