28991 - Contemporary Italian Literature (LM) (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student understands a literary text in its ideological, structural, and stylistic elements and dialectico-social relationships, with particular attention to cultural semantics and symbolism of language. The student knows how to approach a text through a critico-narratological reading.

Course contents

"The appearance of things": how the world wants to be seen


Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the course addresses issues related to the relationship between narrative and visuality in contemporary Italian literature. The common thread is the concept of ‘appearance’ in its various meanings in literary, aesthetic and epistemological contexts. The course opens with two works that bear witness to two important artistic-literary partnerships: Morandi-Raimondi and Ligabue-Zavattini. It then addresses the character-eye Palomar, created by Calvino in search of the exact way in which the world wants to be seen and described by man. Ample space is devoted to Celati's work, in particular to the “Padanian trilogy”, since in it the narrative arises from an intense immersion of the gaze in the landscape, including through the practice of walking. Finally, Trevisan's work offers the opportunity to investigate the conflict between appearance and the dissolution of the world in the postmodern era.



The topics addressed during the course are:

1) the relationship between literature and visual arts 2) the question of gaze in literature 3) the concept of appearance 4) artistic-literary partnerships 5) contemporary flânerie 6) literature and the postmodern condition.

 

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.

Readings/Bibliography

Students must read the following literary texts entirely:


Part 1 

• Giuseppe Raimondi, Anni con Giorgio Morandi, Mondadori, 1970 (ora Abscondita, 2024)
• Cesare Zavattini, Ligabue, FMR, 1967 (ora Bompiani, 2004 o Abscondita, 2022)
• Italo Calvino, Palomar, Einaudi, 1983 (qualsiasi edizione)
• Gianni Celati, Narratori delle pianure, Feltrinelli, 1985 (qualsiasi edizione)

Part 2

• Gianni Celati, Quattro novelle sulle apparenze, Feltrinelli, 1987 (qualsiasi edizione)
• Gianni Celati, Verso la foce, Feltrinelli, 1989 (qualsiasi edizione)
• Vitaliano Trevisan, I quindicimila passi, Einaudi, 2002 (qualsiasi edizione)

Critical essays (mandatory):

• Italo Calvino, Lezioni americane, Garzanti, 1988 (nuova edizione Mondadori 2022)
• John Berger, Modi di vedere, Bollati Boringhieri, 2015
• Gianni Celati, «Riga», n 40, 2019
• Tutti i materiali didattici caricati sulla piattaforma VIRTUALE

 

Non-attending students add the study of:
Cento anni di letteratura italiana 1910-2010, edited by Marco A. Bazzocchi, Einaudi, 2021 [selected chapter]

 

Teaching methods

Lessons, class discussion, active participation in class, videos, power points, movies.

Assessment methods

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 texts on the course programme. The student must demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the bibliography in the course programme.

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 with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

In addition to lectures, held by the teacher, audiovisual tools will be used to support the teaching. Students will also be invited to bring a significant contribution to enreach the issues upon which the course focuses.

Office hours

See the website of Filippo Milani