09435 - Theory of Literature (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the students have a basic knowledge of some general concepts of literature, of literary institutions, of relationships between text and contest and of the dynamic of literary communication. They know and can apply some basic methodologies to analyse literary texts, regarding their rhetorical, formal, stylistic, thematic and ideological aspects.

Course contents

The Return of the Character

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of persistent discussion about characters in critical circles, and this comes as no surprise, since the character is one of the most complex and elusive concepts in both literary theory and literary experience. On the one hand, it has traditionally been the category most resistant to analysis and formalization—one that many critical approaches, more or less formalist in their orientation, have desperately sought to reduce to a mass words a function, an actant, or a textual effect. On the other had, it constitutes one of the fundamental drivers of our emotional and cognitive engagement when reading a narrative text: we love or hate characters, we identify with them, we believe in them, and we treat them as if they were flesh-and-blood beings, endowed with a psychology and a sense of freedom. The course will take this dualism as its starting point to analyze how characters function, the illusion of life they are capable of producing, their problematic identity, the human depth they seem to possess, and their dependence on other aspects of the narrative text—such as the narrative voice, point of view, and temporality— and the connection they establish each time with the historical and social context and with literary tradition, using as a guiding thread the transformations that have hit the modern novel from its inception through the mid-twentieth century.

Corse timing: second semester

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

LITERARY TEXTS

Honoré de Balzac, La trentenne (1829-1842), Mondadori

Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (1847), Garzanti

Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary (1857), Garzanti

Fedor Dostoevslij, La mite (1876), Adelphi

Virginia Woolf, Al faro (1927), Feltrinelli

Alain Robbe-Grillet, La gelosia (1957), Einaudi

Jean Rhys, Il grande mare dei sargassi (1966), Adelphi

  

CRITICAL TEXTS (SECTION A): two essays amongo those listed in this section

Peter Brooks, Sedotti dalle storie, Carocci

Edward Morgan Forster, Aspetti del romanzo, Garzanti

Maria Di Battista, Novel Characters: A Genealogy, Wiley

Dorritt Cohn, Menti trasparenti, Carocci

Mario Vargas Llosa, L’orgia perpetua. Flaubert e Madame Bovary, Rizzoli o Settecolori

   

CRITICAL TEXTS (SECTION B): two essays amongo those listed in this section

Andrea Bernardelli e Remo Ceserani, Il mondo raccontato e il mondo del racconto, terzo capitolo di Andrea Bernardelli e Remo Ceserani, Il testo narrativo, il Mulino, pp. 105-66.

Roland Bourneuf e Réal Ouellet, I personaggi, quinto capitolo di Roland Bourneuf e Réal Ouellet, L’universo del romanzo, Einaudi, pp. 143-198

Fotis Jannidis, Character, in The Living Handbook of Narratology (https://www-archiv.fdm.uni-hamburg.de/lhn/node/41.html )

Uri Margolin, Character, in David Hermann (a cura di), The Cambridge Companion to Narrative, Cambridge University Press, pp. 66-79

Enrico Testa, Eroi e figuranti. Il personaggio nel romanzo, Einaudi

Rita Felski, Identifying with Characters, in Characters: Three Inquiries in Literary Studies, a cura di Amanda Anderson, Rita Felski, Toril Moi, University of Chicago Press, p. 77-126.

Suggested further readings (non mandatory):

Honoré de Balzac, Nota dell’editore e Prefazione dell’edizione Bechet della “Femme de trente ans”, in Honoré de Balzac, Poetica del romanzo, a cura di Mariolina Bongiovanni Bertini, Sansoni, pp. 71-77

Robert Louis Stevenson, A proposito del «romance» e Un’umile rimostranza, in Robert Louis Stevenson, L’isola del romanzo, a cura di Guido Almansi, Sellerio, pp. 25-54

Henry James, L’arte del romanzo, in Henry James, L’arte del romanzo, a cura di Agostino Lombrardo, Lerici, pp.

Virginia Woolf, Bennett e la signora Brown, in Virginia Woolf, Voltando pagina. Saggi 1904-1941, a cura di Liliana Rampello, il Saggiatore, pp. 121-35

Teaching methods

Through in-class reading of passages from the literary texts, students will be encouraged to reflect and intervene, also bringing into play their personal heritage of literary and cultural references, their modes of reading and interpretation. Supplementary materials will be provided to the students and discussed during the lessons, in a dialogic and interactive manner; supplementary materials will be made available on the Unibo Virtual platform [https://virtuale.unibo.it/] .

Office hours

See the website of Donata Meneghelli