C8744 - TEORIA DELLA LETTERATURA (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student possesses a heightened awareness of the specificity of literary language as a modality of the expression of the imagination and an instrument of interpretation of reality. The student possesses deep knowledge on the general concepts of literature; on the functioning of literary institutions; on the relationships between text and context; on the dynamics of literary communication; and on stylistic traditions, genres, modes, and forms of representation. The student knows how to interpret a literary text rhetorically, formalistically, stylistically, thematically, and ideologically. The student can elaborate autonomous reflections and formulate judgments on theoretical and methodological questions.

Course contents

On the use and abuse of literature for life

The course examines the complex relationship between lived experience and narrative fiction, taking as its starting point Oscar Wilde’s celebrated paradox: perhaps it is not art that imitates life, but life that imitates art. It addresses this question primarily through a thematic lens, exploring the discursive strategies by which major works of bourgeois modernity represent one of the defining experiences of human life—and one of literature’s central subjects: romantic love. In particular, the course focuses on a distinctive form of narcissistic, textually mediated love, in which the beloved is not perceived as an autonomous subject or as a self-aware and irreducibly distinct other, but rather as an abstract ideal, a mirror, a projection of the lover’s own self. This idealized image is itself largely produced by literature and sustained by a complex interplay of fantasy, illusion, self-deception, and bad faith. Drawing on some of the foundational patterns of the Western literary tradition, the course will show how this conception of love is predominantly articulated through the desires, fantasies, and interpretive frameworks of the male subject, who retains ideological control over the narrative. Behind the apparent celebration of the beloved woman, these texts often reveal deeply misogynistic assumptions. Such a configuration of romantic desire is reinforced by formal and rhetorical strategies that silence the female figure, reducing her to the passive object of another’s discourse and denying her both voice and perspective, while at the same time drawing readers into the same linguistic and emotional structures that sustain this illusion.

Students enrolling in the 2026/27 academic year will complete the 12-credit version of the course, which includes both modules. Students who enrolled in previous academic years and are following the 6-credit curriculum will attend only the first 30-hour module (February–March 2026) and will be assigned a reduced reading list (see below).

The syllabus is the same for both attending and non-attending students.

Period: Second semester (February–May 2027)

Times, rooms, and start dates: Please refer to the teacher’s website under the «Teaching» section.

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

The syllabus is the same for non-attending students.

I. Novels

First module

• Gustave Flaubert, L’educazione sentimentale (1869), Einaudi
• Italo Svevo, Senilità (1898), recommended edition in Italo Svevo, Romanzi e “continuazioni”, edited by Nunzia Palmieri and Fabio Vittorini, “Meridiani” Mondadori
• Marcel Proust, Un amore di Swann (1913), Mondadori

Second module

Reading list to be determined

II. Critical texts

The critical bibliography is divided into two groups. All students are required to read the text listed in Group A. Students taking the 12-credit course are required to read two texts of their choice from Group B, while students taking the 6-credit course are required to read one text of their choice from Group B. Whenever possible, the texts will be made available as pdf files on Virtuale.

A. Reference book (mandatory)

• Roland Barthes, Frammenti di un discorso amoroso, Einaudi

B. Two texts of your choice (12-credit) or one text of your choice (6-credit)

• Federico Bertoni, Sull’utilità e il danno della letteratura per la vita, in «Between», vol. III, n. 5, 2013 (http://ojs.unica.it/index.php/between/article/view/954 )
• Federico Bertoni, La donna moltiplicata. Frammento di un discorso amoroso, in “P.R.I.S.M.I. Pour une Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur le Monde Italien”, Nouvelle Série, n. 1, 2020, pp. 69-81.
• Jules De Gaultier, Il bovarismo nei personaggi di Flaubert, in Jules de Gaultier, Il bovarismo, SE, pp. 17-40
• Anthony Giddens, L’amore romantico e altri legami, in Anthony Giddens, La trasformazione dell’intimità. Sessualità, amore ed erotismo nelle società moderne, il Mulino, pp. 47-58
• René Girard, Il desiderio triangolare, first chapter of René Girard, Menzogna romantica e verità romanzesca, Bompiani, pp. 15-47
• Niklas Luhmann, L’amore quale mezzo di comunicazione generalizzato simbolicamente, in Niklas Luhmann, Amore come passione, Laterza, pp. 9-29
• Denis de Rougemont, Il mito di Tristano, in Denis de Rougemont, L’amore e l’Occidente, Rizzoli, pp. 59-100
• Jean Rousset, Leurs yeux se rencontrèrent. La scène de première vue dans le roman, Corti
• Stendhal, Dell’amore (only the First Book), Garzanti

Teaching methods

The course consists of approximately 30 hours of lectures, during which students will still be encouraged to participate and discuss the topics addressed.

Assessment methods

The exam consists of an oral test (20-30 minutes) that will assess the knowledge of the texts and the student’s critical and interpretative skills.

It is mandatory to read and carefully study all the texts listed in the bibliography, including the manual of Teoria della letteratura: specific questions may relate to general and theoretical categories, beyond the monographic topic of the course.

The exam will be divided in two parts:

1) Textual identification and analysis. As a first step, a short textual fragment (10-15 lines) taken from the narrative texts listed in bibliography (section I) will be submitted to the student, who must identify the text, the author, the date of publication, and must contextualize it with regard to the plot, the characters and the narrative situation. The positive outcome of this first step allows the student to access the next one. A partial of defective identification of the text allows to proceed anyway (but with a pass or “fair” mark), while a complete misunderstanding leads to the failure of the exam.

2) Critical questions. In the following step, the student must answer to some questions: a) About the critical texts (see bibliography, section II, groups A and B); b) About the literary or filmic texts (section I), questioned both in a notional and in a critical-interpretative way.

The exam will also assess the student's methodological awareness, the ability to master the bibliography in the course programme and the the field-specific language of the discipline. The ability to establish links between the theoretical framework and the texts will be especially appreciated. A wide and systematic knowledge of the texts, interpretative insight, critical understanding, and rhetorical effectiveness will be evaluated with a mark of excellence (27-30), while 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 evaluated with a “fair” mark (24-26). A superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a scarce analytical and expressive ability will be evaluated with a pass mark (18-23) or a negative 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

PowerPoint slides presentations will be used. For further teaching materials and non available texts, please visit the Professor's website and "Virtuale".

Office hours

See the website of Federico Bertoni