00562 - Italian Literature (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

Students are suggested to attend the course and make the written examination of MODULE A before making the examination of MODULE B

LEARNING OUTCOMES

MODULE A: XVI-XIX ITALIAN LITERATURE. The aim of the course is to follow the development of the Italian Literature from XVI Century to XIX Century, through some literary text, both poetical and in prose, of different periods; these texts will be studied within their historical and literary context, will be read and analyzed with students. The course will offer a method of text analysis which may be used by students also with other literary texts in order to reconstruct their historical and literary period.

After a short introduction to Literary Text, and the basics of Italian Literature methods (rethoric, prosody and stylistic), and Academic Writing, we will read and analyze some text of the following periods and authors: Tasso, “Barocco” and Marino, Goldoni, Parini, Foscolo, Manzoni, Leopardi, Nievo, Verga.

 

MODULE B: THE HISTORY OF LEOPARDI’S POEMS.

Leopardi’ book of a life Poems has grown with him over time and has experienced various forms and ways of poetry. The history of Poems is fascinating, because it links the biography of Leopardi, the history of ideas and individual poetic texts, which founded modern poetry. The course aims to illustrate, through direct reading and commentary of the texts, the history of Leopardi’s Poems, from the first patriotic texts of 1818, to the planned and failed book of 1820, from the 1824 Canzoni, to the Versi published in Bologna in 1826, to the Poems edition, printed in Florence in 1831, republished in Naples in 1835, up to the last poems, Il tramonto della luna and La ginestra, added by hand two years before his death. Each phase of Leopardian poetry will be guided by the reading and commentary of a text, in an ideal Leopardian "anthology".

 

Course contents

MODULO A: XVI-XIX ITALIAN LITERATURE. After a short introduction to Literary Text, and the basics of Italian Literature methods (rethoric, prosody and stylistic), and Academic Writing, we will read and analyze some text of the following periods and authors: Tasso, “Barocco” and Marino, Goldoni, Parini, Foscolo, Manzoni, Leopardi, Nievo, Verga.

MODULO B: THE HISTORY OF LEOPARDI’S POEMS. Introduction to the course. Leopardi’s Poems: a moving book (Wiki Leopardi); 2. Patriotic poems (R 18): All'Italia and Sopra il monumento di Dante; 3. A philosophical poetry (B20): Ad Angelo Mai; 4. The "romantic" poems of 1819 and the failed book of 1820: Nella morte di una donna; 5. A civil poem: Nelle nozze della sorella Paolina and A un vincitore nel pallone; 6. The trip to Rome of 1823 and the Songs of 1824 (B24): Alla sua Donna; 7. The Idylls and Verses of 1826 (B26): From L’infinito to La vita solitaria; 8. Pisa’s Poems and Recanati 1828-1831: Il Risorgimento, A Silvia; 9. Pisa’s Poems and Recanati 1828-1831: Il sabato del villaggio; 10. The Florentine Songs of 1831 (F31): Le ricordanze; 11. Leopardi in Naples (N35). Aspasia cycle: Il pensiero dominante, A se stesso; 12. Leopardi in Naples (N35). Aspasia cycle: Amore e Morte and Aspasia; 13: Il tramonto della luna and La ginestra; 14. The fragments: towards the modern age: Odi Melisso, Imitazione and Scherzo; 15. Conclusion of the Course and presentation of the Examination assesments.

Readings/Bibliography

MODULE A XIV-XIX ITALIAN LITERATURE.

Successful students are required to study:

1. G. Alfano, P. Italia, E. Russo, F. Tomasi, Letteratura italiana. Manuale per studi universitari, Milano, Mondadori, 2018 (II volume dal 600 all’800).
2. P. Italia, Scrivere all’Università, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2014 II ed.

The recommended readings are the same for students who attend the lectures and students who do not, because all lessons are recorded.

 

MODULE B: THE HISTORY OF LEOPARDI’S POEMS.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Suggested edition: Giacomo Leopardi’s Poems, ed. by A. Campana, Roma, Carocci, 2015, or any edition with annotations.

Leopardi, a cura di Franco D’Intino e Massimo Natale, Roma, Carocci, 2018.

Capp. XI e XII: Leopardi e Manzoni, due metodi a confronto e Alla fine dei Canti, in P. Italia, Il metodo di Leopardi, Roma, Carocci, 2016 (disponibili in PDF in IOL).

 

Teaching methods

MODULE A + MODULE B Face-to-face classes and php available in IOL; all lessons will be recorded and available in IOL platform.

Assessment methods

MODULE A: LETTERATURA ITALIANA XVI-XIX.

The MODULE A examination consists of a written test, carried out with EOL exam True/False and single answer and open-ended single answer questions, in which students must show that they know the contents of the course and their ability to rewrite and comment a literary text. During the course a specific training to the exam test will be carried out and a facsimile of the written exam test will be made available in the course materials on the IOL platform.

MODULE B: LEOPARDI’A POEMS HISTORY AND READING. Students can choose whether to take the module B test in written or oral form. The written form consists of a EOL exam with closed single answer questions (True/False and single answer) and open answer questions in which students must show that they know the contents of the course and the ability to paraphrase and comment on a text by Leopardi's poems among those read and commented on in class. During the course a specific training to the exam test will be carried out and a facsimile of the written exam test will be made available in the course materials on the IOL platform.

Teaching tools

MODULO A + MODULO B Power Point, Didactic materials and video-Audio recording of the lessons in TEAMS, woll be available on IOL and on STREAM.

Office hours

See the website of Paola Maria Carmela Italia