30931 - Italian Literature 1

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student is expected to have a deep knowledge on diachronical aspects of the Italian literary tradition, knows the critical discussion on the keys issues about texts and authors and is able to use the main tools of the methodological analysis of texts and contexts. Students must demonstrate competence in written form.

Course contents

Borders of Reality: Spirits, Ghosts, Hallucinations (and few tricks) in Italian Literature

Recommended Readings: G. Verga, La lupa, Torino, Einaudi, 1982; A. Fogazzaro, Malombra, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2011; A. Boito, L’Alfiere nero; Il Trapezio; Iberia, presentazione di A. Seppilli, Bologna, Cappelli, 1979; L. Capuana, Profili di donne, in Racconti, a cura di E. Ghidetti, Roma, Salerno, I, 1973-1974, pp. 1-74; L. Capuana, Profumo, Milano, Mondadori, 1996; L. Capuana, Novelle dal mondo occulto, ed. by A. Cedola, Bologna, Pendragon; L. Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal, Torino, Einaudi, 1975; G. Boccaccio, Decameron, ed. by V. Branca, Milano Mondadori, 1985 (Giornata settima); Dante, Inferno (canti V, X, XIII, XV, XIX, XXVI, XXVII).

Readings/Bibliography

Readings:

G. Verga, La lupa, Torino, Einaudi, 1982; A. Fogazzaro, Malombra, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2011; A. Boito, L’Alfiere nero; Il Trapezio; Iberia, ed. by A. Seppilli, Bologna, Cappelli, 1979; L. Capuana, Profili di donne, in Racconti, ed. by E. Ghidetti, Roma, Salerno, I, 1973-1974, pp. 1-74; L. Capuana, Profumo, Milano, Mondadori, 1996; L. Capuana, Novelle del mondo occulto, ed. by A. Cedola, Bologna, Pendragon, 2007; L. Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal, Torino, Einaudi, 1975; G. Boccaccio, Decameron, ed. by V. Branca, Milano Mondadori, 1985 (Seventh Days); Dante, Inferno (cantos V, X, XIII, XV, XIX, XXVI, XXVII)..

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Critical bibliography:

S. Lazzarin, L’altro, l’esotico e il perturbante nell’ “Alfier nero” (1867) di Arrigo Boito, «Italianistica», XXXVI, 1 2, 2007, pp. 83-96.

L. Michelacci, Il microscopio e l’allucinazione. Luigi Capuana fra letteratura, scienza e anomalia, Bologna, Pendragon, 2015.

V. Giannetti, Capuana e lo spiritismo: l’anticamera della scrittura, «Lettere Italiane», XLVIII, 2, 1996, pp. 268-285.

E. Landoni, Il doppio fondo delle parole Il doppio fondo delle parole. Dall’occultismo al mistero in “Malombra” di Fogazzaro, «Rivista di letteratura italiana», XXII, 2, 2004, pp. 1-17.

E. Gioanola, Pirandello, Mattia Pascal e la filosofia del lanternino in Magia di un romanzo: Il fu Mattia Pascal prima e dopo, atti del convegno internazionale, ed. by  Pietro Frassica (Princeton, 5-6 novembre 2004), Novara, Interlinea, 2005, pp. 189-202.

A. Cedola, Capuana e l’Altro in Il visionario, il fantastico, il meraviglioso tra Otto e Novecento, ed. by L. Weber e A.M. Mangini, Allori, Ravenna, 2006, pp. 135-161.

E. Comoy Fusaro, Forme e figure dell’alterità. Studi su De Amicis, Capuana e Camillo Boito, Ravenna, Giorgio Pozzi Editore, 2009, pp. 79-160.

L. Benedetti, Pure battono alla porta: spiriti e personaggi nel Fu Mattia Pascal e oltre in Magia di un romanzo: Il fu Mattia Pascal prima e dopo, atti del convegno internazionale, ed. by Pietro Frassica, (Princeton, 5-6 novembre 2004), Novara, Interlinea, 2005, pp. 203-214.

E. Filosa, “Decameron” 7: Under the Sign of Venus, «Annali d’Italianistica», 31, pp. 315-353.

R. Bonavita, Storia della letteratura italiana. Vol. 5: L’Ottocento, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2005.

Teaching methods

The course will be divided in frontal lessons and laboratories on the texts.

Assessment methods

The evaluation of the students' competencies and abilities acquired during the course consists of two phases:
a written test leading up to and preparatory to the specific subjects contained in the course programme, and an oral test aimed at ascertaining a general knowledge of all the subjects covered during the course.
The written test responds to criteria relating to orthography, morphology, syntax and semantics, clarity of expression, the ability to summarize.
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 tests on the course programme. The student must demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the bibliography in the course programme. Access to the oral test depends on having passed the written test. The final mark is not a mathematical average of the two tests.

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 who demonstrate gaps in their knowledge of the subject matter, inappropriate language use, lack of familiarity with the literature in the programme bibliography will not be given a pass mark.

Teaching tools

Audio and video aids may be used in support of  lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Lara Michelacci