31145 - French Literature 2

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course the student will adequately know the overall problems and the single aspects of the history of literature; he/she will be able to understand and translate original texts; he/she will possess the basic knowledge which are indispensable to undertake their critical interpretation, and will be able to comment upon them and to expound them by specific literary methods.

Course contents

Through readings of full texts or selected passages of poetry and prose by MOntgesquieu, Prévost, Rousseau, Balzac, Hugo, Baudelaire, Flaubert, Baudelaire, some of the more significant episodes of the literary history of the XVIII and XIX centuries will be expounded, directing the attention on the different ways of representing Paris in French novel and the development of the poetics of realism, witch its rejection of romanticism, followed to its naturalistic outcomes.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Bibliografia d’esame per gli studenti di Lettere (tanto frequentanti che non frequentanti)

Storia europea della letteratura francese, II. Dal Settecento all’età contemporanea, a cura di L. Sozzi, Torino, Einaudi, 2013, parte IV, “Il Settecento” (pp. 5-113).

R. Campi, Il fango e l’oro. Parigi da Voltaire a Breton, Roma, Carocci

Lettura integrale in originale di:

Prévost, Manon Lescaut (edizione consigliata Gallimard, Folio);

Montesquieu, Lettres persanes (edizione consigliata Gallimard, Folio);

Voltaire, Lettres philosophiques (edizione consigliata Gallimard, Folio);

Rousseau, Rêveries du promeneur solitaire (edizione consigliata Gallimard, Folio).

In fotocopia testi e brani scelti da:

Auerbach, Mimesis, capitolo “La cena interrotta” ;

Rousseau, Nouvelle Héloïse (scelta) ;

Voltaire, Candide, cap. XXII ;

Mercier, Tableau de Paris (scelta)

Diderot, Ceci n’est pas un conte ;

Voltaire, Micromégas ;

K. Stierle, La capitale des signes (scelta) ;

2. Bibliografia d’esame per gli studenti di Lingue (tanto frequentanti che non frequentanti)

Storia europea della letteratura francese, II. Dal Settecento all’età contemporanea, a cura di L. Sozzi, Torino, Einaudi, 2013, parte IV, “Il Settecento” (pp. 5-113) e parte V, “L’Ottocento” (pp. 129-226).

R. Campi, Il fango e l’oro. Parigi da Voltaire a Breton, Roma, Carocci

Lettura integrale in originale di:

Prévost, Manon Lescaut (edizione consigliata Gallimard, Folio);

H. de Balzac, La Peau de Chagrin (edizione consigliata Pocket);

Flaubert, Trois contes (qualunque edizione);

Baudelaire, Spleen de Paris (edizione consigliata Gallimard, FolioPlus).

In fotocopia testi e brani scelti da:

Auerbach, Mimesis, capitoli “La cena interrotta” e “All’Hôtel de La Mole”;

Rousseau, Nouvelle Héloïse (scelta) ;

Voltaire, Candide, cap. XXII ;

Mercier, Tableau de Paris (scelta)

Pagine scelte da Montesquieu, Lettres persanes, Rousseau, Rêveries du promeneur solitaire e Voltaire, Lettres philosophiques ;

H. de Balzac, Avant-propos (1842) de la Comédie humaine;

Maupassant, Le Horla (1^a e 2^a versione);

C. Baudelaire, Tableaux parisiens (da Les Fleurs du Mal) (scelta);

R. Barthes, Flaubert et la phrase

Teaching methods

Lectures

Assessment methods

During the oral test, in French language, the basic knowledge of the subject matter of the course, that is to say the historical and literary period of the XIX century, will be assessed. See the bibliography for the pages of Storia europea della letteratura francese (edited by L. Sozzi), which is MANDATORY STUDY for all the students, whether attending or non attending, and is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to pass the examination.

Furthermore, the knowledge of the selected texts and of the single authors’ works dealt with during the lectures and present in bibliography will be assessed to evaluate the student’s critical and interpretative skill. Therefore, an in-depth knowledge of the historical development of the two centuries, together with the skill to correctly interpret the texts, will be evaluated as excellent, while the purely descriptive skill to sum up and to set forth the historical and literary problems emerging from the reading of single texts will be evaluated as sufficient. The incapacity to grasp the logical and descriptive connections between historical and cultural phenomena, critical and theoretical notions and literary works will be evaluated as insufficient.

Teaching tools

Didactic materials will be available to the students both online and in pdf format, as well as in photocopy.

Office hours

See the website of Riccardo Campi