28997 - Italian Twentieth-Century Poetry (LM) (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of this class, students 1. are expected to achieve theoretical skills to connect Italian Twentieth-Century poetry to the overall European history of thought and ideas; 2. get their ability to use a methodology of analysis throughout modern and contemporary poetry, with the help of their acquired competence in rhetoric, stylistics, linguistics and a general attitude to intertextual and interdisciplinary comparisons.

Course contents

Main topic: With stony pages. The long poem in the late Italian 20th century.

This course lasts 60 hours, and amounts to 12 credits. It is aimed at the study of some samples of narrative long poem of the second half of Twentieth Century, with a focus on those features that gave to this form a special tense in ethics, public knowledge and social commitment.

This course assumes a minimum of knowledge upon Twentieth-Century Italian literature, acquired throughout the BA curriculum.

Lectures start on Monday, 5th October, 2015, and go further with the following schedule: 

Monday, 5-7 pm, Room D, Via Zamboni 34;

Tuesday, 5-7 pm, Room D, Via Zamboni 34;

Thursday, 5-7 pm, Room D, Via Zamboni 34.

Readings/Bibliography

Throughout the course, the following texts (even in other available editions) will be read and discussed, to be prepared towards the final oral exam:

 

- Pier Paolo Pasolini [1922-1975], Le ceneri di Gramsci [1957], Milan: Garzanti, 2015; 

- Paolo Volponi [1924-1994], Le porte dell'Appennino [1960], in Poesie 1946-1994, Turin: Einaudi, 2001;

- Elio Pagliarani [1927-2012], La ragazza Carla [1960], in Tutte le poesie, Milan: Garzanti, 2006; 

- Roberto Roversi [1923-2012], Dopo Campoformio [1962-1965], in Tre poesie e alcune prose. Testi 1959-1994, Rome: Luca Sossella, 2008; 

- Vittorio Sereni [1913-1983], Un posto di vacanza [1973], in Poesie, Milan: Mondadori, 2004; 

- Maurizio Cucchi [1945], Il disperso [1976], Parma: Guanda, 1994;

- Luigi Ballerini [1940], Cefalonia 1943-2001 [2005-2013], Venice: Marsilio, 2013; 

- Vincenzo Frungillo [1973], Ogni cinque bracciate, Florence: Le Lettere, 2009.

Readings and discussions will be made in parallel with a theoretical framing, with a focus on the following books and articles:

-  Niva Lorenzini - Stefano Colangelo,  Poesia e Storia, Milan: Pearson Bruno Mondadori, 2013 [3. Storia (1936-1973), 111-192;  4. Linguaggio (1956-1969), 195-240] ;

- Franco Fortini, Tre scritti su Pasolini, in Questioni di frontiera. Scritti di politica e letteratura (1956-1977), Turin: Einaudi, 1977;

- Emanuele Zinato, "Maestro e amico". Volponi attraverso Pasolini, "Studi pasoliniani", 2, 2008, 23-36; 

- Federica Santini, Io era una bella figura una volta. Viaggio nella poesia di ricerca del secondo Novecento, Piacenza: Scritture, 2013 [3. Un soggetto disperso. Il caso Maurizio Cucchi, 85-114];

- Andrea Inglese, Appunti sul "Tiresia" di Giuliano Mesa, "Nazione Indiana" (www.nazioneindiana.com), 2010 [http://www.nazioneindiana.com/2010/11/18/appunti-sul-tiresia-di-giuliano-mesa/];

- Simone Nicotra, Il (dis)senso tragico di "Cefalonia" [pp. 384-391] e Alfonso Paolella, Cefalonia, tra memoria perduta e protesta [pp. 392-396], in Balleriniana, ed. by Beppe Cavatorta and Elena Coda, Ravenna: Danilo Montanari Editore, 2010.

Further explanations on these and other resources will be provided throughout the course. Copies will be partially made available to students on time with a view to the exam; any other information will be available on a dedicated mailing list.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures with a strong interaction between students and teacher.

Assessment methods

The final exam consists of an oral appointment, which aims to verify some methodological, personally developed skills. It focuses on the main theoretical matters approached throughout the class, and verifies the knowledge of the poems and essays that have been the subject of a common consideration throughout the class. Students could be invited to read and comment some single poems or samples from the perspective of an original point of view.

A positive or excellent score (27 to 30/30, even with distinction) corresponds to a full mastering of technical, theoretical, historical and terminological resources of Twentieth-Century and contemporary poetry, and to the ability to make connections among single parts of the course contents, and to show awareness of textual features with appropriate language; an average score (23 to 26/30) goes to students who keep showing some lacks in one or more topics or analytical proofs, or are able to use just mechanically their ability of interpretation of a sample of poem; a pass or low score (18 to 22/30) to students who show severe lacks in one or more topics or exercises, or result to be not enough accurate while they are using notions and approaching samples. A negative score is assigned to students who are absolutely not able to use the general notions of interpretation, in a single text sample and/or in general.

Students can sign up at the AlmaEsami web site (https://almaesami.unibo.it). The registration ends two days before the oral examination.

Teaching tools

Excerpts from texts and criticism in digital scans and photocopied transcripts.

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Colangelo