00562 - Italian Literature (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student has a decent knowledge of Italian literary tradition, a fair capacity for critical analysis and sufficient writing skills.

Course contents

The course includes the following:

• A-a monographic section
• B-a general section
• C-formative written assignments and written exam

Written exam, aimed at verifying the italian language and the literary skills of the student, is preliminary to the oral exam (with which it will form the final overall mark).

Oral exam can be divided into two different exam sessions: the student will be able to support for first monographic or general section, at his choice.

A- MONOGRAPHIC SECTION:

Travel literature in Italy, from Marco Polo to Claudio Magris: between the geographical exploration and the ego exploration

During the lessons will be read and commented on passages from significant Italian travel literature work (reports, diaries, novels and short stories, journalistic reportages): you will start from the Milione by Marco Polo to L’infinito viaggiare by Claudio Magris, passing through some narratives about the discovery of the New World or extra-European continents, for reports on the Grand Tour and on Italian journeys, and finally for deportation, work, emigration or intellectual curiosity.

Readings/Bibliography

ORAL EXAM - MONOGRAPHIC SECTION

Students attending the course must know the themes and the texts discussed in class, and, particularly, study three texts from lists A1 or A2, at their complete discretion (the text of the Milione by Marco Polo, however, can be chosen only once, in ancient or modern Italian); students non-attending the course must study two texts from list A1 and one from list A2.

A1) Maria Bellonci, Il Milione di Marco Polo, Milano, Mondadori, 2003 (modern Italian translation); Primo Levi, La tregua, Torino, Einaudi, 2014; Eugenio Montale, Fuori di casa, Milano, Mondadori, 2017; Italo Calvino, Le città invisibili, Milano, Mondadori, 2016; Maria Bellonci, Marco Polo, Milano, BUR, 2015 (or previous reprints); Tommaso Bordonaro, La spartenza, by S. Lombino, Marsala, Navarra, 2013 (other edition: pref. by N. Ginzburg, Torino, Einaudi, 1991); Claudio Magris, L’infinito viaggiare, Milano, Mondadori, 2008.

A2) Marco Polo, Il Milione, by M. Ciccuto, Milano, Rizzoli, 2016 (other editions, only the introduction and the text of the Milione: by V. Bertolucci Pizzorusso and G. R. Cardona, Milano, Adelphi; by A. Lanza, Roma, Editori Riuniti; by D. Ponchiroli, Torino, Einaudi; by G. Ronchi, Milano, Mondadori); Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron, by A. Quondam, M. Fiorilla, G. Alfano, Milano, Rizzoli, 2013 (only the following tales: I, 2; I, 9; II, 2; II, 3; II, 4; II, 5; II, 6; II, 7; II, 8; II, 9; IV, 3; IV, 4; V, 1; V, 2; V, 3; V, 6; VI, 1; VIII, 10; IX, 9; X, 1; X, 2; X, 9); Nuovi mondi. Relazioni, diari e racconti di viaggio dal XIV al XVII secolo, by C. Spila, Milano, Rizzoli, 2010; Vittorio Alfieri, Vita, by M. Cerruti, Milano, Rizzoli, 2004 (or any unabridged edition with introduction and comment); Ricciarda Ricorda, La letteratura di viaggio in Italia: dal Settecento a oggi, Brescia, La scuola, 2012.

NOTA BENE: other editions or reprintings of the texts in list A1 or A2 are accepted as long as agreed with the teacher before the exam.

Other texts or materials will be presented during the lessons or posted on AlmaDL.

Optional bibliography will be suggested during the lessons.

B- GENERAL SECTION:

This part is to be prepared by the student.

Students attending will have to choose one text from list B1 or B2, at their complete discretion. The preparation involves the study of the biography of the author with its historical-cultural framing, the contents of all his works, poetry and themes. From the chosen text, the student will have to know the history of composition, sources, structure, themes, language, style and fortune.

Students non-attending will have to choose two texts from list B1 and B2 (one for each group). The preparation involves the study of the biography of the author with its historical-cultural framing, the contents of all his works, poetry and themes. With regard to the two chosen texts, the student will have to know the history of composition, sources, structure, themes, language, style and fortune.

Students must submit to the oral exam with the chosen texts.

ERASMUS students should contact the teacher directly to define the program.

B1) Texts from 13th and 17th centuries:

- Dante, Inferno

- F. Petrarca, Canzoniere

- G. Boccaccio, Decameron

- N. Machiavelli, Il Principe

- L. Ariosto, Orlando furioso

- T. Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata

- G. Galilei, Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo

B2) Texts from 18th and 20th centuries:

- V. Alfieri, Vita or Saul and Mirra

- C. Goldoni, two comedies between: Il servitore di due padroni, La locandiera, I rusteghi, Una delle ultime sere di Carnovale

- U. Foscolo, Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis and Sepolcri

- G. Leopardi, Canti or Operette morali

- A. Manzoni, I promessi sposi

- G. Verga, Vita dei campi or I Malavoglia or Mastro-don Gesualdo

- L. Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal and Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore

- I. Svevo, La coscienza di Zeno

- E. Montale, Ossi di seppia or Le occasioni

- C. Levi, Cristo si è fermato a Eboli

- I. Calvino, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno or the trilogy of novels I nostri antenati (Il barone rampante, Il cavaliere inesistente, Il visconte dimezzato)

- P. P. Pasolini, Ragazzi di vita or La religione del mio tempo

- C. E. Gadda, La cognizione del dolore or Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana

- B. Fenoglio, Una questione privata

- D. Fo, Mistero buffo or Morte accidentale di un anarchico

Recommended editions:

- D. Alighieri, Inferno, ed. by E. Pasquini and A. E. Quaglio, Milano, Garzanti, 2014.

- F. Petrarca, Canzoniere, ed. by P. Vecchi Galli, Milano, BUR, 2012.

- G. Boccaccio, Decameron, ed. by A. Quondam, M. Fiorilla, G. Alfano, Milano, BUR, 2013. [PAY ATTENTION: students who have chosen the Decameron for the monographic section are non allowed to choose it for the general section]

- N. Machiavelli, Il Principe, ed. by G. M. Anselmi and C. Varotti, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1992; or: ed. by G. Inglese, Torino, Einaudi, 2005; or: ed. by R. Ruggiero, Milano, BUR, 2008.

- L. Ariosto, Orlando furioso, ed. by E. Bigi and C. Zampese, Milano, BUR, 2012.

- T. Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, ed. by F. Tomasi, Milano, BUR, 2009.

- G. Galilei, Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo, ed. by F. Atzori, Milano, Sansoni, 2001; or: ed. by A. Beltrán Marí, Milano, BUR, 2008.

- V. Alfieri, Vita [PAY ATTENTION: students who have chosen the Vita for the monographic section are non allowed to choose it for the general section] or Saul and Mirra (any unabridged edition).

- C. Goldoni, Il servitore di due padroni, La locandiera, I rusteghi, Una delle ultime sere di Carnovale (any unabridged edition).

- U. Foscolo, Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis (ed. by M. A. Terzoli, Roma, Carocci, 2012) and Sepolcri (any unabridged edition).

- G. Leopardi, Canti (ed. by A. Campana, Roma, Carocci, 2015; or Operette morali (ed. by M. A. Bazzocchi, Milano, Mondadori, 1991; or: ed. by L. Melosi, Milano, BUR, 2009).

- A. Manzoni, I promessi sposi (ed. by E. Raimondi, L. Bottoni, Milano, Principato, 1988; or: ed. by S. S. Nigro, Milano, Mondadori, 2006).

- G. Verga, Vita dei campi or I Malavoglia or Mastro-don Gesualdo (any unabridged edition).

- L. Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal and Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore (Il fu Mattia Pascal, ed. by A. Casadei, Milano, BUR, 2007; Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore, ed. by G. Davico Bonino, Torino, Einaudi, 1993).

- I. Svevo, La coscienza di Zeno (any unabridged edition).

- E. Montale, Ossi di seppia or Le occasioni (Ossi di seppia, ed. by P. Cataldi, F. D’Amely, Milano, Mondadori, 2003; Le occasioni, ed. by T. De Rogatis, Milano, Mondadori, 2011).

- C. Levi, Cristo si è fermato a Eboli, Torino, Einaudi, 2014.

- I. Calvino, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno or the trilogy of novels I nostri antenati (any unabridged edition).

- P. P. Pasolini, Ragazzi di vita or La religione del mio tempo (any unabridged edition).

- C. E. Gadda, La cognizione del dolore or Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana (Pasticciaccio: any unabridged edition; Cognizione: ed. by E. Manzotti, Torino, Einaudi, 1987).

- B. Fenoglio, Una questione privata, introd. by G. Pedullà, Torino, Einaudi, 2014.

- D. Fo, Mistero buffo or Morte accidentale di un anarchico (Einaudi editions).

The student may also use other editions with the warning to compare them with the aforementioned ones, in order to ensure both the accurate understanding of the works and the knowledge of the authors’ biography and the complete analysis of the texts (historical-cultural framing, history of composition, sources, structure, themes, language, style and fortune).

Students attending must also fully know one century of Italian literary history at their choice (contexts, authors, works, movements, poetic orientations, themes and critical issues).

Students non-attending must also fully know two centuries of Italian literary history at their choice (contexts, authors, works, movements, poetic orientations, themes and critical issues). Recommended manual: G. Ferroni, Profilo storico della letteratura italiana, Milano, Einaudi scuola, 2001 and repeatedly reprinted. The student may also use other manuals with the warning to compare them with the manual above mentioned.

Students will be able to see the dates of the exams exclusively on AlmaEsami, a website whereby they can also enroll in the exams.

C- WRITTEN EXAM

The written exam consists of carrying out an essay. Students are offered the opportunity to choose a question within a roster: questions propose arguments from the monographic section, analysis of poetic or prose texts, discussions on specific problems and authors of the history of the Italian literature from its origins to the Twentieth Century.

There are no additional texts for the preparation than those already mentioned in the monographic and general sections of the program; however, it may be helpful to look at the following critical readings: Breviario dei classici italiani: guida all’interpretazione di testi esemplari da Dante a Montale, by G. M Anselmi, A. Cottignoli, E. Pasquini, Milano, B. Mondadori, 1996; P. Vecchi Galli, Sussidiario di letteratura italiana, Bologna, Archetipolibri, 2007; F. Marri, R. Terreni, P. Franceschini, Prove di lettura: esercizi di commento linguistico su autori dal Duecento all’Ottocento, Bologna, CLUEB, 2011; Itinerari nella letteratura italiana: da Dante al web, by N. Bonazzi, A. Campana, F. Giunta and N. Maldina, coordinated by G. M. Anselmi, Roma, Carocci, 2013 or subsequent reprints; Paola Italia, Scrivere all'Università: manuale pratico con esercizi e antologia di testi, in collaboration with, Firenze, Le Monnier università, 2014.

At the written exam students can only bring with them the vocabulary of the Italian language.

NOTA BENE: in anticipation of the written exam, the teacher will give those who want the opportunity, during and after the course, to carry out exercise essays that will be corrected by him and then discussed with the student.

The marks of the written exam will be published online on AlmaEsami. Students will be able to see their own correct essays only during the office hours.

Teaching methods

- Lectures

- Reading, analysis and commentary on texts

- Critical discussions

- Formative written assignments

- PowerPoint presentations

- AMS Campus

Change of course

The students A.R.C.O. of the Italian Literature course that have not passed all their exams within the prescribed period of time and the students who want to change the course, during the academic year 2017/2018, must write an email to both teachers (prof. Paola Daniela Giovanelli and dr. Andrea Campana). Only after receiving a positive response from both teachers will it be possible to consider the passage. The deadline for submitting the applications is set at 1-15 January 2018 and 15-31 March 2018.

Assessment methods

The assessment of the knowledge and skills acquired by the student is divided into two phases: a written exam on specific topics of the program and an oral exam to verify the general preparation about all the subjects of the course.

The four-hour written exam must meet the criteria of spelling, morphological, syntactic and semantic correctness, expressive clarity and synthesis skills, and contain, where possible, considerations arising from the personal re-elaboration of the student.

The oral exam (approx. 30 minutes) is aimed at evaluating the critical and methodological skills acquired by the student, who will be invited to discuss the planned texts. The student must demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the bibliography indicated in the program.

The achievement by the student of an organic vision of the themes dealt with in conjunction with their critical use, the demonstration of expressive and specific language skills will be evaluated with excellence marks.

Mostly mnemonic knowledge of the subject, inadequate synthesis and analysis skills and a correct but not always appropriate language will lead to discrete evaluations.

Approximate knowledge, superficial understanding, poor analytical skills, and inappropriate expression will lead to judging between sufficiency and little more.

Lack of training, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials offered in the program will only be evaluated negatively.

Teaching tools

Links to further information

mail: [http://gino.ruozzi@unibo.it/] andrea.campana@unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Campana:

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/andrea.campana

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Campana