04177 - Sociology of Literature

Course contents

Literature and Bureaucracy: the white collar as character

Two figures prevail in the representation of work as a literary topic: the factory worker and the writer, located at the extremes of the production chain. While literature recounts the revolutionary impetus and factory struggles of the former, together with his material difficulties and alienation, for the latter the focus is on the uncomfortable compromises between his writing and mass culture, while literature itself is turning into a commodity. However, especially in fiction, a third figure emerges from behind the shoulders of these two protagonists: the employee. An office worker stuck in mediocrity: who knows neither the heights of the writer, blessed by the prestige of the artist and by the gift of being able to creatively express himself, nor the abyss of the factory worker, whose life and activities are indistinguishable from those of his comrades, all replaceable in their spots within the factory.

Spared from the most monotonous physical labor, the clerk sits behind a desk while he uninterruptedly copies phrases and expressions typical of bureaucratic language all day long. A uniform organisation of experience that allows no possibility of alteration, invention, or betrayal by those who both administer it and are subject to it. However, is literature really satisfied with this representation, when it accepts to expose itself as a stylistic construction elaborated by a language that is ‘artificial’, as Italo Calvino stated? This course proposes a survey of the office working narrative and focuses on the character of the employee, comparing its appearances in multiple linguistic and cultural contexts and in other media, such as cinema and music. From a sociological point of view, we will learn how the literary text has not only represented the figure of “white-collar” as an individual dominated by bureaucracy; it has also attempted to subvert the rigidity and opacity of their jargon in order to regain a plurality of senses typical of literature.

Beginning of the course: First Semester (17 September 2024)

Timetables: Tuesday 5-7 pm, Wednesday 5-7 pm (Aula 1, via Zamboni 32) and Thursday 11am-1 pm (Aula Forti, via Zamboni 32)

 

Readings/Bibliography

All texts listed below constitute exam materials. Foreign students can use original or English translations while studying, but a good reading knowledge of Italian is required in order to follow classes and understanding teaching materials. Foreign students can also ask for substitution of some of them or a general reduction from this list:

• Honoré de Balzac, Les employés (1844)
• Nikolaj Gogol’, Il cappotto (1842)
• Herman Melville, Bartelby the scrivener (1853)
• Anton Čechov, La morte dell’impiegato (1883)
• Emilio De Marchi, Regi impiegati (1892) (PDF on Virtuale)
• James Joyce, Counterparts in Dubliners (1914)
• Piero Jahier, Resultanze in merito alla vita e al carattere di Gino bianchi (1915) (PDF on Virtuale)
• Franz Kafka, Das Schloss (1926)
• Francis Ponge, Le parti pris des choses (1942): the poems R.C. Seine and Le restaurant Lemeunier (PDF on Virtuale).

These essays are also mandatory:

• Siegfried Kracauer, Die Angestellten (1930)
• Italo Calvino, “L’antilingua” (1965), in Una pietra sopra. Discorsi di letteratura e società, Mondadori, 2002, pp. 149-154 (PDF on Virtuale).
  

In addition, students in the Humanities course will choose two further novels from the following list; students in the Foreign Languages and Literatures, for whom the course is worth 9 CFU, will choose only one:

• Georges Courteline, Messieurs les ronds-de-cuir (1893)
• Federigo Tozzi, Ricordi di un impiegato (1920)
• Franz Kafka, Der Process (1925)
• George Orwell, 1984 (1948)
• Jean Malaquais, Le Gaffeur (1953)
  
• Giuseppe Pontiggia, La morte in banca (1959)
• Augusto Frassineti, Misteri dei ministeri (1973). 

The vision of the films Living (2022), directed by Oliver Hermanus (a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film), and Fantozzi (1975), the first in the series dedicated to the character created by Paolo Villaggio, are also required.

Some songs from Fabrizio De André’s music album, Storia di un impiegato (1973), also complement the course materials.

Not attending students:

In addition to the listed readings, they are recommended to study with particular attention all teaching materials published on Virtuale, which are specifically designed to provide guidance also to those who could not follow the lessons.

In order to become familiar with the discipline of Sociology of Literature, not attending students are required to study some chapters of the handbook:

• Mario Cimini, Sociologia della letteratura, La scuola, 2008, pp. 7-14, 35-56, 65-86 (PDF on Virtuale).

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the professor in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Teaching methods

This course is based on the reading, analysis and discussion of literary and non-literary texts, with appropriate references to its relationship with history, society and the various artistic representations. Students will be invited to take an active part during frontal lessons, with questions and insights. The course is specially designed to allow students to share autonomous reflections and present their thoughts about the connections between study materials and current and past society and history.

Assessment methods

Oral exam

The exam consists of an oral interview (20-25 minutes) that aims to assess the critical and methodological skills gained by the student, who will be invited to discuss the readings listed in the program.

The interview will be structured into two parts: 1) A few notionistic questions, in order to check careful reading and knowledge of the texts in their fundamental aspects (plot, characters, main themes, setting, narrative situation, etc.); 2) Two open questions of a more general and interpretative nature on critical and literary texts, also from a comparative point of view, for an overall discussion on the course topic.

Top marks will be awarded to students showing a wide and systematic understanding of the issues covered in class, but also capable of using these notions critically to elaborate clear and relevant analyses through an appropriate vocabulary (28-30L).

Average marks will be awarded to students showing a mostly mnemonic knowledge of the subject matter, a moderate ability to summarize and elaborate on key topics and using a correct vocabulary, though not always relevant (24-27).

A superficial knowledge and understanding of the primary sources and related bibliography, accompanied by scarce analytical and expressive competences, will be rewarded with a pass mark or just above (18-23).

Students showing significant gaps in their knowledge of the subject and related bibliography and/or expressing themselves in a confused and inappropriate way will not be given a pass mark.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ) well in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must be strictly submitted to the professor at least 15 days before the exam. The appropriateness of these suggestions will be assessed on a case-by-case basis by the professor in relation to the leading objectives.

Teaching tools

Students are requested to register on the course on the Moodle Unibo Virtuale platform, which is the official tool used by the teacher for communications, notices and to provide additional teaching material. Students will find there PowerPoint presentations in PDF format, downloadable materials in support of the lessons, audio materials, precise indications in order to prepare themselves for the exam.

Links to further information

https://virtuale.unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Guido Mattia Gallerani