13338 - Contemporary Italian Literature (M-R)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student has acquired a working knowledge of wide areas of twentieth-century literary history, with special emphasis on the relation between literature and historical, social, anthropological, and more broadly cultural phenomena. Study is assisted by secondary literature and face-to-face tuition and covers close reading of the text as well as problems of form, structure, composition, and reception.

Course contents

Course Topic: Sentimental Cinematographies. The Vision, Narrative and Forms of Love in 20th-Century Italian Literature.

The course lasts 60 hours, equivalent to 12 course credits, and consists of a reading through 20th-century and contemporary Italian liteerary works. In these works, the interpersonal relationships of falling in love and love - in their inception or dissolution, in their development of exaltation or struggle, in all the manipulations and subversions they may involve - constitute a thematic core, a solicitation of form or a design suggestion.

The course implies a minimum basic knowledge of 20th-century Italian literature.

The course begins on Monday, September 16, 2024. Classes are held in-person only, but attendance is by no means mandatory.

Here is the class schedule from September 16 to October 23, 2024:

- Monday, 5-7 p.m., Room 1, Via del Guasto 3;
- Tuesday, 5-7 p.m., Room 1, Via del Guasto 3;
- Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., Room 1, Via del Guasto 3.

Starting November 11, 2024, classes will be held with the following schedule:

- Monday, 5-7 p.m., Room 1, Via del Guasto 3;
- Tuesday, 5-7 p.m., Room 1, Via del Guasto 3;
- Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., Room 1, Via del Guasto 3.

Readings/Bibliography

This course splits in a series of lectures and an individual study programme, which is not mandatory for Erasmus and Overseas students.

Lectures

Poetic and narrative texts will be read and discussed in class during the course, according to a six-unit study format. All texts can also be read in editions or reprints other than those suggested, and also in digital format.

1. Sibilla Aleramo, Una donna [A Woman, 1906], preface by Anna Folli, afterword by Emilio Cecchi, Milan: Feltrinelli, 2023; Dino Campana, Canti Orfici [Orphic Songs, 1914], in Canti orfici e altre poesie, edited by Neuro Bonifazi, Milan: Garzanti, 2014.

2. Antonia Pozzi, some texts from Parole. Diario di poesia [Words, Journal of Poetry, posth., 1939-1948] in Parole. Tutte le poesie, edited by Graziella Bernabò and Onorina Dino, Milan: Ancora, 2015; Alberto Moravia, L'amore coniugale [Conjugal Love, 1947], Milan: Bompiani, 2000.

3. Umberto Saba, Ernesto [Ernest, posth., 1975], edited by Maria Antonietta Grignani, Turin: Einaudi, 2015; Giovanni Giudici, some texts from O beatrice [Oh Beatrix, 1972], in I versi della vita, edited by Rodolfo Zucco, with an introductory essay by Carlo Ossola, chronology by Carlo Di Alesio, Milan: Mondadori, 2000.

4. Enrico Palandri, Boccalone. Storia vera piena di bugie [Boccalone. A True Story Full of Lies, 1979], Milan: Bompiani, 2000; Pier Vittorio Tondelli, Altri libertini [Other Libtards, 1980], Milan:  Feltrinelli, 2013.

5. Giovanni Raboni, some texts from Canzonette mortali [Mortal Little Songs, 1986], in L'opera poetica, edited and with an introductory essay by Rodolfo Zucco and a writing by Andrea Zanzotto, Milan: Mondadori, 2006; Patrizia Valduga, some texts from Poesie erotiche [Erotic Poems], Turin: Einaudi, 2018.

6. Tommaso Pincio, Un amore dell'altro mondo [A Love of the Other World], Turin: Einaudi, 2002; Jolanda Insana, La tagliola del disamore [The Unlove Trap, 2005], in Tutte le poesie, Milan:  Garzanti, 2007.

Along with reading the texts, knowledge of the following volume is required: Stefano Colangelo, Come si legge una poesia. Nuova edizione [How to Read a Poem. New Edition], Rome: Carocci, 2023 [not mandatory for Erasmus and Overseas students].

Unibo Students who attend the course for six credits are expected to choose and study an amount of three units on those making up the course as a whole.

Erasmus and Overseas exchange students who are attending the course for 6 credits will be requested to write a short essay (up to 20-25000 bytes) upon a topic related to the course programme. This topic will be negotiated with the teacher, who will assign a specific set of bibliographical references. The essay will be discussed at the oral examination session. Beyond this essay, Erasmus and Overseas exchange students who are attending the course for 12 credits will be requested to study at least one unit among those included in the forementioned lectures, and to briefly explain it during the oral examination appointment.

Students who are not going to attend the class will add: Sistema periodico. Il secolo interminabile delle riviste [Periodical System. The Endless Century of Literary Reviews], edited by Francesco Bortolotto, Eleonora Fuochi, Davide Antonio Paone, and Federica Parodi, Bologna: Pendragon, 2018.

Individual Study Programme

This part is to be done individually by the student, and is not mandatory for Erasmus and Overseas students. Some study directions will be given during the lectures, and the planned readings will be related, when possible, to those in the Lectures part. The Individual Study Programme consists of two sections.

Section A. The Origins of Modernity (not mandatory for History and Communication Sciences students).

- Giacomo Leopardi, Canti [Songs], Milan: Rizzoli, 1998 [Ultimo canto di Saffo, Alla sua donna, Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell’Asia, A se stesso, Aspasia, La ginestra];

- Giacomo Leopardi, Operette morali [Little Moral Pieces], Milan: Rizzoli, 2008 [Dialogo della moda e della morte, Dialogo di Torquato Tasso e del suo genio familiare, Dialogo della natura e di un islandese, Cantico del Gallo Silvestre, Dialogo di Federico Ruysch e delle sue mummie, Dialogo di Tristano e di un amico];

- Alessandro Manzoni, I promessi sposi [The Betrothed], Turin: Einaudi, 2015 [chapters 1, 2, 8, 37, 38].

Section B. A Perspective on the 20th Century.

Knowledge of a textbook of your choice from the following is required, especially with regard to the authors of the Lectures section:

- Cento anni di letteratura italiana. 1910-2010 [One Hundred Years of Italian Literature. 1910-2010] ,edited by Marco Antonio Bazzocchi, Turin: Einaudi, 2021; or:

- Letteratura italiana contemporanea. Narrativa e poesia dal Novecento a oggi [Contemporary Italian Literature. Fiction and Poetry from the 20th Century to the Present], edited by Beatrice Manetti and Massimiliano Tortora, Rome: Carocci, 2022.

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 lasts approx. 20 minutes, split in two parts. The first one focuses on the main theoretical matters approached throughout the class, verifiyng the preparation upon at least two units among those included in the study programme. The second one will consist of the brief exposition of an individual in-depth analysis, even previously submitted in a written sample, upon a review, a topic or a period included in the study programme.

A positive or excellent score (27 to 30/30, with possible distinction) corresponds to a full mastering of technical, theoretical, historical and terminological resources of Twentieth-Century and contemporary literature, and to a proved ability to make connections among single aspects 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 reveal some lacks in one or more topics or analytical proofs, or are able to use just mechanically their ability in interpretation; a pass or low score (18 to 22/30) to students with severe lacks in one or more topics or exercises, or not enough accurate while they use or quote notions and samples. A negative score is assigned to students who are not able to recall general notions in text samples and/or in general.

Exam sessions take place once in a month, and are scheduled in turns. Students must sign up at the AlmaEsami web site (https://almaesami.unibo.it). Registrations end two days before the oral examination.

Teaching tools

Excerpts from texts and criticism in digital scans.

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), are kindly invited to contact the appropriate office.

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Colangelo