02609 - Contemporary Italian Literature (A-F)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student: has a non-abstract and non-manualistic awareness of the main lines of development of Italian literary culture from National Unity to the present day; knows how to apply appropriate methods of analysis to the literary text in prose and verse, distinguishing its relations with different linguistic, artistic and cultural traditions; is able to read the literary text as an open form, in dialogue with the ideological and social horizon of his time, against the background of the wider European context.

Course contents

Narrating the City


This course addresses the theme of urban space as narrated by authors of Italian literature of the Second Twentieth Century. This is a theme with a long tradition, but in recent years it has become increasingly decisive and urgent in relation to the great climatic, social and cultural changes that are affecting humanity. The motivations that lead writers to put the city at the center of their narratives, particularly walking crossings of urban spaces, are varied: telling the story of where most of humanity lives; the need to delineate a new relationship between humans and the city; redefining urban maps through an oblique gaze immersed in everyday life; the desire to discover new or forgotten stories that lurk in urban interstices; and a renewed sense of ecology that leads to imagining new urban configurations that respect the needs of the natural ecosystem.


The topics addressed during the course are 1) urban narrative 2) the urban landscape in literature 3) the concept of flânerie 4) geocriticism 5) ecocriticism.

 

 

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 lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Readings/Bibliography

The students have to read the following books:

 

Literary works:

• Pier Paolo Pasolini, Ragazzi di vita, Garzanti, 1955 (qualsiasi edizione)
• Italo Calvino, Marcovaldo ovvero Le stagioni in città, Einaudi, 1963 (qualsiasi edizione)
• Gianni Celati, Narratori delle pianure, Feltrinelli, 1985 (qualsiasi edizione)
• Pier Vittorio Tondelli, Altri libertini, Feltrinelli, 1980 (qualsiasi edizione)
• Tiziano Scarpa, Venezia è un pesce, Feltrinelli, 2000 (qualsiasi edizione)
• Gabriella Kuruvilla, Milano, fin qui tutto bene, Laterza, 2012 (qualsiasi edizione)

Critical essays:

• Filippo La Porta, Uno sguardo sulla città. Gli scrittori contemporanei e i loro luoghi, Donzelli, 2010
• La geografia del racconto: sguardi interdisciplinari sul paesaggio urbano nella narrativa italiana contemporanea, a cura di Davide Papotti e Franco Tomasi, Peter Lang, 2014
• Giampaolo Nuvolati, L'interpretazione dei luoghi. Flânerie come esperienza di vita, FUP, 2013
  
• All teaching materials uploaded onto the VIRTUAL platform

 

Non-attending students add:

• Cento anni di letteratura italiana 1910-2010, a cura di Marco A. Bazzocchi, Einaudi, 2021

Teaching methods

Lessons, class discussion, active participation in class, videos, power points, movies.

Assessment methods

The written test consists - only for non-italian students - in a paper (8-10 pages) about one or more arguments of the course. The paper must be previuosly approved by the teacher and must be send with an e-mail attachment at least a week before the oral test.

The oral test consists in an oral interview to evaluating the critical and methodological ability of the students. The studentwill be invited to discuss the scheduled books. The student must demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the bibliography.

Students that have to take 6 CFU exam will arrange only the program of Modulo I or Modulo II and critical essays.

Assessment consists in an examination aiming to assess the knowledge and critical skills acquired by the candidate during the course.

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) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

In addition to lectures, held by the teacher, audiovisual tools will be used to support the teaching. Students will also be invited to bring a significant contribution to enreach the issues upon which the course focuses.

Office hours

See the website of Filippo Milani