B1757 - Literature and Science (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has acquired knowledge about the problem of the “two cultures”, and the long critical debate developed around the relations between the humanities and sciences as two different and competing worldviews, though called to confrontation and constructive dialogue. Through the study of examples drawn from Italian tradition, he has also become aware of the distinctive features of scientific and literary languages; the specific characters of scientific rhetoric and the scientists’ writing style; the models of reception and literary reuse of scientific themes and materials.

Course contents

Literary geometries between science and imagination 

According to the traditional 'two cultures' view, science deals with facts and literature with fictions. But historically, the discoveries and worldviews of scientists have always exerted a profound influence on the imagination of writers. On the other hand, science has always made use of the forms of literature and figures of rhetoric to report and testify about its experiences. This course aims to verify the terms of this contrasted but fertile dialogue, moving backwards through some fundamental stages. From Italo Calvino and Primo Levi, whose interest in science results into the experimentation of new forms of writing, we will then move on to Galileo, following the effects of the seventeenth-century scientific discoveries on contemporary literature, and finally arrive at Dante's Commedia, whose calculated architecture reflects the ordered and hierarchical cosmos of medieval science.

The 30-hour course takes place in the fourth period (second semester).

Non-attending students should contact the lecturer for specific instructions on exam preparation.

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

Texts:

Dante, Commedia ed. by E. Pasquini-A. Quaglio, Milano, Garzanti (or any other commentary);

Galileo, Il Saggiatore; Dialogo sopra i massimi sistemi; Scritti letterari (examined pieces will be available on the Virtuale platform);

I. Calvino, Lezioni americane; Le Cosmicomiche (Oscar Mondadori):

 

Bibliography:

For all students:

A. Battistini, Letteratura e scienza, a cura di A. Di Franco, introduzione di G. Baffetti, Bologna, Pàtron, 2024;

Ch.P. Snow, Le due culture, a cura di A. Lanni, Venezia, Marsilio, 2005.

Non-attending students are required to study in addition one text of their choice from the following:

P. Boyde, L'uomo nel cosmo. Filosofia della natura e poesia in Dante, Bologna, Il mulino, 1984;

G. Baffetti, La retorica, l'ingegno e l'anima. Studi sul Seicento, Pisa, Pacini, 2006;

M. Bucciantini, Pensare l'universo. Italo Calvino e la scienza, Roma, Donzelli, 2023.

Further directions on the use of bibliography will be provided during the course.

Assessment methods

The evaluation of the students' competencies and abilities acquired during the course consists in an oral interview which has the aim of evaluating the critical and methodological ability of the students. The students will be invited to discuss the texts on the course syllabus and will have to demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the bibliography indicated in the programme.

Those students who are able to demonstrate a wide and systematic understanding of the issues covered during the lessons, are able to use these critically and who master the field-specific language of the discipline will be given a mark of excellence.

Those students who demonstrate a mnemonic knowledge of the subject with a more superficial analytical ability and ability to synthesize, a correct command of the language but not always appropriate, will be given a fair mark.

A superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a scarce analytical and expressive ability that is not always appropriate will be rewarded with a pass mark or just above a pass mark.

Students who demonstrate gaps in their knowledge of the subject matter, inappropriate language use, lack of familiarity with the literature in the programme bibliography 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) 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.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Baffetti