92939 - ITALIAN CULTURE (1) (LM)

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

At the end of the seminar students will have acquired awareness of specific dimensions of Italian culture. Students will be able to understand the relevance of research problems in a wide series of topic concerning Italian culture such as Italian Renaissance and the modern world, the birth of Italian Nation and landscapes studies. Students will evidence a sound theoretical framework within which specific research interests could be developed in an interdisciplinary perspective.

Contenuti

Women in Italy between the Renaissance and the Post-Unification:

The course is designed to introduce students to the Italian literary culture of the 16^th and 20^th century. It aims at providing a wide historical background on the issue, together with the basic tools for reading, analysing and contextualizing Italian works of the Renaissance, the 19th and 20th century.

Lectures will be organized in two modules, and will focus on a diverse range of literary topics:

Module 1 Women, Female Characters and Gender between Renaissance and Post-Unification Italy

1) Women in the Renaissance 2) Angelica in Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto. 3) Women and gender in post-Unification Italy . Each module will be complemented by critical insights on writers and focusing on excerpts from their main works, the course will address some issues concerning the history of the Italian culture.

Module 2 Women and society in the Italian peninsula (c. XIX)

This module examines women's status during pre- and post-unification Italy. Through the analysis of works of literature, this module looks at how women were seen, and how they saw and described themselves and how they deployed their subjectivities inside and outside marriage, which, yet at the end of the nineteenth century, was considered the primary goal and the destiny of every woman.

The sessions, chaired by Lara Michelacci, will also be held by visiting professors.

 

Testi/Bibliografia

Module 1

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso (The Frenzy of Orlando): a new verse translation; translated by David R. Slavitt, Cambridge, Mass.; London: Belknap, 2009 (canti I, XIX, XXIII-XXIV). The text is available online at the following link: https://epdf.pub/orlando-furioso-a-new-verse-translation.html

Romance and History. Imagining Time from Medieval to the Early Modern Period, edited by J. Whitman, Cambridge, University Press, 2015 (the following chapter by Riccardo Bruscagli, pp. 151-167; by Marco Praloran, pp. 168-183; by Daniel Javitch, pp. 187-199).

Women and gender in post-unification Italy : between private and public spheres, Katharine Mitchell and Helena Sanson (eds), Oxford [etc.], Peter Lang, 2013, pp. 39-65; pp. 111-133; pp. 135-152.

Module 2

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Leopard (1958) [Extracts from the novel will be provided by the lecturer]

● Antonio Fogazzaro, Old-Fashioned World (1895) [Extracts from the novel will be provided by the lecturer]

For a general introduction to the topic, see:

● Delmedico, S., Opposing Patriarchy. Women and the Law in Action in Pre-Unification Italy (1815-1865) (London: IMLR, 2021) [pp. 32-43 and 101-116 only. (Extracts from the novel will be provided by the lecturer)]

● Kertzer, D.I., and R.P. Saller, The Family in Italy: From Antiquity to the Present (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1991), relevant chapters.

● Special Issue of The Italianist, 38:3 (2018), edited by S. Delmedico, M. Di Franco, H. Sanson (see in particular the essays by Sara Delmedico, Annick Paternoster, Elena Musiani, Gabriella Alfieri).

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.

Metodi didattici

Lectures and seminars involving text analysis and class discussion. A/V tools will be used during the lectures

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Written exam that will be assessed on a pass/fail basis. Non attending students are required to do the same readings and to study the same course materials (on Virtuale) of attending students.

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.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Each module provides an introduction to the history and culture of the related period and on its main authors. Part of the lectures will be committed to reading and commenting on excerpts of Italian literary works (in English translation). Students will be invited to analyse, compare and discuss readings that will be assigned during lectures.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Lara Michelacci