13800 - Italian Literature in the Renaissance

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students are expected to acquire: a sound knowledge of a specific cultural context (the Italian Renaissance) through the reading of literary texts in an interdisciplinary perspective; the ability to analyse and interpret literary texts.

Course contents

The course is subdivided in a general and in a monographic section: the former is dedicated to a discussion of the 'Renaissance' as a cultural context and historical category as well to crucial themes and authors of the period; the latter focuses on a specific topic: the critical reception of Dante's oeuvre in the Cinquecento.

Readings/Bibliography

A) GENERAL SECTION

For this section students are required to:

· Have a sound knowledge of the history of Italian literature in the 16th century. Recommended textbooks: La letteratura italiana, ed. by Ezio Raimondi: Dalle origini al Cinquecento, ed. by L. Chines, G. Forni, G. Ledda, E. Menetti, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2007, chapters 7-11; or: Riccardo Bruscagli, Il Quattrocento e Il Cinquecento, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2005, chapters V-X;

· read at least two of the following: Eugenio Garin, La cultura del Rinascimento, Bari, Laterza, 1967; W.K. Ferguson, Il Rinascimento nella critica storica, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1987; Jacob Burckhardt, La civiltà del Rinascimento in Italia, Firenze, Sansoni, 2000; G.M. Anselmi, L'età dell'Umanesimo e del Rinascimento. Le radici italiane dell'Europa Moderna, Carocci, Roma, 2008 (chapters 9-15); Nicola Gardini, Rinascimento, Torino, Einaudi, 2010.

B) MONOGRAPHIC SECTION:

This section will examine the critical reception of Dante's work in the Cinquecento discussing its relevance to some crucial questions of the period's cultural history.

Students attending the course will be required to show a sound knowledge of the texts and topics discussed in class. In addition they are required to read at least three of the following critical readings: Aldo Vallone, L'interpretazione di Dante nel Cinquecento. Studi e ricerche, Firenze, Olschki, 1969; Annalisa Andreoni , Alla ricerca di una poetica postbembiana: il Dante 'lucreziano' di Benedetto Varchi, in «Nuova Rivista di Letteratura Italiana», nn. 1-2 (2004), pp. 179-231 ; Davide Dalmas, Dante nella crisi religiosa del Cinquecento italiano, Manziana, Vecchiarelli, 2005; Deborah Parker, Commentary and Ideology. Dante in the Renaissance, Durham, Duke University Press, 1993; Mario Martelli, Dante e Machiavelli, in «Schede umanistiche», n.s., XIII (1999), 1, pp. 5-23; Elena Pistolesi, Con Dante attraverso il Cinquecento. Il De vulgari eloquentia e la questione della lingua, in «Rinascimento», 40 (2000), pp. 269-296; Simon Gilson, Dante and Renaissance Florence, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2005; Id., "La divinità di Dante": The Problematics of Dante's Critical Reception from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Centuries , in «Critica del Testo» n. 1 (2011), pp. 581-603; Gennaro Sasso, Centauri, leoni e volpi. Su alcune fonti del diciottesimo del Principe, in Machiavelli e gli antichi e altri saggi, tomo IV, Milano-Napoli, Ricciardi, 1997, pp. 153-182.

Non-attending students and those who are taking the course for 6 credits should contact the lecturer to agree their readings.

Teaching methods

Lectures and seminars involving class discussion and text analysis

Assessment methods

Oral exam consisting of a discussion (approx. 30-40 minutes) of both the general and the monographic section. Students are required to show the ability to discuss and interpret the assigned texts clearly and persuasively, relating them to their cultural context. The standard of oral expression will also be assessed.

Students are allowed to substitute a part of the oral exam with a 3,000-word essay whose topic must be agreed with the lecturer.

Teaching tools

Seminars

PowerPoint presentations

Audio-visual materials

Office hours

See the website of Angelo Maria Mangini