02609 - Contemporary Italian Literature

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

Beginnings: forms of palingenesis (1939-1962)

The beginning of the Second World War and the end of the most propulsive thrust of the economic boom marked the transition from the historical drift of the Ventennio to the forms of a renewed democracy. In those years of crisis, it was necessary to come to terms with fascism and its infatuation with the Roman past, with the racial laws, the war, the allied bombings, the Resistance and the Liberation, and finally an urgent reconstruction. This historical parable defines the end of an era and the birth of a new one. And in the intentions of those who had strenuously opposed fascism, a new beginning and a new origin should have laid its foundations on the ashes of the past. But in order to do so, it was necessary to rethink that past, to rework it for real, and not just rely on the idea that the two-year Resistance period had swept away the sins of the twenty-year period, allowing all Italians to redeem themselves.

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography: 

1. C. Pavese, Paesi tuoi (1941), Milano, Rizzoli, 2021.
   
2. C. Levi, Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (1945), Torino, Einaudi, 2025. [in uscita ad aprile 2025]
3. I. Calvino, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno (1947), Milano, Mondadori, 2023.
4. A. De Cèspedes, Dalla parte di lei (1949), Milano, Mondadori, 2021.

1. G. Bassani, Cinque storie ferraresi (1956), Milano, Feltrinelli, 2016.
2. F. Fortini, Destini generale (1956), in Tutte le poesie, Milano, Mondadori, 2014, pp. 000-000.
3. P.P. Pasolini, Le ceneri di Gramsci (1957), Milano, Garzanti, 2015.
4. G. Tomasi di Lampedusa, Il Gattopardo (1958), Milano, Feltrinelli, 2013.

vd. virtuale

R. Gasperina Geroni, Ricominciare, in corso di pubblicazione (aprile 2025).

For not-attendant students:

• M.A. Bazzocchi (a cura di), Cento anni di letteratura: 1910-2010, Torino, Einaudi 2021.
  

Teaching methods

The course is based on the reading, the analysis and the discussion of the literary texts in biblioghaphy.

Assessment methods

Assessment consists of a viva voce examination aiming to assess the knowledge and critical skills acquired by the candidate during the course.

1. First-class marks will be awarded to candidates who demonstrate an ability to analyse texts in depth and to produce an organic overview of the topics covered in the course. Overall mark between 27 and 30 cum laude (high linguistic ability is required).

2. A mostly mnemonic knowledge of the subject, analytical skills lacking depth, and correct but not always apposite expression will result in a modest mark. Overall mark between 23 and 26.

3. Elementary knowledge, superficial understanding, poor analytical skills, and inapposite expression will lead to a pass or only slightly higher mark. Overall mark between 18 and 22.

4. Gaps in the candidate’s knowledge, inapposite language, and inadequate engagement with the secondary literature offered in the course will result in a fail mark.

Teaching tools

Students are requested to register on the course page on the virtuale.unibo.it platform (active from 7 September), which will be the tool used by the teacher for communications, notices and to provide additional teaching material.

Office hours

See the website of Riccardo Gasperina Geroni

See the website of Massimiliano Cappello