85121 - Contemporary Literary Cultures (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student possesses sufficient literary proficiency to read a text as an open form in dialogue with the cultural moment. The student can put contemporary Italian literature in the context of supranational and global literary production (publishing market and politics of translation) as well as in the context of the supraliterary media panorama (adaptations and transmedia storytelling).

Course contents

The course aims to provide students with the most up-to-date methods of analysis of the literary text. In particular, it will focus on the reception of authors and works that have gained success through international circulation, and on the cultural impact of the images and models of “Italianness” that they promote.

Italian literary and audio-visual products circulate in various markets, spreading – at national and international levels – images and models (stereotypes and/or counter-stereotypes) of “Italianness”. Such images of Italy are tightly connected to the processes through which cultural products reiterate certain privileged aspects of Italian life: politics, crime, religious institutions, landscapes, cultural heritage, food, lifestyle, fashion, the entertainment industry, etc.

Readings/Bibliography

Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa, Bompiani, 2020.

Il nome della rosa, regia di Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1986.

Umberto Eco, Milo Manara, Il nome della rosa, Oblomov, 2023.

Il nome della rosa - serie TV, regia di Giacomo Battiato, 2019 [optional].

Elena Ferrante, L'amica geniale, E/O, 2011.

L'amica geniale, serie TV, 2018 - in corso.

Ferrante Fever, regia di Giacomo Durzi, 2016 (https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/ferrantefever).

 

Students will study the following critical texts:

Giuliana Benvenuti, a cura di, La letteratura oggi. Romanzo, editoria, transmedialità, Einaudi 2023. Specifically, the chapters:

• G.Benvenuti, La letteratura nel sistema mediale contemporaneo;
• B. Della Gala, Un longseller transmediale. Il nome della rosa di Umberto Eco;
• T. De Rogatis, L’amica geniale di Elena Ferrante: tra global novel e storytelling transmediale.

Bruno Pischedda, Eco: guida a Il nome della rosa, Carocci, 2016.

The assigned readings are the same for non-attending students. Additional resources for exam preparation will be available on the Virtuale platform, also useful for those who cannot attend the course.

GEMMA students can substitute Bruno Pischedda's, Eco: guida a Il nome della rosa with the volume by Stiliana Milkova's, Elena Ferrante As World Literature, Bloomsbury, 2021 and have clarifications on the program in relation to their MA course by contacting the lecturer.

Teaching methods

The course will consist of a series of lectures devoted to reading and interpreting the material on the syllabus. During the lectures, students will be encouraged to actively participate in common discussions and reflections. In some specific cases, a specialist in the authors or themes on which the course focuses may be called upon to give lectures.

Assessment methods

The oral test 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 tests on the course programme. The student must demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the bibliography in the course 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.

Teaching tools

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

Office hours

See the website of Giuliana Benvenuti