This course consists in the analysis of texts from the core canon of Italian literature, which are important from an artistic, as well as civil and historical point of view, in relation to the establishment of Italian national identity. Critical reading begins by assessing their philological and documentary features and develops through issues regarding their literary genre and the theoretical debates involved, while bringing out the rhetorical aspects and expressive language of these works.
Course Content - Last names M-Z
Course title:
Scapigliatura's narrative and the anguish of modernity.
The course deals with the study of the narrative of the late nineteenth century, with particular regard to the artistic movement of Scapigliatura (1860-1880 ca.), through the reading of novels and short stories by Tarchetti, Verga, Arrigo and Camillo Boito, which present new themes for the Italian literary tradition (the ugly, the obsession, the fantastic), new anti-hero protagonists and unusual strong female figures
Texts and Criticism:
G. Tellini, Natura e arte nella letteratura italiana. Tra giardini, orti e frutteti, Firenze, Le Monnier Università, 2015.
Prerequisite to the course is a good working knowledge of the main lines along which our literature has developed, to be acquired through study of the manual below:
G. Tellini, Letteratura italiana. Un metodo di studio, Firenze, Le Monnier Università, 2014, II ed. (authors: Petrarca, Boccaccio, Poliziano, Ariosto, Tasso, Marino, Leopardi, Manzoni, D’Annunzio, Gozzano, Palazzeschi, Campana, Montale).
Texts:
Full reading of:
Iginio Ugo Tarchetti, "Fosca"
Giovanni Verga, "Eva"
Arrigo Boito, "L'alfier nero"
Camillo Boito, "Senso"
These texts can be read in any modern edition.
Critical essays:
R. Bruscagli, G. Tellini, "Letteratura e storia", vol. 5. "L'età del realismo", pp. 11-29, 33-44, 99-133.
G. Tellini, "Storia del romanzo italiano", Firenze, Le Monnier Università, capp. VII e VIII, pp. 146-206.
Other study support materials will be provided via the moodle platform (e-l.unifi.it)
Learning Objectives - Last names A-L
Knowledge
This course aims to highlight the distinctive traits of Italian literature, and particularly to focus (through text reading and commentary) on the theme of the garden and the relationship between nature and poetry from the 14th to the 20th century.
The course includes rudiments of metre, rhetoric and philology, besides presenting the main tools for study of Italian literature. Several specific issues are tackled (literature and national identity, history and geography in the study of literature), which stretch across the entire spectrum of our literary culture.
Competence
The course involves a first look at scientific editions from Italian literary tradition as well as bibliographical sources; it will also prepare students to use text commentary tools properly; students will have a first experience with bibliographical research in the library; their public speaking skills will be put to the test.
Behaviour
The course strives to motivate students to take advantage of the university structure, the Degree Course, student orientation and career management tools, as well as to encourage students to benefit from intellectual participation and a correct approach to the student-teacher relationship, together with the responsible and respectful use of study resources provided by the Faculty and Degree Course.
Learning Objectives - Last names M-Z
Knowledge: The course involves a general introduction to the features of Italian narrative of the second half of the nineteenth century, and a specific study of the artistic movement of Scapigliatura, with reading and commentary of some novels and stories. It includes rudiments of metre, rhetoric and philology, besides presenting the main tools for study of Italian literature.
Competence: The course involves a first look at scientific editions from Italian literary tradition as well as bibliographical sources; it will also prepare students to use text commentary tools properly; students will have a first experience with bibliographical research in the library; their public speaking skills will be put to test.
Behaviour: The course strives to motivate students to take advantage of the university structure, student orientation and career management tools, as well as to encourage students to benefit from a correct approach to the student-teacher relationship and promote responsible and respectful use of study resources provided by the study programme.
Prerequisites - Last names A-L
A good knowledge of the Italian language is necessary, as are mastery of grammatical and syntactical structures of written Italian; students must be well able to read literary and critical texts and be skilled in using dictionaries and commentaries. Finally, an important prerequisite is a thorough knowledge of Italian national history, particularly with regard to events surrounding the Italian Risorgimento and the first decades following the unification of Italy.
Prerequisites - Last names M-Z
An excellent knowledge of the Italian language is necessary, as are mastery of grammatical and syntactical structures of written Italian, good ability to read literary and critical texts, as well as reasonable competence in using dictionaries and commentaries. Finally, an important prerequisite is a thorough knowledge of the Italian historical events of the second half of the nineteenth century.
Teaching Methods - Last names A-L
Lectures. Students are encouraged to participate, ask questions and maintain a direct relationship with the professor, even during weekly receiving hours.
Teaching Methods - Last names M-Z
Lectures. Students are encouraged to participate, ask questions and maintain a direct relationship with the professor, even during weekly receiving hours.
Further information - Last names A-L
Students are expected to keep dutifully to attendance rules: with the exception of part-time students, the course is considered valid (and students are admitted to the examination) only if their attendance is recorded by signature for at least two thirds of the lessons. Every student must personally sign the attendance sheet at the beginning of each lesson.
Further information - Last names M-Z
Students are expected to keep dutifully to attendance rules: with the exception of part-time students, the course is considered valid (and students are admitted to the examination) only if their attendance is recorded by signature for at least two thirds of the lessons (24 hours out of 36 total course hours). Every student must sign the attendance sheet at the beginning of each lesson.
Students unable to attend regularly, for serious and proven reasons, must sign as well, promptly notify the teacher and come to speak with her during weekly receiving hours.
Type of Assessment - Last names A-L
All students (even those who do not attend lessons or are participating in exchange programs) must take a final oral exam, which assesses general knowledge of all the material covered in the course.
The oral examination is an interview aimed at assessing the following learning objectives: familiarity with the bibliography and materials discussed in lectures and made available on our e-learning platform; acquaintance with the distinctive features of Italian literature as pertaining to the specific focus of the course; skill in using the methodological and critical tools of the discipline; skill in reading, analysis and commenting on texts on the curriculum.
Students must demonstrate a sufficient grasp of the learning objectives for the course in order to pass the final examination.
The final mark is based on the mark obtained on the oral.
Type of Assessment - Last names M-Z
Students will be tested in an end-of-course oral examination, which assesses general knowledge of all the material covered in the course: familiarity with the Italian narrative of the second half of the nineteenth century and the artistic movement of Scapigliatura, with particular regard to the works covered during the course; knowledge of the critical essays in the course program, and of the materials discussed in lectures and made available on the e-learning platform; and above all, it is required to be able to read, interpret and comment correctly the texts of the course, which must be read in full ("Fosca" by Tarchetti, "Eva" by Verga, "L'alfier nero" by Arrigo Boito, "Senso" by Camillo Boito). It is also required a sufficient capacity for oral exposure, with a correct use of the terminology; and it is desirable to have a minimum capacity for personal critical elaboration of what has been studied.
Course program - Last names A-L
Course Title: Art and Nature from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
The course provides a general introduction to the distinctive features of Italian literature, proceeding then to a systematic examination of the ‘garden’ theme and the relationship between poetry and nautre from the 14th to the 16th century, from Dante to Tasso.
The course aims to teach specific methods of reading literary texts, with examples taken throughout the various periods of Italian literature.
It includes rudiments of metre, rhetoric and philology, besides presenting the main tools for study of Italian literature. Several specific issues are tackled (literature and national identity, history and geography in the study of literature), which stretch across the entire spectrum of our literary culture.
Course program - Last names M-Z
The course deals with the study of the Italian narrative of the second half of the nineteenth century, with particular regard to the artistic movement of Scapigliatura, which took place in Milan in the first post-unification decades, between 1860 and 1880, as an expression of concern and anguish of artists and writers in front of the fall of Romantic and Risorgimental values and the rise of modern urban and industrial development. The young "scapigliati" writers ("rebels" towards the Italian literary tradition, and often also towards the bourgeois order of society), open towards contemporary European experiences, face unprecedented themes in our narrative tradition (the ugly, the obsession, the fantastic), experience new expressive possibilities, introduce new anti-hero protagonists, and give space to unusual strong female figures.
While also paying attention to other artistic events - in the fields of painting, music, poetry - the course focuses on the novel and the short stories, through the reading and analysis of some significant texts: "Fosca" by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti (1869); "Eva" by Giovanni Verga (1873); "L'alfier nero" by Arrigo Boito (1868); "Senso" by Camillo Boito (1883).