B024354 - ITALIAN LITERATURE & ITALIAN LITERATURE WORKSHOP

Italian language.

This course consists in the analysis of texts from the core canon of Italian literature, which stand out from an aesthetic, as well as civil and historical point of view, in relation to the establishment of national cultural 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.

Texts and Criticism:
Prerequisite to the course is a good working knowledge of the main lines along which our literature has developed, to be acquired through study (text and criticism) of the manual below:
• G. Tellini, Letteratura italiana. Un metodo di studio, Firenze, Le Monnier Università, 2014, II ed., pp. 383-674 (Chapters 3. Dall’Italia unita alle Avanguardie storiche; 4. Dal Ritorno all’ordine al Postmoderno, including the online sections).

Knowledge
This course aims to highlight the distinctive traits of Italian literature, and particularly to focus (through text reading and commentary) on the period between Italian unification (1861) and the fall of the Berlin wall (1989).
The course aims to highlight specific methods of literary analysis in order to improve students’ ability to read a text and develop a line of critical thought. The laboratory of Italian literature is an essential part of the course and develops students’ ability to use the critical tools necessary to text commentary and interpretation. During the laboratory section of the course, students practise summary of critical essays in order to improve the quality of their written Italian. They then consider aspects related to teaching literature and plan a lesson for grade 5 pupils. A final mark is assigned for the laboratory.
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, geography and biography 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 refined.

An excellent 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.

Lectures.
Video-recorded lectures are uploaded onto the Moodle platform in order to allow distance learning in case of a health emergency.
Power-point presentations, pdf support materials and materials for further study (where applicable) are also available on Moodle.
Students are encouraged to participate, ask questions and maintain a direct relationship with the professor, even during weekly consultation hours.
The laboratory section is conducted as a seminar; students interact in small groups with each other and the professor.

Students are expected to keep dutifully to attendance rules.
For the laboratory section, students must be present at two thirds of the sessions (verified by roll call).
Each student must sign the attendance sheet personally at the beginning of each session, using the Moodle e-learning platform.

All students (even those who do not attend lectures or are participating in exchange programmes) 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 commentating 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 examination together with results obtained in the laboratory activities.

Course Title:
Polycentrism and multiculturalism in the Italian literary civilization.

The course aims to highlight distinctive features of Italian literature and provide a general introduction (with text reading and commentary) to the period between Italian unification (1861) and the fall of the Berlin wall (1989).
Part of the course focuses on general themes and examining several specific matters (literature and national identity; history, geography and biography in the study of literature), which lead to developing an understanding of the unique aspects of our literary legacy.
The Italian literature laboratory is an integral part of the course, during which students learn to use the critical tools necessary for commentating and interpreting literary texts.
The course includes rudiments of metre, rhetoric and philology, besides presenting the main tools for study of Italian literature.