ITALIAN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- GIOVANNA RIZZARELLI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- L-FIL-LET/11
Training objectives
- Aim of the class is to provide the students with a good knowledge of the history of Italian literature of the 20th century.
Prerequisites
- Good knowledge of the Italian language. Ability to study independently; elementary knowledge of literary history, relating to the 20th century.
Course programme
- The class shall examine the features and the development of novels and short stories in 20th century Italian literature, focusing on the narrative of the Second World War and the Italian Civil War in some capital literary texts between the 1940s and the 1970s. Pointing on this thematic focus and on this chronology, we will read and compare texts by Italo Calvino, Natalia Ginzburg, Beppe Fenoglio, Giorgio Bassani, Elsa Morante, Goffredo Parise and Primo Levi (see the bibliography below). The course shall also consider theoretical issues concerning the definition of the genre (novel, short story), the style and the forms of the narrative in that period.
Didactic methods
- Frontal lessons, with PowerPoint presentations, mainly focused on introducing and commenting the texts included in the course program. Classes will be in presence only (unless stated otherwise). For non-attending students, recordings of the first introductory classes will be accessible online.
Some lectures will be held by professor Martina Mengoni. Learning assessment procedures
- Oral exams on the texts included on the programme (see bibliography below), on the Power points and on the materials available on Classroom. Questions will concern both the historical-literary features of the texts and theoretical issues of the genres.
Reference texts
- The following list is for attending students only:
Novels:
Italo Calvino, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno [1947], Milano, Mondadori, 2012. [full reading required]
Natalia Ginzburg, Tutti i nostri ieri [1952], Torino, Einaudi, 2007. [full reading required]
Elsa Morante, La storia [1974], Torino, Einaudi, 2015. [full reading required]
Short stories:
Beppe Fenoglio, I ventitré giorni della città di Alba [1952], in Id., Tutti i racconti, Torino, Einaudi, 2010, pp. 74-98.
Giorgio Bassani, Una lapide in via Mazzini, in Id., Cinque storie ferraresi, Torino, Einaudi, 1956, pp. 103-148.
Goffredo Parise, Guerra, in Id., Sillabari, Milano, Adelphi, 2009, pp. 172-177.
Primo Levi, Ferro, Oro e Potassio in Id., Il sistema periodico [1975], Milano, Einaudi Scuola – Mondadori Educational 2022, pp. 39-68 e pp. 136-150.
Chapters on the authors discussed in class (Italo Calvino, Natalia Ginzburg, Beppe Fenoglio, Giorgio Bassani, Elsa Morante, Goffredo Parise e Primo Levi) can be studied using a good handbook of 20th-century Italian literature. Recommended:
M. Bazzocchi (edited by), Cent'anni di Letteratura italiana, Torino, Einaudi, 2021 (chapters on: Italo Calvino, Natalia Ginzburg, Beppe Fenoglio, Giorgio Bassani, Elsa Morante, Goffredo Parise e Primo Levi).
Non attending students must also read and study the following additional short stories:
Beppe Fenoglio, Gli inizi del partigiano Raoul e Vecchio Blister, in Id., Racconti, Torino, Einaudi, 2010, pp. 131-158; 159-179.
Primo Levi, Nichel in Id., Il sistema periodico [1975], Milano, Einaudi Scuola – Mondadori Educational 2022, pp. 69-89.
Goffredo Parise, Felicità, in Id., Sillabari, Milano, Adelphi, 2009, pp. 142-146.
Italo Calvino, Ultimo viene il corvo, La stessa cosa del sangue e Angoscia in caserma, in Id., Ultimo viene il corvo, Milano, Oscar Mondadori, 1994©, pp. 143-150; 89-96; 107-118.
