99388 - LETTERATURA ITALIANA

Knowledge and understanding: Knowledge of the fundamental elements of Italian literature; acquisition of philological research methodologies and literary criticism methodologies, with a special focus on the ability to analyse literary texts critically.  

Applying knowledge and understanding: Ability to consider literary texts critically; ability to connect elements of one’s own culture with those of other cultures; ability to orient oneself within the printed and online bibliography; ability to link competences in an interdisciplinary fashion.

Making judgements: Critical ability to combine literary competences acquired in an interdisciplinary fashion and to interpret different sociolinguistic and cultural domains from both a synchronic and a diachronic perspective.

Communication skills: Ability to present the results of one’s study in complex ways; ability to discuss literary contents effectively and critically.

Learning skills: Development of autonomous learning skills in studying the literary materials of the course with the aim of interacting with diverse interlocutors and in different working environments. 

The lectures will be supplemented by exercises and tests in progress and by seminars with other teachers.

1) Analysis of the literary text.

2) Readings of classics

1) L. Chines-C. Varotti, Che cos'è un testo letterario, Carocci; a high school-level manual for the historical-critical framework of the literary texts to be studied.

2) Reading of classics

- Texts: Dante Alighieri: from the Divine Comedy: Inferno, canto VI; Purgatory, canto VI; Paradise, canto VI; Francesco Petrarca, Canzoniere: three sonnets of your choice; Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron: the introduction to the first day and six short stories of your choice (in case of purchase of the entire volume, we recommend the Rizzoli BUR); a comedy of your choice, to be read in its entirety, including: Niccolò Machiavelli, La mandragola, Oscar Mondadori; Carlo Goldoni, La bottega del caffè, Marsilio; Giacomo Leopardi: ten chants of your choice (it is advisable to use: Antologia leopardiana: la poesia, edited by P. V. Mengaldo, Carocci); Alessandro Manzoni, I promessi sposi, Rizzoli BUR (to be read in its entirety); Giovanni Verga, I Malavoglia, Oscar Mondadori (to be read in full).

The texts of Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio can be read in any edition, including scholastic ones, as long as they are well commented. The other books can be studied in the suggested editions or in the other editions in the library. We strongly advise against using websites where poems are often misrepresented and accompanied by comments full of errors.

For the exams it is compulsory to present oneself bringing with you at least the poetic texts of Dante, Petrarch and Leopardi, in the form of a book or other multimedia support. This is used for the analysis of the poetic text which is an integral and necessary part of the examination itself.

Please note that, pursuant to art. 171 of the law of 22 April 1941, n. 633 and subsequent provisions, it is a criminal offense to photocopy books on the market for more than 15% of the volume or magazine issue.

For more information on the restrictions and penalties for the illicit use of photocopies, you can consult the Guidelines on the management of copyright in universities (by the Italian Association for the Rights of Reproduction of intellectual works - AIDRO).

The reference texts can be consulted in the Library.

The exam takes place through oral questioning; an oral or written test will be held before the exam.

The knowledge and skills needed to pass the Italian Literature exam are indicated below.

- Knowledge of the basic lines of Italian literary history.

- More in-depth knowledge of the literary production of Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Goldoni, Leopardi, Manzoni, Verga.

- Adequate knowledge of the works on the program.

- Ability to place a literary text in time and space.

- Ability to contextualize a work with reference to the main currents of thought of the time.

The questions will always be aimed at verifying the full understanding of the texts studied, the knowledge of critical studies, the ability to place the texts in time and space, the critical awareness of the student in recognizing the specifically literary, narratological, metric and rhetorical aspects of texts.

Sample questions:

- Dante's poetics.

- The role of the Divina Commedia in Italian literary history;

- Dante and the great themes of politics, with textual references to the three songs studied.

- Reading, paraphrasing and commenting on a Dante piece.

- Canzoniere and the foundation of the lyrical-introspective tradition.

- Petrarch's intellectual profile.

- Reading, paraphrasing and commenting on a Petrarchian sonnet.

- Decameron and the foundation of Italian fiction.

-Boccaccio: the society and culture of his time.

- Comment on one or more of Boccaccio's novellas studied.

- The great themes of Decameron.

- La mandragola.and the foundation of Italian comedy.

- La mandragola and the great themes of Machiavellian reflection.

- Characters and themes from La mandragola.

- Goldoni, La bottega del caffè and the "reform" of comedy.

- Goldoni and the "comedy of characters".

- Characters and themes from La bottega del caffè.

- Leopardi and the form of the "song".

- Leopardi and the foundation of modern poetry.

- The great themes of Leopardi's poetry.

- Reading, paraphrasing and commenting on a Leopardian poem.

- Leopardi's "pensiero poetante".

- I promessi sposi and the foundation of the Italian romance tradition.

- Comment on an episode of I promessi sposi.

- Themes, characters, historical context of I promessi sposi.

- Verga's narrative and Verismo.

- Themes, characters, historical context of I Malavoglia.

- Comment on an episode of I Malavoglia.