Corso di laurea magistrale in
Culture moderne comparate

As preliminary knowledges and skills for this course, students should have:
1) a very good knowledge of a first foreign language, and a a basic knowledge of a second foreign language; 2) a very good knowledge of Italian literature, and of a foreign literature; 3) at least basic knowledges of the history of literary critics and the literary theory; 4)excellent skill in the practice of textual analysis, implying narratology, rhetoric and stylistic; 5)good critical attitude and disposition to the intertextual approaches and readings.

According to the specific educational goals of this degree course, course of study in Comparative Literature aims to give students a deep knowledge of the humanistic culture in its cultural roots and developments in the present age, with a critical approach. Among the other specific goals, it aims to provide: 1) notion and knowledge on the literary genres and their development through the time; 2) a critical knowledge of the intertextual dialogue between literatures, arts, and human sciences; 3) notions of literary criticism and theory of literature; 3) the ability to develop critical issues in different literary texts and cultural areas.

For the academic year 2022-2023 the course will focus on the works and the biographical profiles of authors conferred with the Nobel prize of literature during the last years who have innovated the forms of the novel by connecting it with history and contemporary social dynamics.

At the end of this module, students should:

1) know the historical context and the main critical and theoretical issues the topic involves; 2) know the primary texts in their context and relationships; 3) according to the theories of a intersemiotic dialogue, be able to create interpretations of literary texts and to generalize these interpretations within historical, formal, rhetorical, cultural or other systems of literary analysis; 4) know the literary and aesthetics theory in its fundamental concepts.

The development of critical thinking skills will be tested by a 8.000 words paper focussed on a specific topic connected with the main theme. Interpretative and stylistic analysis of the texts to be conducted through the translation and analysis of 5 pages in the original language.

Inserire qui il testo in inglese (massimo 4000 caratteri). Non eliminare l’indicazione “English” tra le parentesi quadre; è necessaria per la creazione dell’etichetta di visualizzazione del testo in inglese. Una volta inseriti i testi eliminare queste indicazioni in modo che non risultino visibili agli studenti.

The achievement of the objectives of the course will be tested through both an academic paper of 8.000 words, and the oral exam involving translations and critical commentary of the original texts.

Seminars, round tables, conferences.

The Point of View of Literature Nobel Prize Authors: A Critical Path. I

The course aims to provide a critical reflection on the writing of authors awarded with the Nobel Prize for literature, focusing on the relationships between innovation and tradition, on literary forms and genres, with particular attention to the genre of poetry, theater and to hybrid forms between fiction and non-fiction. There are two in-depth courses: one on the relationship between history and narration (Coetzee, Mo Yan, Aleksievič, Gurnah), the other on the new forms of representation and expression of the self (Pamuk, Ishiguro, Munro, Modiano).

 

PRIMARY TEXTS

Students have to choose one of the two paths:

1) "From far edges": History and Narration.

- John M. Coetzee, Aspettando i barbari [Waiting for the Barbarians], 1980.

- Svjatlana Aleksievič, La guerra non ha un volto di donna, 1985.

- Mo Yan, Le canzoni dell'aglio [《天堂蒜薹之歌》INGL. The Garlic Ballads], 1988.

- Abdulrazak Gurnah, Sulla riva del mare [By the Sea], 2001.

2) The Expression of the Self in New Narrative Forms. 

- Orhan Pamuk, Il museo dell'innocenza [The Museum of Innocence], 2008.

- Kazuo Ishiguro, Notturni. Cinque storie di musica e crepuscolo [Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall], 2009.

- Alice Munro, Troppa felicità [Too Much Happiness], 2009.

- Patrick Modiano, Nel caffè della gioventù perduta [Dans le café de la jeunesse perdue], 2010.

LITERARY THEORY

Students have to choose one of the following texts:

• F. DEI, James G. Frazer e la cultura del Novecento. Antropologia, psicoanalisi, letteratura, Roma, Carocci, 2021. 

• F. De CRISTOFARO- S. ERCOLINO, Critica sperimentale. Franco Moretti e la letteratura, Roma, Carocci, 2021

• A.M. BABBI-A. COMPARINI, Letteratura e altri saperi, Roma, Carocci, 2021.

• S. BRUGNOLO-S.ZATTI-COLUSSI, La scrittura e il mondo. Teorie letterarie del Novecento, Roma, Carocci, 2016.
• GIOVANNI BOTTIROLI, Che cos'è la teoria della letteratura. Fondamenti e problemi, Torino, Einaudi, 2006,oppure: La ragione flessibile, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2013.
• ANTOINE COMPAGNON, Il demone della teoria. Letteratura e senso comune, Torino, Einaudi, 2000 [or. 1998].
• F. BERTONI, Letteratura. Teorie, metodi, strumenti, Roma, Carocci, 2018.
• J. CULLER, Teoria della letteratura. Una breve introduzione, Milano, Armando, 2000.
• M. FUSILLO, Estetica della letteratura, Bologna, il Mulino, 2009.

CRITICAL TEXTS

In "MATERIALE DIDATTICO".

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