Corso di laurea magistrale in
Culture moderne comparate

This year’s course aims at the consolidation of  the basic knowledge of French Literature perusing a number of literary texts and paying particular attention to the textual strategies fostering their success and diffusion. The course also aims to strengthen the students' skills connected with the critical analysis of the literary texts and to provide the required methods and tools for their interpretation.

The students are expected to be able to sketch the development of French literature in relation to the main cultural and historical developments of the European cultural space. They will show to have understood the specific themes and motifs characterizing modern and contemporary French literature with the help of appropriate methods and critical tools. Finally, the students are expected to acquire basic notions and techniques of analysis of the literary text.

The lessons will mainly be held in traditional form with the support of slides and videos fostering the participation of the students.

The examination will take place in oral form. The students are required to show the capacity of critically discussing the literary texts with the help of an adequate terminology and methodology.

During the course the students will be required to prepare an oral presentation on a particular subject.

Paratexts and thresholds of text interpretation

On the basis of a corpus of texts taken from French literature since the XVII to the XX century, the course aims at exploring the function of titles, prefaces, dedications, pen names, private and public epitexts and further paratextual elements in relation to the literary text. For this aim, a general picture of historical-critical reference will be provided which intends to contextualize the authors and their works, while at the same time  a theoretical-methodological frame will be introduced showing the connection among the different forms of peritexts - which systematically differ in correspondence with the different ages, cultures, genders, authors and works - and their success in the society.

The materials and the texts taken from French Literature will be announced at the beginning of the course and will be indicated in due time on the web page.

For the history of the French Literature: Storia europea della letteratura francese, a cura di L. Sozzi, Torino, Einaudi, 2013.

The following critical texts will be used:

Gerard Genette, Seuils, Paris, du Seuil, 1987

Antoine Compagnon, La Seconde Main, Paris, du Seuil, 1979

Philippe Lejeune, Le pacte autobiographique,Paris, du Seuil, 1975

M. Laugaa, La pensée du pseudonyme, Paris, PUF, 1986

M. Gleizes, Manifestes, préfaces, « Littérature », 39, oct. 1980

R. Barthes, Le grain de la voix, Paris, du Seuil, 1999

The course is open to all students.

For further information, students are invited to consult my web page.

Non-attending students are invited to contact me.

I am responsible for the Erasmus exchange program with the Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis.