TEXTS AND TOPICS IN ITALIAN LITERATURE
The teaching contributes to the achievement of the learning objectives of the Degree course in Philology, linguistics and literary traditions, in particular along the following lines:
Knowledge and Understanding
On completion of the course, students must:
- possess in-depth knowledge of Dante’s, Cavalcanti’s and other early Italian poets’ literary production;
- be capable of reading and analysing the writer’s texts, recognising their constituent elements and correctly placing them in their time and cultural context.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
On completion of the course students must:
- be able to carry out targeted analyses texts, also taking account of critical interpretations that have appeared over the years;
- be able to carry out bibliographical research in an exhaustive and updated manner, both with telematic and traditional tools, orienting themselves correctly in an archive and succeeding in correctly finding and examining the sources.
Independence of Judgement
On completion of the course students must:
- have developed autonomous abilities in analysis and interpretation of literary texts, as well as in research, collection and discussion of critical studies;
- be able to supply critically grounded but also personal interpretations of the themes and texts studied.
Communications Skills
On completion of the course students must:
-have achieved a good level of expounding and communicating the subjects of study. In particular they must employ precisely and appropriately an expressive register proper to the specific discipline.
Learning Ability
On completion of the course students must:
- have developed the ability to orient themselves autonomously in research and in-depth study in the humanistic field;
- have developed abilities of interaction at a good level in diversified cultural and linguistic contexts, using the knowledge and skills they have learnt.
Dante, Cavalcanti and the issue of love.
The course aims at redefining one of the most crucial turning points of the 13th and 14th century Italian lyric poetry, namely the “love issue”, which has almost exclusively characterized literature since its inception. As the latest critical analyses of Dante show, the poet’s works and his interactions with his friend Guido Cavalcanti constitute both an echo and an advancement with respect to the philosophical and literary theme of love.
Furthermore, the program includes the full reading of Dante’s text “Vita nuova” and of some fundamental lyric poems by Cavalcanti.
- Dante Alighieri, Vita nuova, a cura di S. Carrai, Milano, BUR, 2009 (recommended edition).
- E. Malato, Dante e Guido Cavalcanti. Il dissidio per la “Vita Nuova” e il “disdegno” di Guido, Roma, Salerno, 2004.
- C. Singleton, Saggio sulla “Vita Nuova”, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1968, pp. 109-149.
- Materials supplied by the teacher.
- Traditional lectures;
-Interactive lessons;
-Text reading, analysis and comment;
-Discussion and development of interpretive hypotheses.
The final assessment consists of an oral exam on the entire syllabus. The aim is to assess students’ skills and in particular, an understanding of the issues discussed during the course, an appropriate knowledge of the bibliography in the course programme, a correct command of the specific language as well as critical and methodological abilities will be evaluated. The grading scale goes from 1 to 30 with honours (cum laude): 1-17 fail, 18-21 sufficient, 22-24 fair, 25-27 good, 28-29 very good, 30-30 with honours (cum laude) excellent.
ORGANISATION OF TEACHING:
36 hours of lessons, 6 hours of exercises and revision of themes dealt with.
The exam may be taken individually (for 6 ECTS) or coupled with the Romantic Literature and Drama exam (up to an overall 12 ECTS).
Specific study material for non-attending students will be included in the materials supplied by the teacher (which may be requested by email at the end of the course).