Comparative Literature
A.Y. 2020/2021
Learning objectives
The course aims at introducing students to the comparative study of literature. Courses will concern European and non-European literatures, mainly in European languages, and they will focus on modern and contemporary times. Students will be involved in reading literary texts, both in their original languages and in translation, and in reflecting on the theories and methods of literary criticism.
Expected learning outcomes
Students will achieve an in-depth knowledge of a selection of authors and works from several literatures. By approaching a plurality of historical and cultural horizons in multiple languages, they will improve their hermeneutical skills and their ability to dialog with different cultures. Finally, they will become more aware of the theoretical and methodological issues related to the study of literature.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Synchronous classes will be held on Microsoft Teams. Lectures will be recorded and made available through the Ariel website of the course. Microsoft Teams will also be used for groups' meetings with the teacher.
Course syllabus
The topic of the course is the tragic in contemporary literature: in parts A and B of the course we will first read short stories from Alice Munro's Runaway and we will observe what forms the tragic takes in them; then, we will try to gain a deeper insight into the concept of the tragic by reading Sophocles' Antigone and William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and by discussing the reflections of essaysts and philosophers such as Aristotle, Friedrich Nietzsche, George Steiner, Martha Nussbaum, and Terry Eagleton. Finally, in part C, we will go into greater depth by studying works such as Emmanuel Carrère's L'Adversaire, Roberto Bolaño's Putas asesinas and other short stories collections, Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace, and Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones (but the reading list for this final part of the course will be partly agreed upon with students).
Prerequisites for admission
No prerequisites for admission.
Teaching methods
The course will comprise several forms of teaching and of study:
· lectures by the teacher, especially for parts A and B;
· individual study of texts and other learning resources;
· group work on the works comprised in the course syllabus: the teacher will organize this part of the work for students who will attend classes. Within their groups, students will read and discuss the works in the syllabus. Students who do not attend classes will replace this with individual study;
· group work with the teacher: groups will discuss their work with the teacher, who will give his feedback, in a series of dedicated meetings.
· lectures by the teacher, especially for parts A and B;
· individual study of texts and other learning resources;
· group work on the works comprised in the course syllabus: the teacher will organize this part of the work for students who will attend classes. Within their groups, students will read and discuss the works in the syllabus. Students who do not attend classes will replace this with individual study;
· group work with the teacher: groups will discuss their work with the teacher, who will give his feedback, in a series of dedicated meetings.
Teaching Resources
Students who are to acquire 6 credits (parts A and B of the course) will study the following works:
· Alice Munro, Runaway, Vintage, 2006 (all the stories but "Powers").
· Sophocles, Antigone, edited by Mark Griffith, Cambridge UP, 1999.
· William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, edited by Jill L. Levenson, Oxford UP, 2000. Students will also have to watch the performance directed by Dominic Dramgoole at the Shakespeare's Globe (to be bought and downloaded from the theatre's website, at).
· One of the three following works (student's choice):
o Aristotle, Poetics. Students can choose between the editions by A. Kenny (Oxford UP, 2013) and M. Heath (Penguin Classics, 1996)
o Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy, edited by M. Tanner, Penguin, 1993.
o Terry Eagleton, Sweet Violence. The Idea of the Tragic, Blackwell, 2003.
Students who are to acquire 9 credits will study the works above (for parts A and B) and one work from the following list (if they attend classes and choose to participate in the group work, the work for part C will be agreed upon with the teacher):
a) Roberto Bolaño, Putas asesinas (only these stories: El Ojo Silva, Últimos atardeceres en la tierra, Días de 1978, and Vagabundo en Francia y Bélgica), Anagrama, 2001; El policía de las ratas, from El gaucho insufrible, Anagrama, 2003; and Sensini, from Llamadas telefónicas, New Directions, 1997.
b) Emmanuel Carrère, L'Adversaire, POL, 2000;
c) J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace, Vintage, 1999;
d) Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men, Alfred Knopf, 2005;
e) Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones, Bloomsbury, 2011.
· Alice Munro, Runaway, Vintage, 2006 (all the stories but "Powers").
· Sophocles, Antigone, edited by Mark Griffith, Cambridge UP, 1999.
· William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, edited by Jill L. Levenson, Oxford UP, 2000. Students will also have to watch the performance directed by Dominic Dramgoole at the Shakespeare's Globe (to be bought and downloaded from the theatre's website, at
· One of the three following works (student's choice):
o Aristotle, Poetics. Students can choose between the editions by A. Kenny (Oxford UP, 2013) and M. Heath (Penguin Classics, 1996)
o Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy, edited by M. Tanner, Penguin, 1993.
o Terry Eagleton, Sweet Violence. The Idea of the Tragic, Blackwell, 2003.
Students who are to acquire 9 credits will study the works above (for parts A and B) and one work from the following list (if they attend classes and choose to participate in the group work, the work for part C will be agreed upon with the teacher):
a) Roberto Bolaño, Putas asesinas (only these stories: El Ojo Silva, Últimos atardeceres en la tierra, Días de 1978, and Vagabundo en Francia y Bélgica), Anagrama, 2001; El policía de las ratas, from El gaucho insufrible, Anagrama, 2003; and Sensini, from Llamadas telefónicas, New Directions, 1997.
b) Emmanuel Carrère, L'Adversaire, POL, 2000;
c) J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace, Vintage, 1999;
d) Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men, Alfred Knopf, 2005;
e) Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones, Bloomsbury, 2011.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The final exam will consist of an oral exam about the works and the topics discussed during the course. Students will be asked to present the works comprised in the course syllabus and to critically discuss about the topics that will have been dealt with through them. The accuracy of historical and literary references will also contribute to the final score. For foreign students, the exam will be in English or Italian (student's choice).
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/14 - LITERARY CRITICISM AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/14 - LITERARY CRITICISM AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/14 - LITERARY CRITICISM AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
Fridays, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm, by appointment.
Dipartimento di Studi letterari, filologici e linguistici, Modern studies section, second floor