Genres and Literary System in Contemporary Italy
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course aims to offer students an articulated portrait of the contemporary literary system and its founding elements: authors and texts, genres and literary institutions, criticism and publishing mediation. The workshop has a strong interdisciplinary nature, by integrating some fundamental sociological, critical-literary and philosophical reflections of the 19th and 20th centuries (which will be studied in the institutional part). The objectives will be reached thanks to by two monographic modules, in which some important works of Italian literature from the Unification of the Country to the present days will be read and interpreted in depth. The workshop also aims to provide the necessary tools for an in-depth formal and thematic investigation of literary works, their overall interpretation, capacity of identifying the texts' relationships with the literary genres to which they belong, with the cultural and socio-historical context, and with the worldviews below them.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the student will assimilate some of the main critical reflections on modern and contemporary literary institutions and will learn specific tools for analysing narrative and poetic works.
The student should be able to read, with critical and methodological awareness, the texts proposed during the course, mastering the tools of literary interpretation and applying them appropriately and autonomously. Also, the student should be able to distinguish the roles and relationships that characterize the literary system, understanding their contribution in shaping the physiognomy of texts.
The student should be able to read, with critical and methodological awareness, the texts proposed during the course, mastering the tools of literary interpretation and applying them appropriately and autonomously. Also, the student should be able to distinguish the roles and relationships that characterize the literary system, understanding their contribution in shaping the physiognomy of texts.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
"Crisis and Renewal in the Novel and Poetry on the Threshold of the Economic Miracle"
In its monographic part (Teaching Unit 1 and 3), the course will focus on texts published between the late 1950s and the mid-1960s.
The Unit 1, "Telling the Precariousness: Social Dynamics and Mimesis of the Speech in the Boom Narrative", will focus first be on a now-classic text, "Il calzolaio di Vigevano" by Lucio Mastronardi (published in a journal in 1959, and as a book in 1962), which illustrates how individuals' lives are overwhelmed by the frantic dynamics of modernization processes and dominated by the obsession with wealth and success, no matter the cost. The strength of this novel also lies in the choice to repre-sent the clash between the individual and society from an entirely subjective perspective, highlighting the relentless harshness of economic laws. Subsequently, the module will focus on a little-known small masterpiece, "Tirar mattina" (1963) by Umberto Simonetta, the story of a thirty-year-old on the borderline between precariousness and petty crime, who is supposed to be moving towards social integration. Both of these books depict lives caught between work, and marginality, with a language steeped in dialect, mimicking spoken discourse, in a mix that is both realistic and experimental.
The Unit 3, "Chronicle of a Crisis: An Italian Poet between the Post-war and the Boom, will fo-cus on a poetry book, Gli strumenti umani by Vittorio Sereni, unanimously considered one of the cornerstones of Italian verse writing in the second half of the twentieth century. In this work, Sereni achieved an important goal: thoroughly renewing his poetic language, bringing it up to date with the new times that the country was experiencing in the post-war period.
The Unit 2, Literary system and historical-social context, devoted to the Theory of Literature, will show some fundamental issues of the relationships between Literature and historical context, from a multidisciplinary point of view, studying some crucial texts of Sociology, Literary Criticism and Phi-losophy between 19th and 20th Centuries.
In its monographic part (Teaching Unit 1 and 3), the course will focus on texts published between the late 1950s and the mid-1960s.
The Unit 1, "Telling the Precariousness: Social Dynamics and Mimesis of the Speech in the Boom Narrative", will focus first be on a now-classic text, "Il calzolaio di Vigevano" by Lucio Mastronardi (published in a journal in 1959, and as a book in 1962), which illustrates how individuals' lives are overwhelmed by the frantic dynamics of modernization processes and dominated by the obsession with wealth and success, no matter the cost. The strength of this novel also lies in the choice to repre-sent the clash between the individual and society from an entirely subjective perspective, highlighting the relentless harshness of economic laws. Subsequently, the module will focus on a little-known small masterpiece, "Tirar mattina" (1963) by Umberto Simonetta, the story of a thirty-year-old on the borderline between precariousness and petty crime, who is supposed to be moving towards social integration. Both of these books depict lives caught between work, and marginality, with a language steeped in dialect, mimicking spoken discourse, in a mix that is both realistic and experimental.
The Unit 3, "Chronicle of a Crisis: An Italian Poet between the Post-war and the Boom, will fo-cus on a poetry book, Gli strumenti umani by Vittorio Sereni, unanimously considered one of the cornerstones of Italian verse writing in the second half of the twentieth century. In this work, Sereni achieved an important goal: thoroughly renewing his poetic language, bringing it up to date with the new times that the country was experiencing in the post-war period.
The Unit 2, Literary system and historical-social context, devoted to the Theory of Literature, will show some fundamental issues of the relationships between Literature and historical context, from a multidisciplinary point of view, studying some crucial texts of Sociology, Literary Criticism and Phi-losophy between 19th and 20th Centuries.
Prerequisites for admission
Basic knowledge of Italian literary history from the Unification of Italy to the end of the twentieth century. Basic knowledge of narratology and rhetoric.
Teaching methods
Lectures will be both frontal and dialogic. The Friday lectures (at 4:30 PM) will be held remotely on Teams, allowing professors from other universities to participate and discuss the topics covered in the course.
Teaching Resources
Syllabus Unit 1 (20 hours, 3 CFU):
Telling the Precariousness: Social Dynamics and Mimesis of the Speech in the Boom Narrative
Bibliography and other didactic materials Unità 3 (attending students):
Texts:
L. Mastronardi, Il calzolaio di Vigevano, Torino, Einaudi, in Id., Il maestro di Vigevano, ivi, pp. 207-339;
U. Simonetta, Tirar mattina, Milano, Baldini + Castoldi.
Critical Bibliography:
G. Turchetta, «Il calzolaio di Vigevano» di Lucio Mastronardi, in Letteratura italiana. Il secondo Novecento, Le opere 1938-1961, a cura di Alberto Asor Rosa, Einaudi / La Biblioteca di Repubblica - L'Espresso, 2007, pp. 609-638; poi col titolo «La musica è sempre quella: danè fanno danè». Il mondo piccolo globale del «Calzolaio di Vigevano», in Quarant'anni dopo. L'opera di Lucio Mastronardi (1930-1979), a cura di Ludovica del Castillo, Claudio Panella, Maria Vittoria Tirinato, Tiziano Toracca, pp. 263-293, https://www.ospiteingrato.unisi.it/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/8.14.-TURCHETTA-La-musica-%c3%a8-sempre-quella.pdf;
Luca Daino, «Non ci ho niente da spartire con nessuno». Saggio su «Tirar mattina» di Umberto Simonetta, in «Allegoria», n. 80, luglio - dicembre 2019, pp. 125-147, https://www.allegoriaonline.it/PDF/1222.pdf.
Bibliography and other didactic materials Unità 3 (non attending students):
Texts:
L. Mastronardi, Il calzolaio di Vigevano, Torino, Einaudi, in Id., Il maestro di Vigevano, ivi, pp. 207-339;
U. Simonetta, Tirar mattina, Milano, Baldini + Castoldi.
Critical Bibliography:
G. Turchetta, «Il calzolaio di Vigevano» di Lucio Mastronardi, in Letteratura italiana. Il secondo Novecento, Le opere 1938-1961, a cura di Alberto Asor Rosa, Einaudi / La Biblioteca di Repubblica - L'Espresso, 2007, pp. 609-638; poi col titolo «La musica è sempre quella: danè fanno danè». Il mondo piccolo globale del «Calzolaio di Vigevano», in Quarant'anni dopo. L'opera di Lucio Mastronardi (1930-1979), a cura di Ludovica del Castillo, Claudio Panella, Maria Vittoria Tirinato, Tiziano Toracca, pp. 263-293, https://www.ospiteingrato.unisi.it/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/8.14.-TURCHETTA-La-musica-%c3%a8-sempre-quella.pdf;
M. A. Grignani, Lingua e dialetto ne «Il calzolaio di Vigevano», in AA.VV., Per Mastronardi, Atti del Convegno di studi su Lucio Mastronardi, Vigevano, 6-7 giugno 1981, a cura di M. A. Grignani, Firenze, La Nuova Italia, pp. 45-63;
Luca Daino, «Non ci ho niente da spartire con nessuno». Saggio su «Tirar mattina» di Umberto Simonetta, in «Allegoria», n. 80, luglio - dicembre 2019, pp. 125-147, https://www.allegoriaonline.it/PDF/1222.pdf.M;
Arno Scholz, La mimesi del parlato e varietà substandard nei romanzi degli anni Sessanta di Umberto Simonetta, in Id., Subcultura e lingua giovanile in Italia. Hip-hop e dintorni, Roma, Aracne, 2004, pp. 111-123.
Syllabus Unit 2: (20 ore, 3 CFU)
Literary system and historical-social context
Bibliography and other didactic materials Unit 2 (attending students):
Texts: Gianni Turchetta, Critica, letteratura e società, Roma, Carocci.
Attending students will prepare for the exam six of the twelve essays of the book.
Bibliography and other didactic materials Unità 2 (non attending atudents):
Texts: Gianni Turchetta, Critica, letteratura e società, Roma, Carocci.
Non attending students will prepare for the exam ten of the twelve essays of the book.
Syllabus Unit 3 (20 hours, 3 CFU):
Chronicle of a Crisis: An Italian Poet between the Post-War and the Economic Miracle
Text:
Vittorio Sereni, Gli strumenti umani, Einaudi, Torino, 1965 (and subsequent editions)
Critical Bibliography:
Pier Vincenzo Mengaldo, Per Vittorio Sereni, Quodlibet, Macerata, 2002, pp. 13-59 e pp. 99-132.
Bibliography and other didactic materials Unit 1 (non attending students):
Texts:
Vittorio Sereni, Gli strumenti umani, Einaudi, Torino, 1965 (and subsequent editions)
Critical Bibliography:
Pier Vincenzo Mengaldo, Per Vittorio Sereni, Quodlibet, Macerata, 2002, pp. 3-62 e pp. 109-148.
Chiara Fenoglio, Prefazione a Vittorio Sereni, Gli strumenti umani, il Saggiatore, Milano, 2018, pp. 9-48.
Telling the Precariousness: Social Dynamics and Mimesis of the Speech in the Boom Narrative
Bibliography and other didactic materials Unità 3 (attending students):
Texts:
L. Mastronardi, Il calzolaio di Vigevano, Torino, Einaudi, in Id., Il maestro di Vigevano, ivi, pp. 207-339;
U. Simonetta, Tirar mattina, Milano, Baldini + Castoldi.
Critical Bibliography:
G. Turchetta, «Il calzolaio di Vigevano» di Lucio Mastronardi, in Letteratura italiana. Il secondo Novecento, Le opere 1938-1961, a cura di Alberto Asor Rosa, Einaudi / La Biblioteca di Repubblica - L'Espresso, 2007, pp. 609-638; poi col titolo «La musica è sempre quella: danè fanno danè». Il mondo piccolo globale del «Calzolaio di Vigevano», in Quarant'anni dopo. L'opera di Lucio Mastronardi (1930-1979), a cura di Ludovica del Castillo, Claudio Panella, Maria Vittoria Tirinato, Tiziano Toracca, pp. 263-293, https://www.ospiteingrato.unisi.it/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/8.14.-TURCHETTA-La-musica-%c3%a8-sempre-quella.pdf;
Luca Daino, «Non ci ho niente da spartire con nessuno». Saggio su «Tirar mattina» di Umberto Simonetta, in «Allegoria», n. 80, luglio - dicembre 2019, pp. 125-147, https://www.allegoriaonline.it/PDF/1222.pdf.
Bibliography and other didactic materials Unità 3 (non attending students):
Texts:
L. Mastronardi, Il calzolaio di Vigevano, Torino, Einaudi, in Id., Il maestro di Vigevano, ivi, pp. 207-339;
U. Simonetta, Tirar mattina, Milano, Baldini + Castoldi.
Critical Bibliography:
G. Turchetta, «Il calzolaio di Vigevano» di Lucio Mastronardi, in Letteratura italiana. Il secondo Novecento, Le opere 1938-1961, a cura di Alberto Asor Rosa, Einaudi / La Biblioteca di Repubblica - L'Espresso, 2007, pp. 609-638; poi col titolo «La musica è sempre quella: danè fanno danè». Il mondo piccolo globale del «Calzolaio di Vigevano», in Quarant'anni dopo. L'opera di Lucio Mastronardi (1930-1979), a cura di Ludovica del Castillo, Claudio Panella, Maria Vittoria Tirinato, Tiziano Toracca, pp. 263-293, https://www.ospiteingrato.unisi.it/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/8.14.-TURCHETTA-La-musica-%c3%a8-sempre-quella.pdf;
M. A. Grignani, Lingua e dialetto ne «Il calzolaio di Vigevano», in AA.VV., Per Mastronardi, Atti del Convegno di studi su Lucio Mastronardi, Vigevano, 6-7 giugno 1981, a cura di M. A. Grignani, Firenze, La Nuova Italia, pp. 45-63;
Luca Daino, «Non ci ho niente da spartire con nessuno». Saggio su «Tirar mattina» di Umberto Simonetta, in «Allegoria», n. 80, luglio - dicembre 2019, pp. 125-147, https://www.allegoriaonline.it/PDF/1222.pdf.M;
Arno Scholz, La mimesi del parlato e varietà substandard nei romanzi degli anni Sessanta di Umberto Simonetta, in Id., Subcultura e lingua giovanile in Italia. Hip-hop e dintorni, Roma, Aracne, 2004, pp. 111-123.
Syllabus Unit 2: (20 ore, 3 CFU)
Literary system and historical-social context
Bibliography and other didactic materials Unit 2 (attending students):
Texts: Gianni Turchetta, Critica, letteratura e società, Roma, Carocci.
Attending students will prepare for the exam six of the twelve essays of the book.
Bibliography and other didactic materials Unità 2 (non attending atudents):
Texts: Gianni Turchetta, Critica, letteratura e società, Roma, Carocci.
Non attending students will prepare for the exam ten of the twelve essays of the book.
Syllabus Unit 3 (20 hours, 3 CFU):
Chronicle of a Crisis: An Italian Poet between the Post-War and the Economic Miracle
Text:
Vittorio Sereni, Gli strumenti umani, Einaudi, Torino, 1965 (and subsequent editions)
Critical Bibliography:
Pier Vincenzo Mengaldo, Per Vittorio Sereni, Quodlibet, Macerata, 2002, pp. 13-59 e pp. 99-132.
Bibliography and other didactic materials Unit 1 (non attending students):
Texts:
Vittorio Sereni, Gli strumenti umani, Einaudi, Torino, 1965 (and subsequent editions)
Critical Bibliography:
Pier Vincenzo Mengaldo, Per Vittorio Sereni, Quodlibet, Macerata, 2002, pp. 3-62 e pp. 109-148.
Chiara Fenoglio, Prefazione a Vittorio Sereni, Gli strumenti umani, il Saggiatore, Milano, 2018, pp. 9-48.
Assessment methods and Criteria
he exam consists of an oral interview on the topics of the program, aimed at ascertaining the knowledge of the main topics covered, the acquisition of the basic methodological tools for the interpretation of literary texts and the ability to apply them appropriately and autonomously to the scheduled texts. Attendance at the lessons is strongly recommended for better preparation for the exam.
However, the program already includes integrations for students who are unable to attend. There are no intermediate tests, nor exams with partial programmes: students will have to present all the teaching units for the exam, without exceptions. Students must register through the appropriate links on the University website: only in this case can the exams be regularly registered.
However, the program already includes integrations for students who are unable to attend. There are no intermediate tests, nor exams with partial programmes: students will have to present all the teaching units for the exam, without exceptions. Students must register through the appropriate links on the University website: only in this case can the exams be regularly registered.
L-FIL-LET/11 - CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professors:
Daino Luca, Turchetta Giovanni
Professor(s)