Italian Literature
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with a critical expertise of the main elements of the Italian literary system, from the Origins to the Seventeenth century, following the tradition and development of models, themes, forms.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge: at the end of the course the student must know the fundamental aspects and issues of Italian literature from the Origins to the Seventeenth century, with a proper historic contextualization and specific reference to genres, themes and poetics, authors and works, methods of transmission of texts and their philological problems. Furthermore, the student will have to know the tools (metric elements, rhetoric, style theory and narratology) and the critical methodologies necessary to analyse and interpret the texts.
Competence: the student will then have to demonstrate the ability to understand and analyse literary texts (in their thematic and formal aspects), framing them in their respective contexts. Likewise, the student must demonstrate competence in the comprehension and use of literary essays, ability to identify the bibliography and to make use of the main tools of bibliographic resources, as well as the ability to communicate clearly and correctly, both in oral and written presentation, with appropriate use of scientific terminology.
Competence: the student will then have to demonstrate the ability to understand and analyse literary texts (in their thematic and formal aspects), framing them in their respective contexts. Likewise, the student must demonstrate competence in the comprehension and use of literary essays, ability to identify the bibliography and to make use of the main tools of bibliographic resources, as well as the ability to communicate clearly and correctly, both in oral and written presentation, with appropriate use of scientific terminology.
Lesson period: First 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
A-De
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Part A (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Italian literature: from the beginnings to Renaissance Humanism [Prof. ssa Claudia Berra]
Part B (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Italian literature: from the Renaissance to Baroque [Prof.ssa Claudia Berra]
Part C (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Evil's place: the lower Inferno [Prof.ssa Claudia Berra]
Part D (20 hours, 3 ECTS-credits): Rhetorics and metrics through analysis of texts. Bibliographical guidelines and citations [teacher to appoint]
The course addresses Humanities students whose surname begins with A-De (12 ECTS) and Liberal Studies in Communication students (6/9 ECTS); the latter will prepare either teaching units A and C (6 ECTS - oral exam) or A, B, C (9 ECTS - written and oral exam).
Parts A and B will deal with the following subjects:
- Sicilian School;
- 13th century Tuscan poetry;
- Dolce Stil Novo;
- Dante Alighieri;
- Francesco Petrarca (Canzoniere);
- Giovanni Boccaccio (Decameron);
- Renaissance Humanism;
- literature in the Florence of the Medici: Lorenzo de' Medici; Poliziano (Stanze per la giostra);
- Matteo Maria Boiardo (Orlando innamorato)
- Renaissance Lyrics;
- the genre of treatise in 16th century: Pietro Bembo (Prose della volgar lingua) and Castiglione (Libro del Cortegiano);
- Niccolò Machiavelli (Principe, Mandragola);
- Ludovico Ariosto (Orlando furioso);
- Torquato Tasso (Gerusalemme liberata);
- Giovan Battista Marino (Adone) and Baroque poetry;
- Galileo Galilei.
Part C will focus on Dante Alighieri's Lower Inferno, in relation to Medieval history and culture; particularly significant moments and critical issues will be analyzed.
Part D will provide students with basic knowledge in rhetorical figures and poetic forms also through analysis of texts, along with bibliographical guidelines.
Part B (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Italian literature: from the Renaissance to Baroque [Prof.ssa Claudia Berra]
Part C (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Evil's place: the lower Inferno [Prof.ssa Claudia Berra]
Part D (20 hours, 3 ECTS-credits): Rhetorics and metrics through analysis of texts. Bibliographical guidelines and citations [teacher to appoint]
The course addresses Humanities students whose surname begins with A-De (12 ECTS) and Liberal Studies in Communication students (6/9 ECTS); the latter will prepare either teaching units A and C (6 ECTS - oral exam) or A, B, C (9 ECTS - written and oral exam).
Parts A and B will deal with the following subjects:
- Sicilian School;
- 13th century Tuscan poetry;
- Dolce Stil Novo;
- Dante Alighieri;
- Francesco Petrarca (Canzoniere);
- Giovanni Boccaccio (Decameron);
- Renaissance Humanism;
- literature in the Florence of the Medici: Lorenzo de' Medici; Poliziano (Stanze per la giostra);
- Matteo Maria Boiardo (Orlando innamorato)
- Renaissance Lyrics;
- the genre of treatise in 16th century: Pietro Bembo (Prose della volgar lingua) and Castiglione (Libro del Cortegiano);
- Niccolò Machiavelli (Principe, Mandragola);
- Ludovico Ariosto (Orlando furioso);
- Torquato Tasso (Gerusalemme liberata);
- Giovan Battista Marino (Adone) and Baroque poetry;
- Galileo Galilei.
Part C will focus on Dante Alighieri's Lower Inferno, in relation to Medieval history and culture; particularly significant moments and critical issues will be analyzed.
Part D will provide students with basic knowledge in rhetorical figures and poetic forms also through analysis of texts, along with bibliographical guidelines.
Prerequisites for admission
There are no required prerequisites.
Teaching methods
Attendance at the lessons is not mandatory but strongly recommended, as the participation in initiatives and conferences announced by the teachers or by the site of Dipartimento di Studi letterari filologici e linguistici. Frontal lectures aim primarily at the acquisition of knowledge and the appropriate specialized vocabulary. Parts A and B will be taught on texts included in the booklet. Slide projections will also be used. The lectures of parts A and B will focus on movements, authors, literary works and their cultural context (from the beginnings to Baroque); on the main critical problems of each topic and text (through the reading of critical essays); on tradition and reception of works and texts; on their most interesting formal aspects.
Analysis of the texts will start from paraphrase, paying attention to the most important differences in interpretation, and will consider the prominent cultural and formal elements.
In teaching part C, the integral reading of Machiavelli's "The Prince" will provide to investigate the author's historical, literary and cultural context; and the composition phases, structure, linguistic and stylistic choices, models and purpose of the text.
Through the reading and analysis of Italian poems, part D will focus on metrical and rhetorical aspects, allowing students to learn the basic elements of the discipline through direct contact with the text.
All the slides projected during the lessons will be available on Ariel.
Non-attending students have to obtain the materials indicated in this program and to contact the teacher via email or during reception hours.
Lessons concerning Dante's Comedy will consider the poem in the context of Medieval culturre, and aspects and issues of the work at different levels, with the intention of familiarizing students with the complexity of an ancient text and the methods employed in its interpretation.
Part D aims to provide students with the vocabulary, tools, and methods for analysis in the discipline. Through examples from selected texts, the main meters of the Italian tradition will be outlined, and the notions of metrics will be provided to guide students towards stylistic analysis.
Analysis of the texts will start from paraphrase, paying attention to the most important differences in interpretation, and will consider the prominent cultural and formal elements.
In teaching part C, the integral reading of Machiavelli's "The Prince" will provide to investigate the author's historical, literary and cultural context; and the composition phases, structure, linguistic and stylistic choices, models and purpose of the text.
Through the reading and analysis of Italian poems, part D will focus on metrical and rhetorical aspects, allowing students to learn the basic elements of the discipline through direct contact with the text.
All the slides projected during the lessons will be available on Ariel.
Non-attending students have to obtain the materials indicated in this program and to contact the teacher via email or during reception hours.
Lessons concerning Dante's Comedy will consider the poem in the context of Medieval culturre, and aspects and issues of the work at different levels, with the intention of familiarizing students with the complexity of an ancient text and the methods employed in its interpretation.
Part D aims to provide students with the vocabulary, tools, and methods for analysis in the discipline. Through examples from selected texts, the main meters of the Italian tradition will be outlined, and the notions of metrics will be provided to guide students towards stylistic analysis.
Teaching Resources
Attending students
For parts A and B, students must prepare pp. 1-240 of Antologia della letteratura italiana. Dalla scuola poetica siciliana a Alessandro Manzoni, edited by Gabriele Baldassari and Guglielmo Barucci, Milan, Cortina, 2022 (for part A pp. 1-127) and related topics in literary history on a textbook of their choice (please contact teacher).
For Part C, students must prepare:
- Dante, Inferno, a cura di Bosco Reggio, oppure di Anna Maria Chiavacci Leonardi. with the Introduction;
- G. Inglese, Guida alla Divina Commedia, Carocci (2a edizione)
- lecture notes.
Other readings will be suggested in the course of the lectures.
Part D: Students will prepare the subjects discussed in class, with materials (slideshows) available on MyAriel. They will also study the following books:
- Pietro G. Beltrami, «Gli strumenti della poesia», Bologna, il Mulino, 1996 (or later editions).
- Bice Mortara Garavelli, «Il parlar figurato. Manualetto di figure retoriche», Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2010 (or later editions).
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Part A e B. The same program as attending students (please refer to My Ariel site and conctact teacher if not Italian mother tongue)
Part D: Non-attending students will study the two books indicated for attending students and one book chosen from the list below:
- Guglielmo Gorni, «Metrica e analisi letteraria», Bologna, il Mulino, 1993 or later editions (parte I. Le forme primarie del testo poetico). - Andrea Afribo, «Petrarca e petrarchismo», Roma, Carocci, 2009 (parte I. Petrarca). - Fabio Magro e Arnaldo Soldani, «Il sonetto italiano. Dalle origini a oggi», Roma, Carocci, 2017 (capitolo 1. La forma, il genere; capitolo 2. Le origini; capitolo 3. Petrarca e il Trecento).
For parts A and B, students must prepare pp. 1-240 of Antologia della letteratura italiana. Dalla scuola poetica siciliana a Alessandro Manzoni, edited by Gabriele Baldassari and Guglielmo Barucci, Milan, Cortina, 2022 (for part A pp. 1-127) and related topics in literary history on a textbook of their choice (please contact teacher).
For Part C, students must prepare:
- Dante, Inferno, a cura di Bosco Reggio, oppure di Anna Maria Chiavacci Leonardi. with the Introduction;
- G. Inglese, Guida alla Divina Commedia, Carocci (2a edizione)
- lecture notes.
Other readings will be suggested in the course of the lectures.
Part D: Students will prepare the subjects discussed in class, with materials (slideshows) available on MyAriel. They will also study the following books:
- Pietro G. Beltrami, «Gli strumenti della poesia», Bologna, il Mulino, 1996 (or later editions).
- Bice Mortara Garavelli, «Il parlar figurato. Manualetto di figure retoriche», Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2010 (or later editions).
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Part A e B. The same program as attending students (please refer to My Ariel site and conctact teacher if not Italian mother tongue)
Part D: Non-attending students will study the two books indicated for attending students and one book chosen from the list below:
- Guglielmo Gorni, «Metrica e analisi letteraria», Bologna, il Mulino, 1993 or later editions (parte I. Le forme primarie del testo poetico). - Andrea Afribo, «Petrarca e petrarchismo», Roma, Carocci, 2009 (parte I. Petrarca). - Fabio Magro e Arnaldo Soldani, «Il sonetto italiano. Dalle origini a oggi», Roma, Carocci, 2017 (capitolo 1. La forma, il genere; capitolo 2. Le origini; capitolo 3. Petrarca e il Trecento).
Assessment methods and Criteria
Assessment criteria: the exam for 12 or 9 cfu consists of a preliminary written test on parts A and B and an oral test on parts C and on part D (only C for a 9 ECTS exam). The 6 ECTS exam consists of an oral test on teaching parts A and C.
The written test will be held in December 2024 (allowing to attend the oral exam only from the January appeal), February (allowing to attend the oral exam only from the June appeal), May and September 2025; passing the written test is a prerequisite for access to the oral exam. Written tests will be graded sufficient, discreet, good, excellent and will be part of the final overall grade. The passing of the written test is valid for one year. Grades of the written test will be published on Ariel in the specifically dedicated section.
The written test has to be completed within 90 minutes and consists of three open-ended questions: a question focusing on one of the works or authors or schools on the syllabus, a question requiring one to comment on a text from the anthology by bringing it back to aspects and issues of literary history, and a question consisting of paraphrasing one text and answering some comprehension questions. Students who had attended the preparatory course and have passed its final exam will NOT take the third question.
The criteria used to assess students' performance are relevance, completeness and correctness; the ability to elaborate an organic and coherent response, to adopt the proper formal register and to employ the appropriate specialised lexicon, and, for the third question, the ability to adequately render a text showing a satisfactory knowledge of the literary language will be considered.
The test on parts C and D consists of an interview on fundamental topics of the work dealt with in part C and on poetic forms, meters and rhetorical figures for part D. The student will have to demonstrate a full ability to paraphrase the text. The criteria used to assess students' performance are: ability to critically organize information from lectures and bibliography; competence to comprehensively and effectively expose problems and questions using the appropriate technical language.
The final grade will be expressed in the 30 grade point system (minimum passing grade 18), and it will comprehend the grade of the written test.
Information on the programme and on the exam will be provided during the first lecture of the course; a presentation will be available on Ariel where students will find specimen papers of previous written tests.
Non-attending students, international students and Erasmus students are invited to contact the professors in office hours for information on the exam.
Examination methods for students with disabilities or SLD must be defined with the teachers in agreement with the University Disability and SLD Services
The written test will be held in December 2024 (allowing to attend the oral exam only from the January appeal), February (allowing to attend the oral exam only from the June appeal), May and September 2025; passing the written test is a prerequisite for access to the oral exam. Written tests will be graded sufficient, discreet, good, excellent and will be part of the final overall grade. The passing of the written test is valid for one year. Grades of the written test will be published on Ariel in the specifically dedicated section.
The written test has to be completed within 90 minutes and consists of three open-ended questions: a question focusing on one of the works or authors or schools on the syllabus, a question requiring one to comment on a text from the anthology by bringing it back to aspects and issues of literary history, and a question consisting of paraphrasing one text and answering some comprehension questions. Students who had attended the preparatory course and have passed its final exam will NOT take the third question.
The criteria used to assess students' performance are relevance, completeness and correctness; the ability to elaborate an organic and coherent response, to adopt the proper formal register and to employ the appropriate specialised lexicon, and, for the third question, the ability to adequately render a text showing a satisfactory knowledge of the literary language will be considered.
The test on parts C and D consists of an interview on fundamental topics of the work dealt with in part C and on poetic forms, meters and rhetorical figures for part D. The student will have to demonstrate a full ability to paraphrase the text. The criteria used to assess students' performance are: ability to critically organize information from lectures and bibliography; competence to comprehensively and effectively expose problems and questions using the appropriate technical language.
The final grade will be expressed in the 30 grade point system (minimum passing grade 18), and it will comprehend the grade of the written test.
Information on the programme and on the exam will be provided during the first lecture of the course; a presentation will be available on Ariel where students will find specimen papers of previous written tests.
Non-attending students, international students and Erasmus students are invited to contact the professors in office hours for information on the exam.
Examination methods for students with disabilities or SLD must be defined with the teachers in agreement with the University Disability and SLD Services
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Berra Claudia
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Berra Claudia
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Berra Claudia
Unita' didattica D
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Comelli Michele Francesco Maria
Di-N
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Course of 80 hours, 12 ECTS:
Part A (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Italian literature of the beginnings [Stefania Baragetti]
Part B (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Italian literature from Renaissance Humanism to Baroque [Stefania Baragetti]
Part C (20 hours, 3 ECTS): The theatre of Niccolò Machiavelli: "Mandragola" [Stefania Baragetti]
Part D (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Elements of prosody, metre and rhetoric [Giada Guassardo]
The course addresses Humanities students whose surname begins with Di-N (12 ECTS - written and oral exam - parts A, B, C, D) and Liberal Studies in Communication students (6/9 ECTS); the latter will prepare either teaching parts A and C (6 ECTS - oral exam) or A, B, C (9 ECTS - written and oral exam). Single Course: 9 ECTS (parts A, B, C). Students who have already taken an exam of Italian Literature must contact the teacher.
The course is divided into four parts. Parts A (from Sicilian School to Boccaccio) and B (from Renaissance Humanism to Baroque) will deal with the following subjects: Sicilian School and 13th century Tuscan poetry; Dolce Stil Novo; Dante Alighieri (with particular regard to "Rime", "Vita nova"); Francesco Petrarca (with particular regard to "Canzoniere"); Boccaccio ("Decameron"); Renaissance Humanism; the Florence of Lorenzo de' Medici, Poliziano ("Stanze per la giostra"), Luigi Pulci ("Morgante"); Matteo Maria Boiardo ("Inamoramento de Orlando"); Petrarchism; the genre of treatise in 16th century (Pietro Bembo, Baldassarre Castiglione, Francesco Guicciardini, Niccolò Machiavelli); Ludovico Ariosto (with particular regard to "Orlando furioso"); Torquato Tasso (with particular regard to "Gerusalemme liberata"); the Baroque poetry (Giovan Battista Marino), Galileo Galilei and the Scientific Revolution ("Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo", "Il Saggiatore").
Part C will focus on the reading and commentary of Niccolò Machiavelli's "Mandragola".
Part D will provide students with basic knowledge in rhetorical figures and poetic forms through analysis of texts, along with bibliographical guidelines.
Part A (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Italian literature of the beginnings [Stefania Baragetti]
Part B (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Italian literature from Renaissance Humanism to Baroque [Stefania Baragetti]
Part C (20 hours, 3 ECTS): The theatre of Niccolò Machiavelli: "Mandragola" [Stefania Baragetti]
Part D (20 hours, 3 ECTS): Elements of prosody, metre and rhetoric [Giada Guassardo]
The course addresses Humanities students whose surname begins with Di-N (12 ECTS - written and oral exam - parts A, B, C, D) and Liberal Studies in Communication students (6/9 ECTS); the latter will prepare either teaching parts A and C (6 ECTS - oral exam) or A, B, C (9 ECTS - written and oral exam). Single Course: 9 ECTS (parts A, B, C). Students who have already taken an exam of Italian Literature must contact the teacher.
The course is divided into four parts. Parts A (from Sicilian School to Boccaccio) and B (from Renaissance Humanism to Baroque) will deal with the following subjects: Sicilian School and 13th century Tuscan poetry; Dolce Stil Novo; Dante Alighieri (with particular regard to "Rime", "Vita nova"); Francesco Petrarca (with particular regard to "Canzoniere"); Boccaccio ("Decameron"); Renaissance Humanism; the Florence of Lorenzo de' Medici, Poliziano ("Stanze per la giostra"), Luigi Pulci ("Morgante"); Matteo Maria Boiardo ("Inamoramento de Orlando"); Petrarchism; the genre of treatise in 16th century (Pietro Bembo, Baldassarre Castiglione, Francesco Guicciardini, Niccolò Machiavelli); Ludovico Ariosto (with particular regard to "Orlando furioso"); Torquato Tasso (with particular regard to "Gerusalemme liberata"); the Baroque poetry (Giovan Battista Marino), Galileo Galilei and the Scientific Revolution ("Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo", "Il Saggiatore").
Part C will focus on the reading and commentary of Niccolò Machiavelli's "Mandragola".
Part D will provide students with basic knowledge in rhetorical figures and poetic forms through analysis of texts, along with bibliographical guidelines.
Prerequisites for admission
There are no required prerequisites.
Teaching methods
Attendance to classes is strongly recommended although not compulsory. Frontal lectures aim primarily at the acquisition of knowledge and the appropriate specialized vocabulary.
Parts A and B will be taught on texts included in the booklet. Slide projections will also be used. The lectures of parts A and B will focus on movements, authors, literary works and their cultural context (from the beginnings to Baroque); on the main critical problems of each topic and text (through the reading of critical essays); on tradition and reception of works and texts; on their most interesting formal aspects.
Analysis of the texts will start from paraphrase, paying attention to the most important differences in interpretation, and will consider the prominent cultural and formal elements.
In teaching part C, the integral reading of Machiavelli's "Mandragola" will provide to investigate the author's historical, literary and cultural context; and the composition phases, structure, linguistic and stylistic choices, models and purpose of the text.
Through the reading and analysis of Italian poems, part D will focus on metrical and rhetorical aspects, allowing students to learn the basic elements of the discipline through direct contact with the text.
All the slides projected during the lessons will be available on the MyAriel website.
Non-attending students have to obtain the materials indicated in this program and to contact the teacher via email or during reception hours.
Parts A and B will be taught on texts included in the booklet. Slide projections will also be used. The lectures of parts A and B will focus on movements, authors, literary works and their cultural context (from the beginnings to Baroque); on the main critical problems of each topic and text (through the reading of critical essays); on tradition and reception of works and texts; on their most interesting formal aspects.
Analysis of the texts will start from paraphrase, paying attention to the most important differences in interpretation, and will consider the prominent cultural and formal elements.
In teaching part C, the integral reading of Machiavelli's "Mandragola" will provide to investigate the author's historical, literary and cultural context; and the composition phases, structure, linguistic and stylistic choices, models and purpose of the text.
Through the reading and analysis of Italian poems, part D will focus on metrical and rhetorical aspects, allowing students to learn the basic elements of the discipline through direct contact with the text.
All the slides projected during the lessons will be available on the MyAriel website.
Non-attending students have to obtain the materials indicated in this program and to contact the teacher via email or during reception hours.
Teaching Resources
Attending students
Parts A and B
Students must prepare topics and texts using a handbooks of their own choice and this collection of texts: "Antologia della letteratura italiana. Dalla Scuola poetica siciliana a Alessandro Manzoni", ed. by Gabriele Baldassari and Guglielmo Barucci, Milano, Cortina, 2022). To consolidate the historical and literary framework and the knowledge of the authors and works analyzed, the students are free to choose the handbook of Italian literature. Some handbooks are suggested here below:
- Giancarlo Alfano, Paola Italia, Emilio Russo, Franco Tomasi, "Letteratura italiana. Manuale per studi universitari", 2 voll., Mondadori Università;
- "Letteratura italiana", ed. by Andrea Battistini, 2 voll., il Mulino;
- Hermann Grosser, "Il canone letterario", Principato (3 voll., including "Il secondo Cinquecento. Seicento. Settecento");
- Claudio Marazzini, Simone Fornara, "Dove 'l sì suona", Loescher (3 voll.: "Dalle origini ai siculo-toscani"; 1. "Dallo stilnovo a Tasso"; 2. "Dal Barocco a Manzoni");
- Corrado Bologna, "Rosa fresca aulentissima", Loescher (3 voll., including "Dal Barocco all'età dei Lumi").
At the beginning of the course, students will find on the MyAriel website a detailed list of subjects and texts (parts A and B) to be prepared for the exam.
Part C
Text:
Niccolò Machiavelli, "Mandragola", ed. by Rinaldo Rinaldi, Milano, Rizzoli-BUR, 2010 (or subsequent reprints).
Bibliography:
Students will study the following essays of the volume "Il teatro di Machiavelli", ed. by Gennaro Barbarisi and Anna Maria Cabrini, Milano, Cisalpino, 2005 [more copies of the volume are available in the libraries indicated in the Minerva catalogue]:
1. Francesco Bausi, "Machiavelli e la commedia fiorentina del primo Cinquecento", pp. 1-20.
2. Claudio Vela, "La doppia malizia della Mandragola", pp. 269-290.
3. Francesca Fedi, "El premio che si spera: il Prologo della Mandragola e il motivo dell'ingratitudine nell'opera di Machiavelli", pp. 347-366.
During the lessons, optional critical readings will be indicated on MyAriel.
Part D
Students shall prepare using the dedicated digital resources, e.g. PowerPoint presentations (which will be made available on MyAriel) and in addition the following books:
1) Uberto Motta, "Lingua mortal non dice": guida alla lettura del testo poetico, Bologna, Carocci, 2020:
- chapter I. Il verso, pp. 23-42 e 46-53 (si escludono i paragrafi La cesura e Il verso libero);
- chapter II. La rima, pp. 59-73 (si esclude il paragrafo Tra rima e metro: esperimenti pascoliani).
2) Aldo Menichetti, Prima lezione di metrica, Bari, Laterza, 2013: chapters 1 (Primo esercizio di prosodia elementare), 3 (Dieresi e sineresi), 4 (La dieresi d'eccezione), 5 (Sinalefe e dialefe).
3) Pietro G. Beltrami, Gli strumenti della poesia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2012:
- chapter VII. Forme regolate e forme fisse, § 153-164 (pp. 101-106); § 167-173 (pp. 107-114); § 180-200 (pp. 118-129); § 202 (p. 131); § 205-206 (pp. 132-133); § 214 (pp. 136-137); § 220-222 (pp. 140-142); § 228-229 (pp. 143-144)
- chapter VIII. Forme libere della metrica tradizionale, § 232-234 (pp. 146-148); § 236-238 (p. 149-151)
- chapter X. Le forme metriche nella storia della poesia italiana, § 262-284 (pp. 167-178)
4) Gianfranca Lavezzi, Breve dizionario di retorica e stilistica, Bologna, Carocci, 2004.
It is expected that the subjects illustrated during class lessons will be learned not only as theoretical notions but also — and especially — as tools to be applied in the close reading of texts. Students shall be able to scan verses, to measure their length, to distinguish between poetic forms (e.g. sonnet or canzone) and to recognise the rhetorical figures employed in the texts they will be presented with during the exam. These will be drawn from the above-listed books and from Antologia della letteratura italiana, edited by Gabriele Baldassari, Guglielmo Barucci, Milan, Cortina, 2022. Special attention must be dedicated to the following list of texts (which partly coincide with those included in the programme of Parts A & B):
Tenzone between Iacopo Mostacci, Pier della Vigna, Giacomo da Lentini (pp. 5-8)
Guittone d'Arezzo, Ahi lasso!, or è stagion de doler tanto, ll. 1-15 (p. 11)
Guido Guinizelli, Al cor gentil rempaira sempre amore (pp. 17-20)
Guido Cavalcanti, Tu m'hai sì piena di dolor la mente (pp. 21-22)
Cino da Pistoia, Poscia che saziar non posso li occhi miei (p. 22)
Dante Alighieri, Donne ch'avete intelletto d'amore (pp. 28-31)
Dante Alighieri, Guido, i' vorrei che tu e Lapo ed io (pp. 32-33)
Dante Alighieri, Così nel mio parlar vogli' esser aspro (pp. 33-37)
Francesco Petrarca, Rvf, 1 (pp. 64-65)
Francesco Petrarca, Rvf, 90 (pp. 68-69)
Angelo Poliziano, Stanze per la giostra, I, 8-24 (pp. 119-124)
Lorenzo de' Medici, Canzona di Bacco (pp. 125-127)
Matteo Maria Boiardo, Inamoramento de Orlando, I, I, 1-3 (pp. 131-132)
Matteo Maria Boiardo, Inamoramento de Orlando, I, XVIII, 32-48 (pp. 132-137)
Pietro Bembo, Crin d'oro crespo e d'ambra tersa e pura (p. 152)
Francesco Berni, Chiome d'argento fino, irte e attorte (pp. 153-154)
Giovanni Della Casa, Questa vita mortal, che 'n una o 'n due (pp. 156-167)
Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, I, 1-4 (pp. 190-191)
Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, XII, 1-22 (pp. 191-198)
Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, I, 1-5 (pp. 216-218)
Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, III, 16-31 (pp. 218-223)
Giambattista Marino, Adone X, 39-47 (pp. 229-232)
Non-attending students
Parts A and B
Students must prepare topics and texts using a handbooks of their own choice and this collection of texts: "Antologia della letteratura italiana. Dalla Scuola poetica siciliana a Alessandro Manzoni", ed. by Gabriele Baldassari and Guglielmo Barucci, Milano, Cortina, 2022). To consolidate the historical and literary framework and the knowledge of the authors and works analyzed, the students are free to choose the handbook of Italian literature. Some handbooks are suggested here below:
- Giancarlo Alfano, Paola Italia, Emilio Russo, Franco Tomasi, "Letteratura italiana. Manuale per studi universitari", 2 voll., Mondadori Università;
- "Letteratura italiana", ed. by Andrea Battistini, 2 voll., il Mulino;
- Hermann Grosser, "Il canone letterario", Principato (3 voll., including "Il secondo Cinquecento. Seicento. Settecento");
- Claudio Marazzini, Simone Fornara, "Dove 'l sì suona", Loescher (3 voll.: "Dalle origini ai siculo-toscani"; 1. "Dallo stilnovo a Tasso"; 2. "Dal Barocco a Manzoni");
- Corrado Bologna, "Rosa fresca aulentissima", Loescher (3 voll., including "Dal Barocco all'età dei Lumi").
At the beginning of the course, students will find on the MyAriel website a detailed list of subjects and texts (parts A and B) to be prepared for the exam.
Part C
Text:
Niccolò Machiavelli, "Mandragola", ed. by Raffaele Ruggiero, Milano, Rizzoli-BUR, 2008 (or subsequent reprints).
Bibliography:
Students will study the following essays of the volume "Il teatro di Machiavelli", ed. by Gennaro Barbarisi and Anna Maria Cabrini, Milano, Cisalpino, 2005 [more copies of the volume are available in the libraries indicated in the Minerva catalogue]:
1. Francesco Bausi, "Machiavelli e la commedia fiorentina del primo Cinquecento", pp. 1-20.
2. Claudio Vela, "La doppia malizia della Mandragola", pp. 269-290.
3. Francesca Fedi, "El premio che si spera: il Prologo della Mandragola e il motivo dell'ingratitudine nell'opera di Machiavelli", pp. 347-366.
They will study also:
1. Riccardo Bruscagli, "Machiavelli", Bologna, il Mulino, 2008;
2. Pasquale Stoppelli, "Mandragola", in "Enciclopedia machiavelliana", 2014: https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/mandragola_(Enciclopedia-machiavelliana)/
During the lessons, optional critical readings will be indicated on MyAriel.
Part D
Non-attending students are required to refer to the same examination programme and in addition to choose two readings from the following list:
1) Andrea Afribo, Petrarca e petrarchismo. Capitoli di lingua, stile e metrica, Bologna, Carocci, 2009, 2. La rima nei Fragmenta, pp. 35-61;
2) Luigi Blasucci, Lettura metrica (ma non solo) di un segmento della pazzia di Orlando («Furioso», XXIII, 100-15), in Sulla struttura metrica del «Furioso» e altri studi ariosteschi, Florence, Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2014, pp. 133-166;
3) Guglielmo Gorni, Le forme primarie del testo poetico, I. La canzone, in Metrica e analisi letteraria, Bologna, il Mulino, 1993, pp. 15-62;
4) Fabio Magro, Arnaldo Soldani, Il sonetto italiano. Dalle origini a oggi, Bologna, Carocci, 2017, 2. Le origini, pp. 23-39.
Parts A and B
Students must prepare topics and texts using a handbooks of their own choice and this collection of texts: "Antologia della letteratura italiana. Dalla Scuola poetica siciliana a Alessandro Manzoni", ed. by Gabriele Baldassari and Guglielmo Barucci, Milano, Cortina, 2022). To consolidate the historical and literary framework and the knowledge of the authors and works analyzed, the students are free to choose the handbook of Italian literature. Some handbooks are suggested here below:
- Giancarlo Alfano, Paola Italia, Emilio Russo, Franco Tomasi, "Letteratura italiana. Manuale per studi universitari", 2 voll., Mondadori Università;
- "Letteratura italiana", ed. by Andrea Battistini, 2 voll., il Mulino;
- Hermann Grosser, "Il canone letterario", Principato (3 voll., including "Il secondo Cinquecento. Seicento. Settecento");
- Claudio Marazzini, Simone Fornara, "Dove 'l sì suona", Loescher (3 voll.: "Dalle origini ai siculo-toscani"; 1. "Dallo stilnovo a Tasso"; 2. "Dal Barocco a Manzoni");
- Corrado Bologna, "Rosa fresca aulentissima", Loescher (3 voll., including "Dal Barocco all'età dei Lumi").
At the beginning of the course, students will find on the MyAriel website a detailed list of subjects and texts (parts A and B) to be prepared for the exam.
Part C
Text:
Niccolò Machiavelli, "Mandragola", ed. by Rinaldo Rinaldi, Milano, Rizzoli-BUR, 2010 (or subsequent reprints).
Bibliography:
Students will study the following essays of the volume "Il teatro di Machiavelli", ed. by Gennaro Barbarisi and Anna Maria Cabrini, Milano, Cisalpino, 2005 [more copies of the volume are available in the libraries indicated in the Minerva catalogue]:
1. Francesco Bausi, "Machiavelli e la commedia fiorentina del primo Cinquecento", pp. 1-20.
2. Claudio Vela, "La doppia malizia della Mandragola", pp. 269-290.
3. Francesca Fedi, "El premio che si spera: il Prologo della Mandragola e il motivo dell'ingratitudine nell'opera di Machiavelli", pp. 347-366.
During the lessons, optional critical readings will be indicated on MyAriel.
Part D
Students shall prepare using the dedicated digital resources, e.g. PowerPoint presentations (which will be made available on MyAriel) and in addition the following books:
1) Uberto Motta, "Lingua mortal non dice": guida alla lettura del testo poetico, Bologna, Carocci, 2020:
- chapter I. Il verso, pp. 23-42 e 46-53 (si escludono i paragrafi La cesura e Il verso libero);
- chapter II. La rima, pp. 59-73 (si esclude il paragrafo Tra rima e metro: esperimenti pascoliani).
2) Aldo Menichetti, Prima lezione di metrica, Bari, Laterza, 2013: chapters 1 (Primo esercizio di prosodia elementare), 3 (Dieresi e sineresi), 4 (La dieresi d'eccezione), 5 (Sinalefe e dialefe).
3) Pietro G. Beltrami, Gli strumenti della poesia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2012:
- chapter VII. Forme regolate e forme fisse, § 153-164 (pp. 101-106); § 167-173 (pp. 107-114); § 180-200 (pp. 118-129); § 202 (p. 131); § 205-206 (pp. 132-133); § 214 (pp. 136-137); § 220-222 (pp. 140-142); § 228-229 (pp. 143-144)
- chapter VIII. Forme libere della metrica tradizionale, § 232-234 (pp. 146-148); § 236-238 (p. 149-151)
- chapter X. Le forme metriche nella storia della poesia italiana, § 262-284 (pp. 167-178)
4) Gianfranca Lavezzi, Breve dizionario di retorica e stilistica, Bologna, Carocci, 2004.
It is expected that the subjects illustrated during class lessons will be learned not only as theoretical notions but also — and especially — as tools to be applied in the close reading of texts. Students shall be able to scan verses, to measure their length, to distinguish between poetic forms (e.g. sonnet or canzone) and to recognise the rhetorical figures employed in the texts they will be presented with during the exam. These will be drawn from the above-listed books and from Antologia della letteratura italiana, edited by Gabriele Baldassari, Guglielmo Barucci, Milan, Cortina, 2022. Special attention must be dedicated to the following list of texts (which partly coincide with those included in the programme of Parts A & B):
Tenzone between Iacopo Mostacci, Pier della Vigna, Giacomo da Lentini (pp. 5-8)
Guittone d'Arezzo, Ahi lasso!, or è stagion de doler tanto, ll. 1-15 (p. 11)
Guido Guinizelli, Al cor gentil rempaira sempre amore (pp. 17-20)
Guido Cavalcanti, Tu m'hai sì piena di dolor la mente (pp. 21-22)
Cino da Pistoia, Poscia che saziar non posso li occhi miei (p. 22)
Dante Alighieri, Donne ch'avete intelletto d'amore (pp. 28-31)
Dante Alighieri, Guido, i' vorrei che tu e Lapo ed io (pp. 32-33)
Dante Alighieri, Così nel mio parlar vogli' esser aspro (pp. 33-37)
Francesco Petrarca, Rvf, 1 (pp. 64-65)
Francesco Petrarca, Rvf, 90 (pp. 68-69)
Angelo Poliziano, Stanze per la giostra, I, 8-24 (pp. 119-124)
Lorenzo de' Medici, Canzona di Bacco (pp. 125-127)
Matteo Maria Boiardo, Inamoramento de Orlando, I, I, 1-3 (pp. 131-132)
Matteo Maria Boiardo, Inamoramento de Orlando, I, XVIII, 32-48 (pp. 132-137)
Pietro Bembo, Crin d'oro crespo e d'ambra tersa e pura (p. 152)
Francesco Berni, Chiome d'argento fino, irte e attorte (pp. 153-154)
Giovanni Della Casa, Questa vita mortal, che 'n una o 'n due (pp. 156-167)
Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, I, 1-4 (pp. 190-191)
Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, XII, 1-22 (pp. 191-198)
Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, I, 1-5 (pp. 216-218)
Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, III, 16-31 (pp. 218-223)
Giambattista Marino, Adone X, 39-47 (pp. 229-232)
Non-attending students
Parts A and B
Students must prepare topics and texts using a handbooks of their own choice and this collection of texts: "Antologia della letteratura italiana. Dalla Scuola poetica siciliana a Alessandro Manzoni", ed. by Gabriele Baldassari and Guglielmo Barucci, Milano, Cortina, 2022). To consolidate the historical and literary framework and the knowledge of the authors and works analyzed, the students are free to choose the handbook of Italian literature. Some handbooks are suggested here below:
- Giancarlo Alfano, Paola Italia, Emilio Russo, Franco Tomasi, "Letteratura italiana. Manuale per studi universitari", 2 voll., Mondadori Università;
- "Letteratura italiana", ed. by Andrea Battistini, 2 voll., il Mulino;
- Hermann Grosser, "Il canone letterario", Principato (3 voll., including "Il secondo Cinquecento. Seicento. Settecento");
- Claudio Marazzini, Simone Fornara, "Dove 'l sì suona", Loescher (3 voll.: "Dalle origini ai siculo-toscani"; 1. "Dallo stilnovo a Tasso"; 2. "Dal Barocco a Manzoni");
- Corrado Bologna, "Rosa fresca aulentissima", Loescher (3 voll., including "Dal Barocco all'età dei Lumi").
At the beginning of the course, students will find on the MyAriel website a detailed list of subjects and texts (parts A and B) to be prepared for the exam.
Part C
Text:
Niccolò Machiavelli, "Mandragola", ed. by Raffaele Ruggiero, Milano, Rizzoli-BUR, 2008 (or subsequent reprints).
Bibliography:
Students will study the following essays of the volume "Il teatro di Machiavelli", ed. by Gennaro Barbarisi and Anna Maria Cabrini, Milano, Cisalpino, 2005 [more copies of the volume are available in the libraries indicated in the Minerva catalogue]:
1. Francesco Bausi, "Machiavelli e la commedia fiorentina del primo Cinquecento", pp. 1-20.
2. Claudio Vela, "La doppia malizia della Mandragola", pp. 269-290.
3. Francesca Fedi, "El premio che si spera: il Prologo della Mandragola e il motivo dell'ingratitudine nell'opera di Machiavelli", pp. 347-366.
They will study also:
1. Riccardo Bruscagli, "Machiavelli", Bologna, il Mulino, 2008;
2. Pasquale Stoppelli, "Mandragola", in "Enciclopedia machiavelliana", 2014: https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/mandragola_(Enciclopedia-machiavelliana)/
During the lessons, optional critical readings will be indicated on MyAriel.
Part D
Non-attending students are required to refer to the same examination programme and in addition to choose two readings from the following list:
1) Andrea Afribo, Petrarca e petrarchismo. Capitoli di lingua, stile e metrica, Bologna, Carocci, 2009, 2. La rima nei Fragmenta, pp. 35-61;
2) Luigi Blasucci, Lettura metrica (ma non solo) di un segmento della pazzia di Orlando («Furioso», XXIII, 100-15), in Sulla struttura metrica del «Furioso» e altri studi ariosteschi, Florence, Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2014, pp. 133-166;
3) Guglielmo Gorni, Le forme primarie del testo poetico, I. La canzone, in Metrica e analisi letteraria, Bologna, il Mulino, 1993, pp. 15-62;
4) Fabio Magro, Arnaldo Soldani, Il sonetto italiano. Dalle origini a oggi, Bologna, Carocci, 2017, 2. Le origini, pp. 23-39.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Assessment methods: the 6 ECTS exam consists of an oral test on teaching parts A and C. The exam for 12 or 9 ECTS consists of a preliminary written test on parts A and B and an oral test on parts C and D (only C for a 9 ECTS exam). The written test will be held in December 2024 (oral test from January 2025), February 2025 (oral test from June 2025), May and September 2025; passing the written test is a prerequisite for access to the oral exam. Written tests will be graded sufficient, discreet, good, excellent and will be part of the final overall grade. Grades of the written test will be published on the MyAriel website, in the specifically dedicated section.
Type of test: the written test has to be completed within 90 minutes and consists of three open-ended questions: the first concerns one of the literary works or authors or schools on the syllabus, the second the comment of a text from the anthology; the third consists in the paraphrase of one of the texts from the anthology and in few short questions about it. Students who have passed the final exam of written test preparatory course will not have to take the third question.
The oral test consists of an interview on fundamental topics of the work dealt with in part C and on poetic forms, meters and rhetorical figures analyzed during the part D. The student will have to demonstrate a full ability to paraphrase the text.
Criteria: the criteria used to evaluate the written test are relevance, completeness and correctness; the ability to elaborate an organic and coherent response, to adopt the right formal register and to use the appropriate specialized vocabulary, and, for the third question, the ability to adequately render a text showing a satisfactory knowledge of the literary language. The student will have to demonstrate a full ability to paraphrase the text.
The criteria used to assess the oral test are: ability to critically organize information from lectures and bibliography; competence to comprehensively and effectively expose problems and questions using the appropriate technical language.
Grade: the final grade will be determined in 30s, and it will take into consideration the grade of the written test.
Information on the programme and on the exam will be provided during the first lecture of the course.
International and Erasmus students are invited to promptly get in touch with the professor in order to arrange a reading plan (available in English) for exam preparation.
The format of the exam for students with disabilities must be be defined in advance with the teacher, as well as the relevant office.
Type of test: the written test has to be completed within 90 minutes and consists of three open-ended questions: the first concerns one of the literary works or authors or schools on the syllabus, the second the comment of a text from the anthology; the third consists in the paraphrase of one of the texts from the anthology and in few short questions about it. Students who have passed the final exam of written test preparatory course will not have to take the third question.
The oral test consists of an interview on fundamental topics of the work dealt with in part C and on poetic forms, meters and rhetorical figures analyzed during the part D. The student will have to demonstrate a full ability to paraphrase the text.
Criteria: the criteria used to evaluate the written test are relevance, completeness and correctness; the ability to elaborate an organic and coherent response, to adopt the right formal register and to use the appropriate specialized vocabulary, and, for the third question, the ability to adequately render a text showing a satisfactory knowledge of the literary language. The student will have to demonstrate a full ability to paraphrase the text.
The criteria used to assess the oral test are: ability to critically organize information from lectures and bibliography; competence to comprehensively and effectively expose problems and questions using the appropriate technical language.
Grade: the final grade will be determined in 30s, and it will take into consideration the grade of the written test.
Information on the programme and on the exam will be provided during the first lecture of the course.
International and Erasmus students are invited to promptly get in touch with the professor in order to arrange a reading plan (available in English) for exam preparation.
The format of the exam for students with disabilities must be be defined in advance with the teacher, as well as the relevant office.
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Baragetti Stefania
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Baragetti Stefania
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Baragetti Stefania
Unita' didattica D
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Guassardo Giada
O-Z
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Title of the course: "History and interpretation of the literary text" (80 hours, 12 cfu)
Teaching part A (20 hours, 3 cfu): The first centuries [Sandra Carapezza]
Teaching part B (20 hours, 3 cfu): From Humanism to Baroque [Sandra Carapezza]
Teaching part C (20 hours, 3 cfu): "Decameron" by Giovanni Boccaccio: Women "motto" and "beffa" in Sixt, Seven and Eight Day [Sandra Carapezza]
Teaching part D (20 hours, 3 cfu): Elements of prosody, metre and rhetoric through texts of Italian literature [Sandra Carapezza]
The first year course is aimed at undergraduate Humanities students whose surname begins with O-Z. Humanities students will take a 12 cfu exam; Liberal Studies in Communication students enrolled from 2019/20 until 2020/21 and Single Course students can choose between 6 (parts A and C) and 9 cfu (parts A, B, C) and 12 (parts A, B, C, D). Students who take a 6 CFU exam will take only an oral exam.
Students who have already taken an exam of Italian literature must contact the teacher.
The teaching programme of parts A and B focuses on the history of Italian literature from Origins to Baroque:
Part A:
Sicilian School; Tuscan School; Dolce Stil Novo; Dante's "Vita nuova" and "The Rhymes"; Comics Poetry; Petrarch; Humanism in Florence and Ferrara; Poliziano and Boiardo; "Morgante"; "Inamoramento de Orlando"
Part B:
Lyric Poetry from Bembo to Marino (Bembo: Crin d'oro crespo e d'ambra tersa e pura; Berni: Chiome d'argento fino, irte e attorte; Bembo: Casa, in cui le virtù han chiaro albergo; Casa: Già lessi, e or conosco in me, sì come; Michelangelo: Non ha l'ottimo artista alcun concetto; Stampa: Voi ch'ascoltate in queste meste rime; Tasso: In lode de la signora Laura Correggiara ; Sovra i baci d'una bella giovane; Marino: Madonna chiede versi di baci; Sogno).
Poem: Orlando Furioso by Ariosto; Gerusalemme Liberata by Tasso; Adone by Marino.
Treatise: The Prince by Machiavelli; The Book of the Courtier by Castiglione and treatise about the querelle des femmes; Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galilei.
Part C: teaching part C is dedicated to the analysis of Giovanni Boccaccio's "Decameron" in its formal and cultural context.
Part D: teaching part D will consist of an in-depth analysis and reading of poems and texts, providing the students with elements of metrics and rhetoric.
Teaching part A (20 hours, 3 cfu): The first centuries [Sandra Carapezza]
Teaching part B (20 hours, 3 cfu): From Humanism to Baroque [Sandra Carapezza]
Teaching part C (20 hours, 3 cfu): "Decameron" by Giovanni Boccaccio: Women "motto" and "beffa" in Sixt, Seven and Eight Day [Sandra Carapezza]
Teaching part D (20 hours, 3 cfu): Elements of prosody, metre and rhetoric through texts of Italian literature [Sandra Carapezza]
The first year course is aimed at undergraduate Humanities students whose surname begins with O-Z. Humanities students will take a 12 cfu exam; Liberal Studies in Communication students enrolled from 2019/20 until 2020/21 and Single Course students can choose between 6 (parts A and C) and 9 cfu (parts A, B, C) and 12 (parts A, B, C, D). Students who take a 6 CFU exam will take only an oral exam.
Students who have already taken an exam of Italian literature must contact the teacher.
The teaching programme of parts A and B focuses on the history of Italian literature from Origins to Baroque:
Part A:
Sicilian School; Tuscan School; Dolce Stil Novo; Dante's "Vita nuova" and "The Rhymes"; Comics Poetry; Petrarch; Humanism in Florence and Ferrara; Poliziano and Boiardo; "Morgante"; "Inamoramento de Orlando"
Part B:
Lyric Poetry from Bembo to Marino (Bembo: Crin d'oro crespo e d'ambra tersa e pura; Berni: Chiome d'argento fino, irte e attorte; Bembo: Casa, in cui le virtù han chiaro albergo; Casa: Già lessi, e or conosco in me, sì come; Michelangelo: Non ha l'ottimo artista alcun concetto; Stampa: Voi ch'ascoltate in queste meste rime; Tasso: In lode de la signora Laura Correggiara ; Sovra i baci d'una bella giovane; Marino: Madonna chiede versi di baci; Sogno).
Poem: Orlando Furioso by Ariosto; Gerusalemme Liberata by Tasso; Adone by Marino.
Treatise: The Prince by Machiavelli; The Book of the Courtier by Castiglione and treatise about the querelle des femmes; Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galilei.
Part C: teaching part C is dedicated to the analysis of Giovanni Boccaccio's "Decameron" in its formal and cultural context.
Part D: teaching part D will consist of an in-depth analysis and reading of poems and texts, providing the students with elements of metrics and rhetoric.
Prerequisites for admission
There are no required prerequisites.
Teaching methods
The course will be offered in a lecture format; attendance is not mandatory, though strongly recommended.
Teaching parts A and B will be taught on texts included in the lecture notes. During the lectures, slide projections will be used. The focus will be on movements, authors and works and their cultural context; on the main critical problems of every topic, through quotations from critical essays and comparisons between different positions; on tradition and reception of works and texts; on their most interesting formal aspects. All the materials will be available on MyAriel.
Analysis of the texts will start from paraphrase, paying attention to the most important differences in interpretation, and will consider the prominent cultural and formal elements.
In teaching part C, through the analysis of the Giovanni Boccaccio's "Decameron" (Sixt, Seve and Eight Day), of the materials provided on MyAriel, and of the critical bibliography, one of the most important works of Italian literature will be studied in its cultural, social and political context.
Teaching part C will provide an opportunity to refine critical and formal tools and to better learn the technical lexicon.
In teaching part D, the study of the materials available on MyAriel will allow students to become acquainted with both the formal elements and continuity, transformation and intersection of the metric forms and literary genre (novella).
Teaching parts A and B will be taught on texts included in the lecture notes. During the lectures, slide projections will be used. The focus will be on movements, authors and works and their cultural context; on the main critical problems of every topic, through quotations from critical essays and comparisons between different positions; on tradition and reception of works and texts; on their most interesting formal aspects. All the materials will be available on MyAriel.
Analysis of the texts will start from paraphrase, paying attention to the most important differences in interpretation, and will consider the prominent cultural and formal elements.
In teaching part C, through the analysis of the Giovanni Boccaccio's "Decameron" (Sixt, Seve and Eight Day), of the materials provided on MyAriel, and of the critical bibliography, one of the most important works of Italian literature will be studied in its cultural, social and political context.
Teaching part C will provide an opportunity to refine critical and formal tools and to better learn the technical lexicon.
In teaching part D, the study of the materials available on MyAriel will allow students to become acquainted with both the formal elements and continuity, transformation and intersection of the metric forms and literary genre (novella).
Teaching Resources
Teaching part A
Texts to be studied in teaching parts A and B will be available on the MyAriel prior to the beginning of the class. Students are required to download the reading material from MyAriel and bring it to each lesson. No course handouts will be provided.
A full knowledge of the historical and cultural context of works and authors is strictly necessary.
A good handbook for high schools with a wide anthological selection is recommended (e.g. Baldassari-Barucci, Antologia della letteratura italiana, Milano, Cortina, 2022; Guglielmino-Grosser, Il sistema letterario, Milano, Principato; Grosser, Il canone letterario, Milano, Principato; Segre-Martignoni, Leggere il mondo, Milano, Bruno Mondadori; Alfano-Italia-Russo-Tomasi, Letteratura italiana, Milano, Mondadori).
Teaching part B
See Teaching part A.
Teaching part C
Text:
Giovanni Boccaccio, "Decameron", by Amedeo Quondam, Maurizio Fiorilla e Giancarlo Alfano, Milano, Rizzoli (Bur), 2013
An overall knowledge of the work (composition, structure, plot, topics, style) is required. Furthermore, students will study the Scheda dell'opera (pp. 67-86), Notizia biografica (pp. 87-91), Nota al testo (pp. 109-123), Le cose e le parole del mondo (pp. 1669-1802); Giornata VI Sheda introduttiva; Giornata VII Scheda introduttiva; Giornata VIII Scheda introduttiva (pp. 949-974; 1047-1072; 1175-1204) in Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron by Quondam, Fiorilla, Alfano.
Attending students will study the following texts (3 texts, available online by Minerva, the access point to the bibliographic resources owned and selected by the Libraries of the University of Milan):
- Alberto Conte, "Nell'officina del «Decameron»: genealogia e struttura della settima giornata", "Strumenti critici", 3, 2015, pp. 429-448
- Teodolinda Barolini, "The Scholar and the Widow: Corrupt Appetite and Moral Failure in Society's Intellectual Elite (VIII.7)", in "The Decameron Eighth Day in Perspective", edited by William Robins, Toronto, UP, 2020, pp. 148-189.
- Roberta Morosini, "The Tale of Salabaetto and Iancofiore (VIII.10)", in "The Decameron Eighth Day in Perspective", edited by William Robins, Toronto, UP, 2020, pp. 225-242.
Teaching part D
Texts for part D will be provided on MyAriel. Furthermore, students will study one of the following texts:
- Pietro G. Beltrami, La metrica italiana, il Mulino, 1991, capitolo 1. Elementi di teoria metrica, capitolo 2. Profilo storico della metrica italiana (§ 2.1. Metrica italiana e metrica romanza dalle origini alla fine del Quattrocento)
- Guglielmo Gorni, Metrica e analisi letteraria, il Mulino, 1993, Parte prima. Le forme primarie del testo poetico
- Fabio Magno e Arnaldo Soldani, Il sonetto italiano dalle origini a oggi, Carocci, 2017, §§ 1. La forma, il genere, 2. Le origini, 3. Petrarca e il Trecento
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Teaching parts A and B
For teaching parts A and B, the programme is the same as for attending students.
Teaching part C
In addiction to the programme for attending students, non attending students will study the following text: Giancarlo Alfano, "Introduzione alla lettura del Decameron di Boccaccio", Bari, Laterza, 2014 (or later editions)
Part D:
Non-attending students will study two of the following texts:
- Pietro G. Beltrami, La metrica italiana, il Mulino, 1991, capitolo 1. Elementi di teoria metrica, capitolo 2. Profilo storico della metrica italiana (§ 2.1. Metrica italiana e metrica romanza dalle origini alla fine del Quattrocento)
- Guglielmo Gorni, Metrica e analisi letteraria, il Mulino, 1993, Parte prima. Le forme primarie del testo poetico
- Fabio Magno e Arnaldo Soldani, Il sonetto italiano dalle origini a oggi, Carocci, 2017, §§. 1. La forma, il genere, 2. Le origini, 3. Petrarca e il Trecento
Non-attending students are strongly recommended to contact the teacher via email for further information (for the timetable, check in advance the Who and Where on Unimi.it)
Texts to be studied in teaching parts A and B will be available on the MyAriel prior to the beginning of the class. Students are required to download the reading material from MyAriel and bring it to each lesson. No course handouts will be provided.
A full knowledge of the historical and cultural context of works and authors is strictly necessary.
A good handbook for high schools with a wide anthological selection is recommended (e.g. Baldassari-Barucci, Antologia della letteratura italiana, Milano, Cortina, 2022; Guglielmino-Grosser, Il sistema letterario, Milano, Principato; Grosser, Il canone letterario, Milano, Principato; Segre-Martignoni, Leggere il mondo, Milano, Bruno Mondadori; Alfano-Italia-Russo-Tomasi, Letteratura italiana, Milano, Mondadori).
Teaching part B
See Teaching part A.
Teaching part C
Text:
Giovanni Boccaccio, "Decameron", by Amedeo Quondam, Maurizio Fiorilla e Giancarlo Alfano, Milano, Rizzoli (Bur), 2013
An overall knowledge of the work (composition, structure, plot, topics, style) is required. Furthermore, students will study the Scheda dell'opera (pp. 67-86), Notizia biografica (pp. 87-91), Nota al testo (pp. 109-123), Le cose e le parole del mondo (pp. 1669-1802); Giornata VI Sheda introduttiva; Giornata VII Scheda introduttiva; Giornata VIII Scheda introduttiva (pp. 949-974; 1047-1072; 1175-1204) in Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron by Quondam, Fiorilla, Alfano.
Attending students will study the following texts (3 texts, available online by Minerva, the access point to the bibliographic resources owned and selected by the Libraries of the University of Milan):
- Alberto Conte, "Nell'officina del «Decameron»: genealogia e struttura della settima giornata", "Strumenti critici", 3, 2015, pp. 429-448
- Teodolinda Barolini, "The Scholar and the Widow: Corrupt Appetite and Moral Failure in Society's Intellectual Elite (VIII.7)", in "The Decameron Eighth Day in Perspective", edited by William Robins, Toronto, UP, 2020, pp. 148-189.
- Roberta Morosini, "The Tale of Salabaetto and Iancofiore (VIII.10)", in "The Decameron Eighth Day in Perspective", edited by William Robins, Toronto, UP, 2020, pp. 225-242.
Teaching part D
Texts for part D will be provided on MyAriel. Furthermore, students will study one of the following texts:
- Pietro G. Beltrami, La metrica italiana, il Mulino, 1991, capitolo 1. Elementi di teoria metrica, capitolo 2. Profilo storico della metrica italiana (§ 2.1. Metrica italiana e metrica romanza dalle origini alla fine del Quattrocento)
- Guglielmo Gorni, Metrica e analisi letteraria, il Mulino, 1993, Parte prima. Le forme primarie del testo poetico
- Fabio Magno e Arnaldo Soldani, Il sonetto italiano dalle origini a oggi, Carocci, 2017, §§ 1. La forma, il genere, 2. Le origini, 3. Petrarca e il Trecento
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Teaching parts A and B
For teaching parts A and B, the programme is the same as for attending students.
Teaching part C
In addiction to the programme for attending students, non attending students will study the following text: Giancarlo Alfano, "Introduzione alla lettura del Decameron di Boccaccio", Bari, Laterza, 2014 (or later editions)
Part D:
Non-attending students will study two of the following texts:
- Pietro G. Beltrami, La metrica italiana, il Mulino, 1991, capitolo 1. Elementi di teoria metrica, capitolo 2. Profilo storico della metrica italiana (§ 2.1. Metrica italiana e metrica romanza dalle origini alla fine del Quattrocento)
- Guglielmo Gorni, Metrica e analisi letteraria, il Mulino, 1993, Parte prima. Le forme primarie del testo poetico
- Fabio Magno e Arnaldo Soldani, Il sonetto italiano dalle origini a oggi, Carocci, 2017, §§. 1. La forma, il genere, 2. Le origini, 3. Petrarca e il Trecento
Non-attending students are strongly recommended to contact the teacher via email for further information (for the timetable, check in advance the Who and Where on Unimi.it)
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam for 12 or 9 cfu consists of a preliminary written test on teaching parts A and B and an oral test on teaching parts C and D (only C for a 9 cfu exam); both are aimed at ascertaining students' knowledge of the bibliography. The 6 CFU exam consists of an oral test on teaching parts A and C.
The written test is held in December 2024 (oral test from January), February (oral test from May), May (oral test from June) and September (oral test from September) 2025; passing the written test is a prerequisite for access to the oral exam. Written tests will be graded sufficient, discreet, good, excellent and will be part of the final overall grade. Grades of the written test will be published on MyAriel.
The written test, lasting 90 minutes, consists of three open-ended questions: a question for each part A and part B focuses on the authors, works or literary movements listed in the programme, and a third question which consists in the recognition and paraphrase of one of the texts in the programme. Students who have passed final exam of written test preparatory course will not have to take the third question.
The criteria used to assess students' performance are relevance, completeness and correctness; the ability to elaborate an organic and coherent response, to adopt the proper formal register and to employ the appropriate specialized lexicon; for the third question, the ability to adequately render a text showing a satisfactory knowledge of the literary language will be considered.
The oral test consists of an interview and discussion on fundamental topics of the work dealt with in part C and on poetic forms and meters. The criteria used to assess students' performance are: ability to critically organise information from lessons and bibliography; competence to comprehensively and effectively expose problems and questions using proper technical lenguage.
The final grade will be expressed in the 30 grade point system, and it will take into consideration the grade of the written test. The minimum grade is 18.
Non-attending students, International students and Erasmus students are invited to contact the professor via email for further information on the exam.
Examination methods for students with disabilities or SLD must be defined with the teacher in agreement with the University Disability and SLD Services
The written test is held in December 2024 (oral test from January), February (oral test from May), May (oral test from June) and September (oral test from September) 2025; passing the written test is a prerequisite for access to the oral exam. Written tests will be graded sufficient, discreet, good, excellent and will be part of the final overall grade. Grades of the written test will be published on MyAriel.
The written test, lasting 90 minutes, consists of three open-ended questions: a question for each part A and part B focuses on the authors, works or literary movements listed in the programme, and a third question which consists in the recognition and paraphrase of one of the texts in the programme. Students who have passed final exam of written test preparatory course will not have to take the third question.
The criteria used to assess students' performance are relevance, completeness and correctness; the ability to elaborate an organic and coherent response, to adopt the proper formal register and to employ the appropriate specialized lexicon; for the third question, the ability to adequately render a text showing a satisfactory knowledge of the literary language will be considered.
The oral test consists of an interview and discussion on fundamental topics of the work dealt with in part C and on poetic forms and meters. The criteria used to assess students' performance are: ability to critically organise information from lessons and bibliography; competence to comprehensively and effectively expose problems and questions using proper technical lenguage.
The final grade will be expressed in the 30 grade point system, and it will take into consideration the grade of the written test. The minimum grade is 18.
Non-attending students, International students and Erasmus students are invited to contact the professor via email for further information on the exam.
Examination methods for students with disabilities or SLD must be defined with the teacher in agreement with the University Disability and SLD Services
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica D
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)
Reception:
Prof. Berra will receive on Wednesday, 10.30-13.30, in person or via Teams, by appointment.
Dipartimento di Studi letterari filologici e linguistici, section Filologia Moderna, 1st floor
Reception:
wednesady 15:00-18:00, by appointment by e-mail
First floor of Dipartimento di Studi letterari, filologici e linguistici (via Festa del Perdono, 7)