Literature, Fashion and Costume in Contemporary Italy
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course aims to study the relationship between Italian literature, cultural context and collective imagination through the analysis of works belonging to different genres and levels of literary production. These include traditional genres such as the novel, but also mixed types and forms of written production which transcend the boundaries of institutional literature: memorialist, honorific, or journalistic literature. These are formulas practiced by writers of various backgrounds - writers, journalists, protagonists of cultural communication - who interpret new professional roles and dialogue for specific audiences through works capable of intercepting their tastes and interests, orienting them in different ways. These are fashionable works, therefore, both in the role of a best-seller, and because they record the new trends of cultural and material consumption, reworking them.
Expected learning outcomes
The course aims to lead the participants to the acquisition of an in-depth understanding of the relationship between literary, semi-literary and extra-literary dimensions within the context of nineteenth and twentieth century production. It is a capacity to orient the main genres (novel, memorial, travel and journalistic writings) by linking literary and paraliterary phenomena, cultural context and collective imagination, through the decisive role of the target audience. Thus, through the assimilation of different perspectives of investigation into not only literary texts, the student matures their respective capacity to identify the authorial intentionality within the full awareness of the relationships between work and context, focusing stereotypes and new proposals capable of shaping the imagination of the recipients.
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
Travelling
Unite A deals with the novel as the most characteristic genre of modern bourgeois society and it concentrates on: Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (1945) by Carlo Levi and Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore (1979) by Italo Calvino. Unite B focuses on Il viaggiatore meravigliato, edited by L. Clerici (2023), and La lente scura (2004) by A.M. Ortese. Unit C revolves around two reportages, Viaggio in Italia (1957) by Guido Piovene and Tutti al mare (1992) by Michele Serra.
Unite A deals with the novel as the most characteristic genre of modern bourgeois society and it concentrates on: Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (1945) by Carlo Levi and Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore (1979) by Italo Calvino. Unite B focuses on Il viaggiatore meravigliato, edited by L. Clerici (2023), and La lente scura (2004) by A.M. Ortese. Unit C revolves around two reportages, Viaggio in Italia (1957) by Guido Piovene and Tutti al mare (1992) by Michele Serra.
Prerequisites for admission
Basic knowledge of 19th and 20th italian literature: outstanding authors and literary movements.
Ability to read critical and methological studies.
Ability to read critical and methological studies.
Teaching methods
Front lessons with the aid of slides, audiovisual materials, learners and teacher interaction. Attendance is not compulsory but it is highly suggested. The criteria to evaluate the learning process will be explained to students.
Attendance is not compulsory but haihighly recomanded.
Attendance is not compulsory but haihighly recomanded.
Teaching Resources
-The students who are taking the exame for 6 credits must study units A and B
-The students who aren't attending lessons must study both the bibliography of attending students and the bibliography of non attending students
Course syllabus for attending students
Unit A: Novels (3 ECTS)
Students must read one novel among the following including its critical essay:
I. Calvino, Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore, Milano, Oscar Mondadori, 2019 - B. Falcetto, Il disagio del piacere. Effetti di lettura in "Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore" di Italo Calvino, in "Enthymema", n. 26, 2020 - https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/enthymema/article/view/14867
C. Levi, Cristo si è fermato a Eboli, Torino, Einaudi, 2021 - V. Spinazzola, L'egemonia del romanzo, Milano, il Saggiatore - Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, 2007, chapter II (Carlo Levi, l'"esperienza intera"), pp. 69-98
Unit B: Travel literature (3 ECTS)
Il viaggiatore meravigliato, edited by di L. Clerici, Milano, Luni Editrice, 2023 (the chapters to be read will be suggested during the lectures)
A.M. Ortese, La lente scura, Milano, Adelphi, 2004, Parte prima, pp. 23-215 - C. Della Coletta, Scrittura come utopia: "La lente scura" di Anna Maria Ortese, in "Italica", vol. 76, n. 3 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 371-388.
Unit C: Not only journalism (3 ECTS)
Students must read one of the following work, including the suggested critical essay:
G. Piovene, Viaggio in Italia, Milano, Bompiani, 2019 (students must read chapter Roma plus four other chapters chosen by students) - I. Crotti, Piovene viaggiatore della scrittura: "Viaggio in Italia", in Guido Piovene tra idoli e ragione, Venezia, Marsilio, 1996, pp. 269-287;
M. Serra, Tutti al mare, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2015 - E. Guagnini, Da Alfredo Panzini a Michele Serra. Alcune linee del viaggio novecentesco in Italia, in Il viaggio in Italia: modelli, stili, lingue, Atti del Convegno, Venezia 3-4 dicembre 1997, pp. 213-223
Course syllabus for non attending students
Unit A: Novels
For students who have chosen Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore di I. Calvino:
M. Paino, Il Barone e il Viaggiatore e altri studi su Italo Calvino, Venezia, Marsilio, 2019, cap. II (Tre letture per il "Viaggiatore"), pp. 81-125
For students who have chosen Cristo si è fermato a Eboli di C. Levi:
G. Falaschi, Cristo si è fermato a Eboli, in Letteratura Italiana, Le Opere, dir. A. Asor Rosa, vol. IV, Il Novecento, tomo II, La ricerca letteraria, Torino, Einaudi, 1996, pp. 469-490
Unit B: Travel literature
L. Clerici, Introduzione, in Il viaggiatore meravigliato, edited by L. Clerici, Milano, Luni Editrice, 2023, pp. 9-33
L. Clerici, Una inaffidabile viaggiatrice visionaria e Notizia sul testo, in A.M. Ortese, La lente scura, Milano, Adelphi, 2004, pp. 455-465 and pp. 469-478
Unit C: Not only journalism
Students must read one of the following critical essays:
A. Papuzzi, Letteratura e giornalismo, Bari, Laterza, 1998
R. Kapuściński, Autoritratto di un reporter, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2008
For students who have chosen Viaggio in Italia by G. Piovene:
C. Martignoni, I cinquant'anni del "Viaggio in Italia" di Guido Piovene, in "La modernità letteraria", n. 1, 2008, pp. 175-187
For students who have chosien Tutti al mare by M. Serra one of the following critical essays:
R. Ricorda, La letteratura di viaggio in Italia, Brescia, La Scuola, 2012, chapter I (Il viaggio e la scrittura), pp. 7-27
C. Milanesi, Représentations italiennes. Les reportages de Michele Serra (1985), Giorgio Bocca (1992) et Vittorio Zucconi (1993), in "Italies. Revue d'études italiennes", n. 1, 1996, pp. 115-143
-The students who aren't attending lessons must study both the bibliography of attending students and the bibliography of non attending students
Course syllabus for attending students
Unit A: Novels (3 ECTS)
Students must read one novel among the following including its critical essay:
I. Calvino, Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore, Milano, Oscar Mondadori, 2019 - B. Falcetto, Il disagio del piacere. Effetti di lettura in "Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore" di Italo Calvino, in "Enthymema", n. 26, 2020 - https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/enthymema/article/view/14867
C. Levi, Cristo si è fermato a Eboli, Torino, Einaudi, 2021 - V. Spinazzola, L'egemonia del romanzo, Milano, il Saggiatore - Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, 2007, chapter II (Carlo Levi, l'"esperienza intera"), pp. 69-98
Unit B: Travel literature (3 ECTS)
Il viaggiatore meravigliato, edited by di L. Clerici, Milano, Luni Editrice, 2023 (the chapters to be read will be suggested during the lectures)
A.M. Ortese, La lente scura, Milano, Adelphi, 2004, Parte prima, pp. 23-215 - C. Della Coletta, Scrittura come utopia: "La lente scura" di Anna Maria Ortese, in "Italica", vol. 76, n. 3 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 371-388.
Unit C: Not only journalism (3 ECTS)
Students must read one of the following work, including the suggested critical essay:
G. Piovene, Viaggio in Italia, Milano, Bompiani, 2019 (students must read chapter Roma plus four other chapters chosen by students) - I. Crotti, Piovene viaggiatore della scrittura: "Viaggio in Italia", in Guido Piovene tra idoli e ragione, Venezia, Marsilio, 1996, pp. 269-287;
M. Serra, Tutti al mare, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2015 - E. Guagnini, Da Alfredo Panzini a Michele Serra. Alcune linee del viaggio novecentesco in Italia, in Il viaggio in Italia: modelli, stili, lingue, Atti del Convegno, Venezia 3-4 dicembre 1997, pp. 213-223
Course syllabus for non attending students
Unit A: Novels
For students who have chosen Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore di I. Calvino:
M. Paino, Il Barone e il Viaggiatore e altri studi su Italo Calvino, Venezia, Marsilio, 2019, cap. II (Tre letture per il "Viaggiatore"), pp. 81-125
For students who have chosen Cristo si è fermato a Eboli di C. Levi:
G. Falaschi, Cristo si è fermato a Eboli, in Letteratura Italiana, Le Opere, dir. A. Asor Rosa, vol. IV, Il Novecento, tomo II, La ricerca letteraria, Torino, Einaudi, 1996, pp. 469-490
Unit B: Travel literature
L. Clerici, Introduzione, in Il viaggiatore meravigliato, edited by L. Clerici, Milano, Luni Editrice, 2023, pp. 9-33
L. Clerici, Una inaffidabile viaggiatrice visionaria e Notizia sul testo, in A.M. Ortese, La lente scura, Milano, Adelphi, 2004, pp. 455-465 and pp. 469-478
Unit C: Not only journalism
Students must read one of the following critical essays:
A. Papuzzi, Letteratura e giornalismo, Bari, Laterza, 1998
R. Kapuściński, Autoritratto di un reporter, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2008
For students who have chosen Viaggio in Italia by G. Piovene:
C. Martignoni, I cinquant'anni del "Viaggio in Italia" di Guido Piovene, in "La modernità letteraria", n. 1, 2008, pp. 175-187
For students who have chosien Tutti al mare by M. Serra one of the following critical essays:
R. Ricorda, La letteratura di viaggio in Italia, Brescia, La Scuola, 2012, chapter I (Il viaggio e la scrittura), pp. 7-27
C. Milanesi, Représentations italiennes. Les reportages de Michele Serra (1985), Giorgio Bocca (1992) et Vittorio Zucconi (1993), in "Italies. Revue d'études italiennes", n. 1, 1996, pp. 115-143
Assessment methods and Criteria
Oral test/Interview. The oral test is based on the discussion of the topics included in the syllabus. Students are required to have good knowlwdge of the works and the skill to analyse them critically showing methodological awareness with reference to the 20th century literary output.
Assessement criteria: clear answers using appropriate language; ability to use critical thinking.
Evaluation will be based on marks; maximum score 30. The exame is passed with 18/30.
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course. Also students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
Assessement criteria: clear answers using appropriate language; ability to use critical thinking.
Evaluation will be based on marks; maximum score 30. The exame is passed with 18/30.
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course. Also students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
L-FIL-LET/11 - CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professor:
Clerici Luca
Professor(s)