BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
To develop the student’s learning abilities, his/her communication skills and the ability to formulate judgements that include reflections on relevant cultural and literary issues connected to the literary representation of countries where people speak the languages studied in the course in Oriental Languages and Cultures (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese).
Course Prerequisites
A solid basic knowledge of Italian literature from the eighteenth to the twentieth century is required, through good high school material.
Teaching Methods
The course includes 36 hours of lectures. The teacher will present some exemplary texts and critically analyse them in order to provide interpretative keys that students can apply independently for the critical reading of other similar texts. In some cases, especially for the explanation of complex methodological issues, the teacher makes use of PowerPoint presentations to be found in the e-learning page of the course.
Assessment Methods
The exam will take the form of a written test about the topics of the course (authors, texts, topics). Students must answer in one hour and three quarters.
The test will consist of six open questions. The last one will propose a short literary passage the student must comment on according to the interpretative keys used by the teacher during his lectures. The student must show his/her learning skills and the ability to formulate judgments that include reflections on relevant cultural and literary issues connected to the representation of "The Orient" in Italian literature of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
The final grade is assigned according to the following criteria:
1) for each answer the student will achieve from 0 to 5 points;
2) each answer is evaluated according to:
I. pertinence
II. ability to synthesize
III. correct use of language
The final grade will be published online according to the procedures described before the exam.
The exam schedule is online (see the page of the course in Foreign languages, literatures and cultures).
Erasmus students must contact the teacher to agree on a differentiated program and exam methods.
Contents
This course for students of Oriental languages (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese) aims to investigate how Italian literature of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries has represented the Middle and Far East through fictional distorsions, Eurocentric and colonialist perspectives. A special attention will be paid to literary works witnessing an effort to understand Oriental countries in their antropological, cultural, social economic and political aspects.
Bibliography:
- Carlo Goldoni, "La sposa persiana. Ircana in Julfa. Ircana in Ispaan", a cura di Marzia Pieri, Venezia, Marsilio, 1996 [prima edizione/editio princeps: 1756], nelle parti che verranno indicate.
- Carlo Goldoni, "L’impresario delle Smirne", a cura di Paologiovanni Maione, Venezia, Marsilio, 2018 [prima edizione/editio princeps: 1759].
- Matilde Serao, "Ricordi di Palestina. Un viaggio nel paese di Gesù", Milano, Messaggerie Pontremolesi, 1989 [prima edizione/editio princeps: 1898], nelle parti che verranno indicate.
- Emilio Salgari, "Le stragi della China" o "Il sotterraneo della morte", illustrazioni di Corrado Sarri, Milano, Fabbri, 2007, disponibile online: https://archive.org/details/IlSotterraneoDellaMorte/page/n1/mode/2up [prima edizione/editio princeps: 1901].
- Annie Vivanti, "Terra di Cleopatra", Milano, Mondadori, 1943 [prima edizione/editio princeps: 1925], nelle parti che verranno indicate.
- Enrico Pea, "Rosalia", Firenze, Vallecchi, 1984 [prima edizione/editio princeps: 1943].
- Alessandro Baricco, "Seta", Milano, Feltrinelli, 2022 [prima edizione/editio princeps: 1996].
Non-attending students can enrich their knowledge through the full reading of:
- Angelo Pellegrino, "Verso Oriente: viaggi e letteratura degli scrittori italiani nei paesi orientali (1912-1982)", Milano, La vita felice, 2018 (nelle parti che verranno indicate nel programma dettagliato).
- Attilio Brilli, I"l viaggio in Oriente", Bologna, Il mulino, 2012 (nelle parti che verranno indicate nel programma dettagliato).
- Jolanta Dygul, "La Persia di Carlo Goldoni", in "Pensées orientale et occidentale: influences et complémentarité II", a cura di Alicja Paleta, Dorota Pudo, Anna Rzepka, Cracovie, Ksiegarnia Akademicka, 2021, pp. 69-83.
- Daniela De Liso, "«Nel paese di Gesù». I luoghi nella scrittura di Matilde Serao", in "Nuove letture per Matilde Serao", Atti del convegno, Università di Napoli Federico II, 17-18 ottobre 2018, a cura di Patricia Bianchi e Giovanni Maffei, «Critica letteraria», XLVII, IV, 185, 2019, pp. 893-906.
- Bruno Pischedda, "Ritratti critici di contemporanei: Annie Vivant", «Belfagor», XLVI, 1, 1991, pp. 45-64.
- Giona Tuccini, "Annotazioni critiche su «Rosalia»", in Id., "Nostalgia dell’abisso. I romanzi di Enrico Pea degli anni Trenta", Roma, Carocci, 2021, pp. 87-107.
- Federica Spadotto, "Alle radici dell’Orientalismo: itinerario figurativo tra arte e costume nella pittura veneta del Settecento", «Bollettino dei Musei Civici Veneziani», III serie, 9-10.2014/15, numero monografico, Scritti in onore di Filippo Pedrocco, pp. 95-103.
- "Gli orientalisti italiani. Cento anni di esotismo. 1830-1940", a cura di Rossanna Bossaglia, Venezia, Marsilio, 1998 (nelle parti che verranno indicate nel programma dettagliato).
The lecture notes and the slides projected during them are an integral part of the exam material; the slides will be made available to students on the E-learning platform.
The detailed critical bibliography will be communicated during the lessons and published at the end of the course in Moodle.
At the end of the course, the list of possible questions that will be used for the written test will also be published.
The course program will expire after three years. Students with expired programs should contact the teacher.
Online Resources
More information
Attendance is strongly recommended.
Students are reminded that the Added Educational Obligation (OFA) of Italian must be compulsorily fulfilled before taking the exam in Italian Literature and Orientalism.
The course is valid for three years. After three years the student will necessarily have to adopt the program for the current year. Never it is possible to choose the year of the exam independently of the year of attendance.