ITALIAN LITERATURE AND INTERCULTURALITY - 13R009

courses
ID:
13R009
Dettaglio:
SSD: Italian Literature Duration: 54 CFU: 9
Located in:
BERGAMO
Url:
MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES - 13-R/STUDI INTERCULTURALI E TRANSMEDIALI Year: 1
Year:
2026

Overview

Date/time interval

Primo Semestre (21/09/2026 - 15/01/2027)

Syllabus

Course Objectives

Upon completion of the course, students will have acquired the critical tools necessary for the historical and literary contextualisation, reading, analysis, and commentary of selected texts related to intercultural and intermedial processes in Italian literary production. The course thus aims to develop students’ learning skills, oral and written presentation abilities, and capacity to formulate independent analyses of texts and themes in Italian literature.


Course Prerequisites

A solid basic knowledge of Italian literature from the Fourteenth to the Seventeenth century is required, as acquired through a good upper-secondary school textbook. Detailed biographical profiles of the authors discussed in class will be provided during the course.

Teaching Methods

Il corso si svolge in 54 ore di lezioni frontali. Il docente presenta alcuni testi esemplari e li analizza criticamente in modo da fornire chiavi interpretative che gli studenti potranno applicare anche per la lettura di altri testi analoghi. Per le questioni metodologiche più complesse, il docente si avvale delle presentazioni PowerPoint che saranno a disposizione sulla piattaforma Moodle e che sono parte integrante dell’esame.

Oltre ai testi indicati, verrà fornita durante il corso una raccolta antologica di testi, che verrà pubblicata sulla piattaforma E-learning.

Al termine delle lezioni sarà disponibile un programma dettagliato con argomenti, testi e autori da preparare per l’esame.


Assessment Methods

The examination will take the form of a written test on the reference texts and on the topics addressed during the course: authors, works, and critical issues.

The written examination consists of six open-ended questions. In the final question, students will be presented with a short literary passage, which they will be required to identify and comment on in the light of the interpretative frameworks provided during the course. Assessment will take into account the critical and historical knowledge acquired, as well as students’ ability to present their arguments clearly and effectively. Students will be expected to demonstrate that they have developed adequate learning skills and are able to formulate, including independently, critical judgements on major issues related to the representation of the East in Italian literature from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.

Marks will be awarded according to the following criteria:

1)   each of the five answers may be awarded between 0 and 5 points;

2)   each answer will be assessed in terms of:

I. relevance;

II. ability to summarise;

III. command of appropriate language and terminology.

The final result, expressed as a mark out of thirty, will be communicated to students through the electronic procedures indicated before the examination.

The examination schedule is available on the degree programme’s online page.

Duration of the examination: 120 minutes.

Erasmus students are kindly requested to contact the instructor in order to agree on a differentiated syllabus and examination procedures.


Contents

The course, designed for students in the Intercultural Processes track, aims to investigate the relationship between word and image in selected classics of Italian literature. For a number of works of Italian literature, the course will briefly outline their compositional features, textual history, and aspects relating to poetics and style. Subsequently, particularly significant anthology excerpts will be analysed; these will be compared with selected graphic rewritings — paintings, illustrated editions, comics, and so forth — in order to examine how the text is interpreted, commented on, and reworked through images.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
For a general overview of each author, students should refer to the relevant volumes of G. ALFANO, P. ITALIA, E. RUSSO, F. TOMASI, Letteratura italiana, Milano, Mondadori Università, 2024 (Vol. I: pp. 243-300, 411-415, 512-566; vol. II, pp. 8-54, 113-116).

Reference editions of the literary texts (which will be made available to students on the course e-learning platform in copyright-free editions):
- G. BOCCACCIO, Decameron, introduzione e note di A. Quondam; testo critico e nota al testo a cura di M. Fiorilla; schede introduttive e notizia biografica di G. Alfano, Milano, BUR Rizzoli, 2013 [solo novelle indicate].
- L. PULCI, Morgante, introduzione e note di G. Dego, Milano, BUR Rizzoli, 2018 [solo canti indicati].
- L. ARIOSTO, Orlando furioso, introduzione e commento di E. Bigi, a cura di C. Zampese, Milano, Bur Rizzoli, 2021 [solo per i canti indicati a lezione].
- Orlando furioso di LUDOVICO ARIOSTO raccontato da ITALO CALVINO, con una scelta del poema, Milano, Mondadori, 2020 (o ed. precedenti).
- T. TASSO, Gerusalemme liberata, a cura di F. Tomasi, Milano, BUR Rizzoli, 2010; oppure T. TASSO, Gerusalemme liberata, introduzione e cura di C. Gigante, commento e introduzioni ai canti di T. Artico, Milano, Mondadori, 2022 [solo canti indicati].
- A. TASSONI, La secchia rapita, a cura di D. Provenzal, Milano, Rizzoli, 1950 [solo canti indicati].
- Classici della Letteratura Disney: Paperin Furioso, 57, 8 Marzo 2025; Paperopoli liberata, 11, 7 Giugno 2025.

Required additional texts for non-attending students:
- Boccaccio visualizzato, a cura di V. Branca, Torino, Einaudi, 1999 (nelle parti indicate).
- N. CATELLI, Le faville del battaglio. Sulle edizioni illustrate del «Morgante», L’Italianistica oggi: ricerca e didattica, Roma, Adi editore, 2017, pp. 1-21.
- N. CATELLI, Aspetti della fortuna editoriale e iconografica del Morgante, in In principio era Pulci. Studi sulla fortuna di Luigi Pulci in Italia e in Europa, a cura di G. Bucchi, E. Pezzini e . Stanga, Pisa, ETS, 2024, pp. 73-96.
- «L’Orlando furioso» nello specchio delle immagini, a cura di L. Bolzoni, Roma, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 2014 (pp. 35-68; pp. 1541-182).
- Le incisioni della «Gerusalemme liberata» dal secolo XVI al XVIII, a cura di Alfonso Paolella, Castellammare di Stabia (NA), Eidos Longobardi, 2017 (nelle parti indicate).
- A. DI BENEDETTO, Lo sguardo di Armida. Un’icona della Gerusalemme liberata, «Lettere Italiane», 53, 2001, 1, pp. 39-48.
- P. PULIATTI, Iconografia tassoniana. La fortuna grafica della «Secchia rapita», Modena-Milano, Artioli, 1965 (nelle parti indicate).
- P. PETRIOLI, Una curiosa sfilata di soldatacci mangiati dalla fame e pidocchiosi. Le illustrazioni di Alberto Martini per «La secchia rapita», «CentoPagine», V, 2011, pp. 73-79.

During the course, an anthology of texts will be provided; these texts will be discussed in class and will constitute an integral part of the syllabus.
Lecture notes and the slides presented in class are an integral part of the examination material; the slides will be made available to students on the Moodle platform at the end of the course.
The detailed critical bibliography will be announced during the lectures and published on Moodle at the end of the course.

Online Resources

More information

  • Attendance is strongly recommended.
  • Students are reminded that the Additional Learning Requirement (OFA) in Italian must be fulfilled before sitting the examination in Italian Literature and Orientalism.
  • The course syllabus will remain valid for three years. Students whose syllabi have expired must contact the course instructor.



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ITALIAN LITERATURE AND INTERCULTURALITY