Learning objectives
The course aims to provide the student with in-depth knowledge of the essentials of the history of Spanish literature from its origins until the first half of the sixteenth century, making it possible to understand literary phenomena, deepen the study of the authors and analyze the texts studied during the course. Particularly, the student learns to:
-know the main authors, works, movements of Spanish literature from its origins to the first half of the sixteenth century;
-understand and analyze poetry, drama and narrative (in the original language);
-find, understand and re-elaborate autonomously about the issued mentioned, using the bibliography;
-express and discuss in Italian contents and analysis, and make judgements on the issues studied, using an appropriate linguistic register and the specific vocabulary of literary studies;
-apply the skills developed in the course to the literary texts autonomously studied.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
The course covers the Spanish literature from its origins to the first half of the sixteenth century, of which the major literary phenomena, the authors and the most significant works will be studied. During the lessons, emphasis will be given the analysis of the poetic work of Garcilaso de la Vega (1501-1536), the greatest exponent of Petrarchan poetry in Castilian. The first part of the course will illustrate the receiving mode, dissemination and development of Petrarchism in Spanish poetic panorama, in order to highlight the revolutionary impact of formal and thematic innovations introduced by Garcilaso in the Spanish poetry of the first half of the sixteenth century, through a comparison with the previous poetic production as well. The second part of the course will be devoted to reading, in the original language, and commenting a selection of texts by Garcilaso (sonnets, songs and eclogues).
Students are also required individual study of a manual of Spanish literature (which will deepen their knowledge of the historical and cultural, artistic and literary movements and of the authors of the period), and some poetic and narrative works (in the Italian translation or in Spanish with Italian text). The detailed list of the works will be in the examination program which will be available on the website of the Area of Foreign Languages and Literatures from the beginning of the lessons.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Garcilaso de la Vega, “Poesie complete. Volume I: Le liriche”, ed. by Mario Di Pinto, Napoli, Liguori, 2004 - also available in eBook format (for the texts analyzed during the course); and Pier Luigi Crovetto, “Cultura spagnola”, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 2007, pp. 9-117 (for the history of culture and literature). During the course and in the examination program additional bibliographic information will be provided.
Teaching methods
The lectures, in Italian, will be used to illustrate the historic and cultural context, the authors and the selected works, and to guide the student in the use of the bibliography, which will be deepened through individual study; the lectures will also present the Spanish texts, that will be read, translated and analyzed by the professor, stimulating at the same time the intervention of the students.
Assessment methods and criteria
The verification of knowledge and skills is achieved through an oral test in Italian and Spanish. The knowledge and skills verified through the test are:
-the knowledge of the historical and cultural context, of literary phenomena, authors and texts of the period taken into consideration, including through an individual study and autonomous re-elaboration of contents;
-the skill of reading, understanding and analyzing the literary texts presented during the course;
-a good oral competence in Italian language, above all related to language and register appropriate to the exposition of literary contents.
The oral test is intended to evaluate the acquisition of the knowledge and competence required, the ability to process them and use them independently, and the ability to apply them to text analysis.
Therefore, an evaluation of failure is determined by a lack of knowledge of the minimum requirements established by the course and of the ability to re-elaborate them independently, by the lack of understanding and analysis of the texts studied and adequate oral competence in Italian and Spanish. A sufficient evaluation (18-23/30) is determined by the acquisition of the minimum requirements established by the course, by the demonstration of a sufficient capacity for autonomous re-elaboration and understanding and analysis of the texts, and sufficient oral competence in Italian and Spanish. An average evaluation (24-27/30) is determined by the achievement of a more than sufficient (24-25/30) or good (26-27/30) level of the indicators above. A high evaluation (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) is determined by the achievement of a very good to excellent level of the same evaluation indicators.
Other information
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