Learning objectives
Students will acquire the ability to situate “Wann-Chlore” in Balzac’s intellectual biography. They will be able to recognise in this novel main themes of “La Comédie humaine”. By following the development of Balzac’s ideas and art, they will be able to grasp the original outline of a piece of work that reelaborates many cultural and philosophical topics of his historical context. They will also become familiar with Balzacian criticism and they will become aware of its plurality of methods and approaches. They will also be encouraged to concentrate in a self-critical perspective on the recent critical orientations mos congenial to them.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
The course will follow Balzac’s formation in 1820s. Through the analysis of the novel Wann-Chlore, it shall reconstruct the development of several of Balzac’s fundamental themes (love, marriage, family). It will also investigate the influence of « mélodrame » on Balzac ‘s early works. Balzac’s vision will be realted to its sources (J.J. Rousseau, Thomas Moore, Goethe). We shall focus in particular on the relationship existing between the philosophical dimension and the thematic and textual one.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Honoré de Balzac, Premiers romans, 1822-1825, t. 2, Robert Laffont, coll. Bouquins, Paris, 1999. L'édition a été établie par André Lorant.
The Melodramatic Imagination: Balzac, Henry James, Melodrama, and the Mode of Excess. By PETER BROOKS. New Haven and London: Yale University Press 1976
Teaching methods
Traditional. The course consists of lectures, during which the presentation of historical and literary contents will be supplemented by commentary and analysis of extracts from texts in the original language. The LEA platform will be used in order to make available critical materials and offer bibliographical suggestions to enable students to carry out personal investigations of the course content.
Assessment methods and criteria
The knowledge acquired during the course will be assessed through an oral exam in Italian. Specialist students of French will be asked to read and translate passages in the texts studied in the original language. The following knowledge and skills will be assessed:
- knowledge about the authors and works covered in the course and their accurate insertion into historical and cultural contexts;
- the ability to express content in correct Italian, using the appropriate terminology of literary studies;
- an adequate level in the ability to analyze and rework the basic contents in an autonomous way.
A fail is determined by the absence, demonstrated by the student during the oral examination, of the ability to understand the basic contents of the course, the lack of autonomous preparation and the inability to solve problems related to information retrieval and the decoding of complex texts, as well as the formulation of independent judgments.
A pass (18-23/30) is determined by the ability, demonstrated by the student, to have acquired the basic content of the course, a sufficient level of autonomous preparation, an acceptable ability to solve problems related to information retrieval and the decoding of texts, as well as the formulation of independent judgment. Middle-range marks (24-27/30) are assigned to those student who produce evidence of more than sufficient (24-25/30) or good (26-27/30) levels in the evaluation indicators listed above. Upper-end marks (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) are awarded on the basis of the demonstration of a very good to an excellent level in the evaluation indicators listed above.
Other information
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