Learning objectives
The aim of the course is to provide students with a toolbox of knowledge about the concrete functioning of literature, as a discipline finalized to represent and reflect the complex reality of human (individual and social) experience. Knowledge and ability to understand: to know (through a precise reading) the texts studied, to activate the progressive understanding of their discursive and rhetorical structure; to acquire the ability to situate these texts in the historical-cultural context that produced them, giving account of their macrotextual functioning and of the stylistic and problematic stratification underlying the strategies pursued by the author.
Knowledge, skills and understanding: oriented to critical decoding with the additional contribution of the human sciences.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: being able to carry out, in a progressively autonomous way, a critical reflection on the questions and problems contained in the texts studied, in order to an historical-literary and historical-cultural perspective.
Autonomy of judgment: this is the main transversal objective of the course.
Communicative skills: to be able to express an autonomous reflection on themes and problems at the heart of the literary texts in subject, with the appropriate selection of focused examples, in a language that is not necessarily technical, but capable of giving a coherent account of the many characteristics of a text, with relevance and richness of references (also taken from the field of other human sciences).
Learning skills: in proportion to the individual abilities.
Prerequisites
None
Course unit content
Paradox and estrangement in modern literature: four case-studies between eighteenth and twentieth century.
Full programme
See under: "Contents" and "Reference texts".
Bibliography
Full reading of the following four literary works:
1) Jonathan Swift, Una modesta proposta, edited by Luciana Pirè, Marsilio, Venezia 2015;
2) Gustave Flaubert, Bouvard et Pécuchet, edited and translated by Bruno Nacci, Garzanti, Milano 2020;
3) Aldo Palazzeschi, Il controdolore (1913) [The PDF-text will be made available, on the "Elly" platform, at the beginning of the course];
4) Gianni Celati, Verso la foce, Feltrinelli, Milano 2018.
Teaching methods
Traditional lesson conducted in a heuristic-Socratic way. During the lessons, selected passages of the texts in the program will be examined, drawing observations from them in order to establish the cultural context, themes and problems, the rhetorical structure such as the stylistic peculiarities. Through the analysis and continuous exchange with the audience, students' critical and expressive skills and autonomy of judgment will be stressed.
In-depth seminars, focused on particular aspects of the course, will be held alongside the lessons, even with the counterpoint of scholars invited from other universities.
Assessment methods and criteria
Oral exam.
The final test will consist of an oral interview; elements of evaluation will be:
- The ability to clearly and tightly explain, with full appropriateness of vocabulary, characteristics, contents and problems of a literary text; particular importance will be given to logical and communicative skills and to the perception of stylistic devices;
- The ability to place the texts in the correct historical framework, developing personal reflections, in an articulated and non-arbitrary way, on aspects and themes involved in such texts.
The threshold of sufficiency is defined by the presence of both of these parameters:
a. Effective full reading of the texts in the program;
b. Effective understanding of the first literal level of the text submitted for student's reading during the exam.
Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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