This module focuses on comparative and interdisciplinary approaches to modern and contemporary Italian literature, including the study of genres, forms, and themes. It provides a space for advanced, research-based learning in literary and cultural studies. The following fields, in particular, will be explored: modern and contemporay Italian literature in the wider context of world literature, transnational cultural exchanges and lines of influence, scholarly approaches in the environmental humanities, literary and cultural theory, material and visual cultures, reception studies, intermediality. Students will be guided towards independent scholarly inquiry, dialogue, and creative-critical practice.
teacher profile teaching materials
Primo Levi. Il sistema periodico (1975).
Giorgio Manganelli. Centuria: cento piccoli romanzi fiume (1979).
Goffredo Parise. Sillabari (1972 / 1982).
Jhumpa Lahiri. Dove mi trovo (2018).
Programme
WORLD | TEXT | PLANET: This course considers fictional world-making and planetary realism in literary texts that are arranged as kaleidoscopic assemblages of short prose narratives. We will pay specific attention to self-reflective engagement with fictional world-making and ecological thinking about the limits and boundaries of planetary habitability. We are going to focus on the following questions: what is the relation between fictional worlds and the single material world that they share? What is the relation between fictional worlds and social systems? What happens when the diegetic totality of a fictional world is fragmented into numerous micronarratives? How can such texts be located and evaluated in relation to the extradiegetic world? What is the relation between world and planet? Literary works by Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, Giorgio Manganelli, Goffredo Parise will provide a basis for focused discussion. Jhumpa Lahiri’s Dove mi trovo, offers a pertinent example of contemporary engagement with related questions, and opens new avenues for inquiry.Core Documentation
Italo Calvino. Le città invisibili (1972).Primo Levi. Il sistema periodico (1975).
Giorgio Manganelli. Centuria: cento piccoli romanzi fiume (1979).
Goffredo Parise. Sillabari (1972 / 1982).
Jhumpa Lahiri. Dove mi trovo (2018).
Type of delivery of the course
The course will be delivered on campus in seminar format.Attendance
Highly recommended.Type of evaluation
The course will be taught in English. Primary literature should be read in Italian, where possible. Assessment will consist of a compulsory coursework essay in English or in Italian (2.500 words), which must be submitted to the course tutor at least one week prior to the oral examination. The oral examination will focus on the coursework essay, and may take place in English or in Italian, depending on the student’s preference.