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
What remains of humanism today? The course considers diverse representations of the relation between humans and more-than-human nature. It explores the idea of the ontological singularity of the human, either as a biological species (homo) or as a planetary super-agent (anthropos) and argues for a perspective that is centred on companionship and shared vulnerability. Students will gain familiarity with leading thinkers in the field of posthumanism (Rosi Braidotti; Bruno Latour; Donna Haraway) and transhumanism, and will explore important differences between these two currents of thought. Works by Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, and Elsa Morante will provide a basis for discussion.
Primo Levi. Il sommersi e i salvati (1986).
Elsa Morante. Aracoeli (1982).
Programme
HUMANISM AND ITS AFTERLIVES:What remains of humanism today? The course considers diverse representations of the relation between humans and more-than-human nature. It explores the idea of the ontological singularity of the human, either as a biological species (homo) or as a planetary super-agent (anthropos) and argues for a perspective that is centred on companionship and shared vulnerability. Students will gain familiarity with leading thinkers in the field of posthumanism (Rosi Braidotti; Bruno Latour; Donna Haraway) and transhumanism, and will explore important differences between these two currents of thought. Works by Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, and Elsa Morante will provide a basis for discussion.
Core Documentation
Italo Calvino. Palomar (1983).Primo Levi. Il sommersi e i salvati (1986).
Elsa Morante. Aracoeli (1982).
Reference Bibliography
THEORETICAL TEXTS Rosi Braidotti, The Posthuman (2013) Donna Haraway, Staying with the Trouble (2016) Bruno Latour, After Lockdown (2021) ANTHOLOGY Mads Rosendahl Thomsen (ed.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Posthumanism (2020).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.