Programme

A phenomenon that has been largely overlooked in academic literary studies as well as in current historical accounts of contemporary Italian literature is that of so-called Beat literature. While the national reception of the poetry and fiction of the American Beat Generation has sparked critical interest, the Italian phase of the movement represented by authors who were inspired by Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac has yet to be situated within the context of Italian literature. Dismissed as a phenomenon of purely sociological interest—a view that was, incidentally, also held in the United States at the time of the Beat writers’ initial emergence—the rise in Italy, albeit almost exclusively within an underground circuit, of a handful of authors who did not fit into the national literary landscape risks leaving no tangible trace. Yet this was a movement that soon transcended the boundaries of literature—moving toward Pop Art, for example—to become a cultural phenomenon and the first manifestation of pop culture in our country. This course aims to investigate the reasons for this gap and to offer a fresh portrait of that generation of experimenters in literature and in life.

Core Documentation

R. Palumbo Mosca, Che cos'è la non fiction, Carocci, 2023
L. Marchese, L'io possibile. L'autofiction come paradosso del romanzo contemporaneo, Transeuropa, 2014

A

A. Franchini, L'abusivo
W. Siti, La natura è innocente
N. Lagioia, La città dei vivi

B
E. Affinati, Campo del sangue
W Siti, Troppi paradisi
T. Ciabatti, La più amata


(two novels of your choice, one per section: any edition

Attendance

La partecipazione all’attività didattica è libera e non verrà registrata dal docente. La frequenza è necessaria ma non obbligatoria.

Type of evaluation

The final examination will be carried out through an individual oral interview.

Programme

A phenomenon that has been largely overlooked in academic literary studies as well as in current historical accounts of contemporary Italian literature is that of so-called Beat literature. While the national reception of the poetry and fiction of the American Beat Generation has sparked critical interest, the Italian phase of the movement represented by authors who were inspired by Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac has yet to be situated within the context of Italian literature. Dismissed as a phenomenon of purely sociological interest—a view that was, incidentally, also held in the United States at the time of the Beat writers’ initial emergence—the rise in Italy, albeit almost exclusively within an underground circuit, of a handful of authors who did not fit into the national literary landscape risks leaving no tangible trace. Yet this was a movement that soon transcended the boundaries of literature—moving toward Pop Art, for example—to become a cultural phenomenon and the first manifestation of pop culture in our country. This course aims to investigate the reasons for this gap and to offer a fresh portrait of that generation of experimenters in literature and in life.

Core Documentation

R. Palumbo Mosca, Che cos'è la non fiction, Carocci, 2023
L. Marchese, L'io possibile. L'autofiction come paradosso del romanzo contemporaneo, Transeuropa, 2014

A

A. Franchini, L'abusivo
W. Siti, La natura è innocente
N. Lagioia, La città dei vivi

B
E. Affinati, Campo del sangue
W Siti, Troppi paradisi
T. Ciabatti, La più amata


(two novels of your choice, one per section: any edition

Attendance

La partecipazione all’attività didattica è libera e non verrà registrata dal docente. La frequenza è necessaria ma non obbligatoria.

Type of evaluation

The final examination will be carried out through an individual oral interview.