French Literature 2
A.Y. 2019/2020
Learning objectives
Through the study of some exemplary works of great French authors of modernity, the course aims to deepen some fundamental questions - the relationship between literature and reality (individual and collective), the role of literature in society, the relationship of literature with the other arts and with the human sciences - identifying lines of continuity and revolutionary fractures, from the 18th century to the 20th century.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge:
1) knowledge of the essential lines of development of the French literature of the considered period, with a focus on the authors and the works object of analysis; 2) understanding of the interrelationships between works, authors, literary and cultural movements
Skills:
ability to read a literary text 1) recognizing the identifying characteristics of a personal style; 2) identifying themes and styles attributable to a cultural climate and a historical era; 3) linking it to other texts by the same author and by different authors.
1) knowledge of the essential lines of development of the French literature of the considered period, with a focus on the authors and the works object of analysis; 2) understanding of the interrelationships between works, authors, literary and cultural movements
Skills:
ability to read a literary text 1) recognizing the identifying characteristics of a personal style; 2) identifying themes and styles attributable to a cultural climate and a historical era; 3) linking it to other texts by the same author and by different authors.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
The course is titled: The misunderstood, the flâneur, the esthete: (self) portraits of the artist in nineteenth-century French prose
and is composed of three teaching units:
A: Balzac and the prophetic masterpiece
B: Baudelaire and the modern artist
C: À rebours by Huysmans: existence as an artwork
The analysis of the artist's portraits that three great 19th-century authors have made in some of their works - somehow mirroring in these representations - will be the privileged perspective through which to observe the evolution of the conception of art - in its relationship with reality and society - in the nineteenth century:
from the mad ideal of perfection of the Balzachian Frenhofer, precursor of the future great pictorial revolutions (teaching unit A), to the feverish modernity of the Baudelairian Constantine Guys, immersed in the city crowd, to the obsessive and neurotic cult of the artifice of Des Esseintes by Huysmans , whose creation consists in the preparation of the dwelling in which to live separate from the world.
and is composed of three teaching units:
A: Balzac and the prophetic masterpiece
B: Baudelaire and the modern artist
C: À rebours by Huysmans: existence as an artwork
The analysis of the artist's portraits that three great 19th-century authors have made in some of their works - somehow mirroring in these representations - will be the privileged perspective through which to observe the evolution of the conception of art - in its relationship with reality and society - in the nineteenth century:
from the mad ideal of perfection of the Balzachian Frenhofer, precursor of the future great pictorial revolutions (teaching unit A), to the feverish modernity of the Baudelairian Constantine Guys, immersed in the city crowd, to the obsessive and neurotic cult of the artifice of Des Esseintes by Huysmans , whose creation consists in the preparation of the dwelling in which to live separate from the world.
Prerequisites for admission
The course, which is partially taught in French, the materials and the exam bibliography presuppose literary history and critical analysis skills gained in previous courses.
Teaching methods
The course adopts the following teaching methods: frontal lessons; reading and commenting on passages from the works indicated in the program; analysis of textual and iconographic documents that serve to support the understanding of the works.
Teaching Resources
Exam program for attending students
Teaching unit A
- H. de Balzac, Le chef-d'œuvre inconnu, édition d'A. Goetz, Paris, Gallimard ("folio"), 2014.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
Teaching unit B
- Ch. Baudelaire, Il pittore della vita moderna, a cura di G. Violato, con testo francese a fronte, Firenze, Marsilio, 1994.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
Teaching unit C
- J-K. Huysmans, À rebours, Paris, Gallimard, édition de M. Fumaroli, Paris, Gallimard ("folio"), 1977.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
Exam program for non-attending students
Teaching unit A
- H. de Balzac, Le chef-d'œuvre inconnu, édition d'A. Goetz, Paris, Gallimard ("folio"), 2014.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
- G. Gengembre, Balzac. Le Napoléon des lettres, Paris, Gallimard ("Découvertes Gallimard"), 1992
Teaching unit B
- Ch. Baudelaire, Il pittore della vita moderna, a cura di G. Violato, con testo francese a fronte, Firenze, Marsilio, 1994.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
- R. Kopp, Baudelaire. Le soleil noir de la modernité, Paris, Gallimard ("Découvertes Gallimard"), 2004
Teaching unit C
- J-K. Huysmans, À rebours, Paris, Gallimard, édition de M. Fumaroli, Paris, Gallimard ("folio"), 1977.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
- D. Grojnowski commente À rebours de J-K. Huysmans, Paris, Gallimard ("Foliothèque"), 1996
Teaching unit A
- H. de Balzac, Le chef-d'œuvre inconnu, édition d'A. Goetz, Paris, Gallimard ("folio"), 2014.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
Teaching unit B
- Ch. Baudelaire, Il pittore della vita moderna, a cura di G. Violato, con testo francese a fronte, Firenze, Marsilio, 1994.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
Teaching unit C
- J-K. Huysmans, À rebours, Paris, Gallimard, édition de M. Fumaroli, Paris, Gallimard ("folio"), 1977.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
Exam program for non-attending students
Teaching unit A
- H. de Balzac, Le chef-d'œuvre inconnu, édition d'A. Goetz, Paris, Gallimard ("folio"), 2014.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
- G. Gengembre, Balzac. Le Napoléon des lettres, Paris, Gallimard ("Découvertes Gallimard"), 1992
Teaching unit B
- Ch. Baudelaire, Il pittore della vita moderna, a cura di G. Violato, con testo francese a fronte, Firenze, Marsilio, 1994.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
- R. Kopp, Baudelaire. Le soleil noir de la modernité, Paris, Gallimard ("Découvertes Gallimard"), 2004
Teaching unit C
- J-K. Huysmans, À rebours, Paris, Gallimard, édition de M. Fumaroli, Paris, Gallimard ("folio"), 1977.
- An anthology of critical texts that will be uploaded to the Ariel platform
- D. Grojnowski commente À rebours de J-K. Huysmans, Paris, Gallimard ("Foliothèque"), 1996
Assessment methods and Criteria
The oral exam - part of which (chosen by the student) must be conducted in French - consists of an interview on all three teaching units. It will start from reading and commenting on a passage (chosen by the teacher), taken from one of the texts in the program, and then broadening the discussion to the other texts envisaged in the program. The exam will be aimed at assessing the ability to comment on a literary text, to frame it within the work and poetics of its author and to insert it in a broader historical-cultural context, comparing it with the other texts included in the program.
The final mark is expressed in thirtieths, and the student has the right to refuse it (in this case it will be recorded as "withdrawn")
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to promptly contact the teacher in charge of the course.
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be agreed with the teacher, in agreement with the competent Office.
The final mark is expressed in thirtieths, and the student has the right to refuse it (in this case it will be recorded as "withdrawn")
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to promptly contact the teacher in charge of the course.
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be agreed with the teacher, in agreement with the competent Office.
Unita' didattica A
L-LIN/03 - FRENCH LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-LIN/03 - FRENCH LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-LIN/03 - FRENCH LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)