Italian Literature
A.Y. 2021/2022
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with a critical knowledge of the main elements of the Italian literary system, from the Origins to the Seventeenth century, following the tradition and development of models, themes, forms.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course the student must know the fundamental aspects and issues of Italian literature from the Origins to the Seventeenth century, with a proper historic contextualization and specific reference to genres, themes and poetics, authors and works, methods of transmission of texts and their philological problems. Furthermore, the student will have to know the tools (metric elements, rhetoric, style theory and narratology) and the critical methodologies necessary to analyse and interpret the texts.
The student will then have to demonstrate the ability to understand and analyse literary texts (in their thematic and formal aspects), framing them in their respective contexts. Likewise, the student must demonstrate competence in the comprehension and use of literary essays, ability to identify the bibliography and to make use of the main tools of bibliographic resources, as well as the ability to communicate clearly and correctly, both in oral and written presentation, with appropriate use of scientific terminology.
The student will then have to demonstrate the ability to understand and analyse literary texts (in their thematic and formal aspects), framing them in their respective contexts. Likewise, the student must demonstrate competence in the comprehension and use of literary essays, ability to identify the bibliography and to make use of the main tools of bibliographic resources, as well as the ability to communicate clearly and correctly, both in oral and written presentation, with appropriate use of scientific terminology.
Lesson period: Second 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
(A-D)
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Specific infos regarding the teaching set-up for 2021/22 will be provided over the coming months, depending on the pandemic situation.
Course syllabus
The class is subdivided into two units.
Unit A offers some exemplary critical readings selected from the main texts of the Italian literary tradition, typically from the Middle Ages and Dante to Romanticism. Its content will be assessed in a written exam at the end of the class.
In Unit B (which may vary every year) the focus is on a specific work, author, or literary movement, treated monographically. Unit B will be the main topic of the discussion during the oral exam.
This year's class examines the literary production of two major writers of the 19th and 20th centuries, Luigi Capuana and Ennio Flaiano.
Unit A offers some exemplary critical readings selected from the main texts of the Italian literary tradition, typically from the Middle Ages and Dante to Romanticism. Its content will be assessed in a written exam at the end of the class.
In Unit B (which may vary every year) the focus is on a specific work, author, or literary movement, treated monographically. Unit B will be the main topic of the discussion during the oral exam.
This year's class examines the literary production of two major writers of the 19th and 20th centuries, Luigi Capuana and Ennio Flaiano.
Prerequisites for admission
The class is conducted entirely in Italian. Course materials and readings require an average knowledge of the main currents of Italian medieval, early modern ad modern literature, set in their historic and cultural context, with special emphasis on their literary and linguistic peculiarities.
Teaching methods
The class consists in 30 lectures. Students are strongly invited to turn in written assignments, the content of which is discussed with the teacher. These papers, though, are not mandatory.
Teaching Resources
Unit A
Course materials are uploaded in the Ariel portal: https://ariel.unimi.it
Unit B
Texts
Luigi Capuana, Il Marchese di Roccaverdina, any edition
EITHER ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TITLES:
Ennio Flaiano, Tempo di uccidere, any edition,
OR
Ennio Flaiano, La solitudine del satiro, any edition
CriticIsm
Gino Ruozzi, Ennio Flaiano. Una verità personale, Carocci
Martino Marazzi, Italexit. Saggi su Risorgimento e disunione nazionale, Franco Cesati, Firenze 2019
Additional readings for non-attending students
for Capuana, Giacinta, any edition;
and for Flaiano, either Tempo di uccidere or La solitudine del satiro, depending on the previous choice.
Course materials are uploaded in the Ariel portal: https://ariel.unimi.it
Unit B
Texts
Luigi Capuana, Il Marchese di Roccaverdina, any edition
EITHER ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TITLES:
Ennio Flaiano, Tempo di uccidere, any edition,
OR
Ennio Flaiano, La solitudine del satiro, any edition
CriticIsm
Gino Ruozzi, Ennio Flaiano. Una verità personale, Carocci
Martino Marazzi, Italexit. Saggi su Risorgimento e disunione nazionale, Franco Cesati, Firenze 2019
Additional readings for non-attending students
for Capuana, Giacinta, any edition;
and for Flaiano, either Tempo di uccidere or La solitudine del satiro, depending on the previous choice.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Written + oral exam:
a two-hour written exam on Unit A (no dictionary allowed) tests the understanding of the specificities of literary texts, as well as students' familiarity with the basics of critical scholarship, and their acquisition of a personal and grounded judgement. Clarity and rigor of the analysis is required through a proper use of the critical vocabulary.
Grades breakdown: Fail, Basic, Average, Good, Excellent.
Once the written part is completed, students can access to the oral exam (Unit B). Those who are graded as Fail will have to repeat the written exam. The oral part asks for the same learning requirements as the written part, and, in compliance with the Italian academic tradition, will be graded on a 30-point scale, from 18/30 to 30/30 cum laude.
a two-hour written exam on Unit A (no dictionary allowed) tests the understanding of the specificities of literary texts, as well as students' familiarity with the basics of critical scholarship, and their acquisition of a personal and grounded judgement. Clarity and rigor of the analysis is required through a proper use of the critical vocabulary.
Grades breakdown: Fail, Basic, Average, Good, Excellent.
Once the written part is completed, students can access to the oral exam (Unit B). Those who are graded as Fail will have to repeat the written exam. The oral part asks for the same learning requirements as the written part, and, in compliance with the Italian academic tradition, will be graded on a 30-point scale, from 18/30 to 30/30 cum laude.
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
(E-N)
Lesson period
Second semester
Regarding the modalities of the training activities for the academic year 2021/22, more specific information will be provided, in the next few months, based on the evolution of the health situation.
Course syllabus
Title of the course: Tools and texts of Italian literature (60 hours, 9 cfu)
Part A (20 hours, 3 cfu): Italian literature from XIII to early XVI century
Part B (20 hours, 3 cfu): Italian literature from late XVI century to XIX century
Part C (20 hours, 3 cfu): Giuseppe Parini's «Il giorno»
The course is aimed at undergraduate Science of Cultural Property students whose surname begins with E-N-
The teaching program of Parts A and B focuses on the history of Italian literature from Origins to Leopardi and Manzoni; the third part (Part C) is dedicated to the analysis of the satyrical poem "Il giorno" by Giuseppe Parini.
Part A (20 hours, 3 cfu): Italian literature from XIII to early XVI century
Part B (20 hours, 3 cfu): Italian literature from late XVI century to XIX century
Part C (20 hours, 3 cfu): Giuseppe Parini's «Il giorno»
The course is aimed at undergraduate Science of Cultural Property students whose surname begins with E-N-
The teaching program of Parts A and B focuses on the history of Italian literature from Origins to Leopardi and Manzoni; the third part (Part C) is dedicated to the analysis of the satyrical poem "Il giorno" by Giuseppe Parini.
Prerequisites for admission
No prerequisites for admission. Nevertheless, a good high-school background is the ideal prerequisite for the course, which, however, is also thought to amend shortcomings.
Teaching methods
The course will be taught, in Italian, through frontal lessons; attendance is not mandatory, though strongly recommended.
Parts A and B will be taught on texts included in the lecture notes. During the lessons, thanks to slide projection, the focus will be on movements, authors and works and their cultural context; on the main critical problems of every topic, through quotations from critical essays and comparisons between different positions; on tradition and reception of works and texts; on their most interesting formal aspects. All the materials will be available on Ariel (http://ariel.unimi.it).
Non-attending students must use the materials expressly indicated in this program and will have to ask the teacher for advice either by e-mail or during office hours.
Parts A and B will be taught on texts included in the lecture notes. During the lessons, thanks to slide projection, the focus will be on movements, authors and works and their cultural context; on the main critical problems of every topic, through quotations from critical essays and comparisons between different positions; on tradition and reception of works and texts; on their most interesting formal aspects. All the materials will be available on Ariel (http://ariel.unimi.it).
Non-attending students must use the materials expressly indicated in this program and will have to ask the teacher for advice either by e-mail or during office hours.
Teaching Resources
The reference text will be "Antologia della letteratura italiana. Dalla Scuola poetica siciliana a Alessandro Manzoni", edited by Gabriele Baldassari and Guglielmo Barucci, Milan, Raffaello Cortina, 2021. The book consists of sections on the history of Italian literature and a selection of texts with commentary; both segments form an integral part of the exam, along with notes and additional materials uploaded to Ariel.
A full knowledge of the historical and cultural context of works and authors is strictly necessary. A good manual for high schools with a wide anthological selection is recommended (e.g. Guglielmino-Grosser, Il sistema letterario, Milano, Principato; Grosser, Il canone letterario, Milano, Principato; Segre-Martignoni, Leggere il mondo, Milano, Bruno Mondadori; Alfano-Italia-Russo-Tomasi, Letteratura italiana, Milano, Mondadori). An excellent and compact handbook is Ferroni, Profilo storico della letteratura italiana, Torino, Einaudi; it has to be mentioned that the handbook doesn't include texts, which have to be read from other sources.
Useful reference tools will be
a) for metre and poetic forms:
- P. Beltrami, Gli strumenti della poesia, Bologna, il Mulino;
- G. Lavezzi, I numeri della poesia, Roma, Carocci;
- G. Sangirardi-F. De Rosa, Breve guida alla metrica italiana, Milano, Sansoni.
b) for rethoric:
- B. Mortara Garavelli, Prima lezione di retorica, Roma-Bari, Laterza.
Part A:
The following topics will be the subject of the exam:
Frederick II, Sicilian School and the sonnet.
Guinizelli and the canzone.
Dolce stil novo, Cavalcanti and the ballata.
Dante: Rime, Vita Nova, "rime petrose" and treaties.
Dante: Commedia.
Petrarch: Secretum, Rerum vulgarium fragmenta (composition, structure, metrics, topics, language).
Boccaccio and Decameron.
Poliziano: Stanze
Romances in ottavas (Boiardo and Inamoramento de Orlando).
Machiavelli: Principe and Mandragola
Bembo and Prose della volgar lingua.
Part B
The following topics will be the subject of the exam:
Castiglione and Il cortegiano.
Ariosto: Furioso (composition, structure, topics, language, entrelacement).
Aretino: Lettere and Ragionamenti (Sei giornate)
Guicciardini: Ricordi
Vasari: Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, architetti et scultori
Tasso: Gerusalemme liberata.
Marino and L'Adone.
Goldoni's revolution in theater.
Alfieri, tragedies and Vita.
Neoclassicism. Foscolo: sonnets, The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis and the tradition of epistolary novel, Sepolcri.
Romanticism. Manzoni: tragedies and Promessi sposi (genre, composition, topics, language).
Leopardi: Operette morali (models, style, topics) and Canti (topics and metrics).
Part C
Giuseppe Parini's "Il giorno"
Giuseppe Parini, Il giorno - Le odi, a cura di Giuseppe Nicoletti, Rizzoli, Milano, 2011
Students are asked to prove an overall knowledge of the work (writing, structure, models, themes, style); in case, an useful tool will be: Giuseppe Nicoletti, Parini, Salerno Editrice ("Sestante"), Roma, 2016
Students are also required to study two of the following papers:
1. Andrea Rondini, La salubrità della poesia. Giuseppe Parini nel giornalismo contemporaneo, "Studi sul Settecento e l'Ottocento", 5, 2010, pp. 11-23;
2. Carlo Annoni, Parini, poesia della secolarizzazione e fine della storia, "La rassegna della letteratura italiana", 2000, 1, pp. 49-75;
3. Francesco Paolo Botti, Usi e funzioni della ripetizione nel Giorno, "Critica letteraria", 2016, 3, pp. 419-434;
4. Giorgio Baroni, L'Europa del Giovin Signore, "Esperienze letterarie", 2005, 3-4, pp. 189-203.
Papers are available on the Digital Library of Università degli Studi di Milano ("Banche dati e altre risorse" > Lettera E > EIO Editoria italiana online > accessTorrossa. To use the search tool).
Students are required to show at the exam a written list of the chosen papers.
Part C (Not attending students) :
Giuseppe Parini's "Il giorno"
Giuseppe Parini, Il giorno - Le odi, a cura di Giuseppe Nicoletti, Rizzoli, Milano, 2011
Students are asked to prove an overall knowledge of the work (writing, structure, models, themes, style); in case, an useful tool will be: Giuseppe Nicoletti, Parini, Salerno Editrice ("Sestante"), Roma, 2016
Not attending students are also required to study the following papers:
1. Andrea Rondini, La salubrità della poesia. Giuseppe Parini nel giornalismo contemporaneo, "Studi sul Settecento e l'Ottocento", 5, 2010, pp. 11-23;
2. Carlo Annoni, Parini, poesia della secolarizzazione e fine della storia, "La rassegna della letteratura italiana", 2000, 1, pp. 49-75;
3. Francesco Paolo Botti, Usi e funzioni della ripetizione nel Giorno, "Critica letteraria", 2016, 3, pp. 419-434;
4. Giorgio Baroni, L'Europa del Giovin Signore, "Esperienze letterarie", 2005, 3-4, pp. 189-203.
Papers are available on the Digital Library of Università degli Studi di Milano ("Banche dati e altre risorse" > Lettera E > EIO Editoria italiana online > accessTorrossa. To use the search tool).
A full knowledge of the historical and cultural context of works and authors is strictly necessary. A good manual for high schools with a wide anthological selection is recommended (e.g. Guglielmino-Grosser, Il sistema letterario, Milano, Principato; Grosser, Il canone letterario, Milano, Principato; Segre-Martignoni, Leggere il mondo, Milano, Bruno Mondadori; Alfano-Italia-Russo-Tomasi, Letteratura italiana, Milano, Mondadori). An excellent and compact handbook is Ferroni, Profilo storico della letteratura italiana, Torino, Einaudi; it has to be mentioned that the handbook doesn't include texts, which have to be read from other sources.
Useful reference tools will be
a) for metre and poetic forms:
- P. Beltrami, Gli strumenti della poesia, Bologna, il Mulino;
- G. Lavezzi, I numeri della poesia, Roma, Carocci;
- G. Sangirardi-F. De Rosa, Breve guida alla metrica italiana, Milano, Sansoni.
b) for rethoric:
- B. Mortara Garavelli, Prima lezione di retorica, Roma-Bari, Laterza.
Part A:
The following topics will be the subject of the exam:
Frederick II, Sicilian School and the sonnet.
Guinizelli and the canzone.
Dolce stil novo, Cavalcanti and the ballata.
Dante: Rime, Vita Nova, "rime petrose" and treaties.
Dante: Commedia.
Petrarch: Secretum, Rerum vulgarium fragmenta (composition, structure, metrics, topics, language).
Boccaccio and Decameron.
Poliziano: Stanze
Romances in ottavas (Boiardo and Inamoramento de Orlando).
Machiavelli: Principe and Mandragola
Bembo and Prose della volgar lingua.
Part B
The following topics will be the subject of the exam:
Castiglione and Il cortegiano.
Ariosto: Furioso (composition, structure, topics, language, entrelacement).
Aretino: Lettere and Ragionamenti (Sei giornate)
Guicciardini: Ricordi
Vasari: Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, architetti et scultori
Tasso: Gerusalemme liberata.
Marino and L'Adone.
Goldoni's revolution in theater.
Alfieri, tragedies and Vita.
Neoclassicism. Foscolo: sonnets, The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis and the tradition of epistolary novel, Sepolcri.
Romanticism. Manzoni: tragedies and Promessi sposi (genre, composition, topics, language).
Leopardi: Operette morali (models, style, topics) and Canti (topics and metrics).
Part C
Giuseppe Parini's "Il giorno"
Giuseppe Parini, Il giorno - Le odi, a cura di Giuseppe Nicoletti, Rizzoli, Milano, 2011
Students are asked to prove an overall knowledge of the work (writing, structure, models, themes, style); in case, an useful tool will be: Giuseppe Nicoletti, Parini, Salerno Editrice ("Sestante"), Roma, 2016
Students are also required to study two of the following papers:
1. Andrea Rondini, La salubrità della poesia. Giuseppe Parini nel giornalismo contemporaneo, "Studi sul Settecento e l'Ottocento", 5, 2010, pp. 11-23;
2. Carlo Annoni, Parini, poesia della secolarizzazione e fine della storia, "La rassegna della letteratura italiana", 2000, 1, pp. 49-75;
3. Francesco Paolo Botti, Usi e funzioni della ripetizione nel Giorno, "Critica letteraria", 2016, 3, pp. 419-434;
4. Giorgio Baroni, L'Europa del Giovin Signore, "Esperienze letterarie", 2005, 3-4, pp. 189-203.
Papers are available on the Digital Library of Università degli Studi di Milano ("Banche dati e altre risorse" > Lettera E > EIO Editoria italiana online > accessTorrossa. To use the search tool).
Students are required to show at the exam a written list of the chosen papers.
Part C (Not attending students) :
Giuseppe Parini's "Il giorno"
Giuseppe Parini, Il giorno - Le odi, a cura di Giuseppe Nicoletti, Rizzoli, Milano, 2011
Students are asked to prove an overall knowledge of the work (writing, structure, models, themes, style); in case, an useful tool will be: Giuseppe Nicoletti, Parini, Salerno Editrice ("Sestante"), Roma, 2016
Not attending students are also required to study the following papers:
1. Andrea Rondini, La salubrità della poesia. Giuseppe Parini nel giornalismo contemporaneo, "Studi sul Settecento e l'Ottocento", 5, 2010, pp. 11-23;
2. Carlo Annoni, Parini, poesia della secolarizzazione e fine della storia, "La rassegna della letteratura italiana", 2000, 1, pp. 49-75;
3. Francesco Paolo Botti, Usi e funzioni della ripetizione nel Giorno, "Critica letteraria", 2016, 3, pp. 419-434;
4. Giorgio Baroni, L'Europa del Giovin Signore, "Esperienze letterarie", 2005, 3-4, pp. 189-203.
Papers are available on the Digital Library of Università degli Studi di Milano ("Banche dati e altre risorse" > Lettera E > EIO Editoria italiana online > accessTorrossa. To use the search tool).
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of a preliminary written test on the Parts A and B and an oral test on the Part C; both are aimed at ascertaining students' knowledge of the bibliography.
The written test is held in January, May 2022 and September 2023; passing the written test is a prerequisite for the oral exam. Written tests will be graded sufficient, discreet, good, excellent and will be considered in the final overall grade. Grades of the written test will be published in Ariel in the specifically dedicated section.
The written test (90 minutes) counts of two sections: 5 closed-ended questions on technical aspects (chronology, works, metre, rhetoric) and 4 short open questions (max 8 lines) on authors, themes, and works. A fifth question is the analysis of a text: the student will be required to define author, work, genre, metrics, rhyme scheme, and to provide a paraphrasis and a short cultural and stylistical framework. The analysis will concerne one of the following texts (or part of texts), provided in the booklet uploaded on Ariel:
Giacomo da Lentini, Io m'aggio posto in core a Dio servire
Guittone d'Arezzo, Tuttor ch'eo dirò «gioi'», gioiva cosa,
Bonagiunta Orbicciani, Voi ch'avete mutata la mainera
Guido Guinizzelli, Io voglio del ver la mia donna laudare
Guido Cavalcanti, Voi che per li occhi mi passaste il core
Guido Cavalcanti, Chi è questa che vèn, ch'ogn'om la mira
Guido Cavalcanti, Perch'i' no spero di tornar giammai
Folgore da san Gimignano, Sonetti dei mesi (XVII. Di marzo sì vi do una peschiera)
Dante Alighieri, Così nel mio parlar voglio esser aspro
Dante Alighieri, Inf. XXXII, 1-81
Francesco Petrarca, Rvf, 1: Voi ch'ascoltate in rime sparse il suono
Francesco Petrarca, RVf, 90: Erano i capei d'oro a l'aura sparsi
Francesco Petrarca, Rvf: 365, I' vo piangendo i miei passati tempi
Matteo Maria Boiardo, Orlando innamorato, canto I, ott. 1-2
Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, canto I, ott. 1-3
Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, canto I, ott. 1-3
Giambattista Marino, L'Adone, canto III, ott. 154-157
Alfieri, Oreste, atto IV, sc. 1-2
Ugo Foscolo, Né più mai toccherò le sacre sponde
Ugo Foscolo, Dei sepolcri, vv. 272-95
Giacomo Leopardi, Ultimo canto di Saffo vv. 55-72
Giacomo Leopardi, A se stesso
The written test is held in January, May 2022 and September 2023; passing the written test is a prerequisite for the oral exam. Written tests will be graded sufficient, discreet, good, excellent and will be considered in the final overall grade. Grades of the written test will be published in Ariel in the specifically dedicated section.
The written test (90 minutes) counts of two sections: 5 closed-ended questions on technical aspects (chronology, works, metre, rhetoric) and 4 short open questions (max 8 lines) on authors, themes, and works. A fifth question is the analysis of a text: the student will be required to define author, work, genre, metrics, rhyme scheme, and to provide a paraphrasis and a short cultural and stylistical framework. The analysis will concerne one of the following texts (or part of texts), provided in the booklet uploaded on Ariel:
Giacomo da Lentini, Io m'aggio posto in core a Dio servire
Guittone d'Arezzo, Tuttor ch'eo dirò «gioi'», gioiva cosa,
Bonagiunta Orbicciani, Voi ch'avete mutata la mainera
Guido Guinizzelli, Io voglio del ver la mia donna laudare
Guido Cavalcanti, Voi che per li occhi mi passaste il core
Guido Cavalcanti, Chi è questa che vèn, ch'ogn'om la mira
Guido Cavalcanti, Perch'i' no spero di tornar giammai
Folgore da san Gimignano, Sonetti dei mesi (XVII. Di marzo sì vi do una peschiera)
Dante Alighieri, Così nel mio parlar voglio esser aspro
Dante Alighieri, Inf. XXXII, 1-81
Francesco Petrarca, Rvf, 1: Voi ch'ascoltate in rime sparse il suono
Francesco Petrarca, RVf, 90: Erano i capei d'oro a l'aura sparsi
Francesco Petrarca, Rvf: 365, I' vo piangendo i miei passati tempi
Matteo Maria Boiardo, Orlando innamorato, canto I, ott. 1-2
Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, canto I, ott. 1-3
Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, canto I, ott. 1-3
Giambattista Marino, L'Adone, canto III, ott. 154-157
Alfieri, Oreste, atto IV, sc. 1-2
Ugo Foscolo, Né più mai toccherò le sacre sponde
Ugo Foscolo, Dei sepolcri, vv. 272-95
Giacomo Leopardi, Ultimo canto di Saffo vv. 55-72
Giacomo Leopardi, A se stesso
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
(O-Z)
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
Title of the course: Tools and texts of Italian literature (60 hours, 9 cfu)
Teaching unit A (20 hours, 3 cfu): Italian literature from XIII to early XVI century
Teaching unit B (20 hours, 3 cfu): Italian literature from late XVI century XIX century
Teaching unit C (20 hours, 3 cfu): Ariosto's Orlando furioso
The course is aimed at undergraduate Science of Cultural Property students whose surname begins with O-Z-
The teaching program of units A and B focuses on the history of Italian literature from Origins to Leopardi and Manzoni; teaching unit C is dedicated to the analysis of Ariosto's Orlando furioso.
Teaching unit A (20 hours, 3 cfu): Italian literature from XIII to early XVI century
Teaching unit B (20 hours, 3 cfu): Italian literature from late XVI century XIX century
Teaching unit C (20 hours, 3 cfu): Ariosto's Orlando furioso
The course is aimed at undergraduate Science of Cultural Property students whose surname begins with O-Z-
The teaching program of units A and B focuses on the history of Italian literature from Origins to Leopardi and Manzoni; teaching unit C is dedicated to the analysis of Ariosto's Orlando furioso.
Prerequisites for admission
No prerequisites for admission. Nevertheless, a good high-school background is the ideal prerequisite for the course, which, however, is also thought to amend shortcomings.
Teaching methods
The course will be taught, in Italian, through frontal lessons; attendance is not mandatory, though strongly recommended.
Teaching units A and B will be taught on texts included in the lecture notes. During the lessons, thanks to slide projection, the focus will be on movements, authors and works and their cultural context; on the main critical problems of every topic, through quotations from critical essays and comparisons between different positions; on tradition and reception of works and texts; on their most interesting formal aspects. All the materials will be available on Ariel (http://ariel.unimi.it).
Non-attending students must use the materials expressly indicated in this program and will have to ask the teacher for advice either by e-mail or during office hours.
Teaching units A and B will be taught on texts included in the lecture notes. During the lessons, thanks to slide projection, the focus will be on movements, authors and works and their cultural context; on the main critical problems of every topic, through quotations from critical essays and comparisons between different positions; on tradition and reception of works and texts; on their most interesting formal aspects. All the materials will be available on Ariel (http://ariel.unimi.it).
Non-attending students must use the materials expressly indicated in this program and will have to ask the teacher for advice either by e-mail or during office hours.
Teaching Resources
Antologia della letteratura italiana. Dalla Scuola poetica siciliana a Alessandro Manzoni, a cura di Gabriele Baldassari e Guglielmo Barucci, Milano, Cortina, 2021. The volume consists of a part of history of Italian literature and of a section of texts; both of them are to be prepared for the exam, along with notes of the lessons and further material uploaded on Ariel.
Students interested in a deeper knowledge of Italian literature should look at Letteratura italiana. Manuale per studi universitari, 2 volumi, Milano, Mondadori Università, 2018 (I: Dalle origini a metà Cinquecento e II: Da Tasso a fine Ottocento).
Useful reference tools could be:
a) for metre and poetic forms:
- P. Beltrami, Gli strumenti della poesia, Bologna, il Mulino;
- G. Lavezzi, I numeri della poesia, Roma, Carocci;
- G. Sangirardi-F. De Rosa, Breve guida alla metrica italiana, Milano, Sansoni.
b) for rethoric:
- B. Mortara Garavelli, Prima lezione di retorica, Roma-Bari, Laterza.
The students will be asked to prepare the whole Antologia della letteratura italiana. Dalla Scuola poetica siciliana a Alessandro Manzoni.
Teaching unit C
Orlando Furioso by Ariosto
Editions suggested:
Orlando furioso, a cura di S. Zatti e R. Ceserani, UTET.
or
Orlando furioso, commento di E. Bigi, a cura di C. Zampese, Rizzoli BUR.
Students are asked to prove an overall knowledge of the work (writing, structure, models, themes, style).
Cantos and parts of cantos to be studied will be specified on the Course's Site at the end of the lessons.
More texts to be discussed in the class will be available on Ariel.
Students are required to study:
S. Zatti, Il Furioso tra epos e romanzo [1990], premessa di Michele Comelli, Milano, Ledizioni, 2018, in particolare per le pagine 9-90
M. Santoro, Nell'officina del narrante: gli esordi, in Ariosto e il Rinascimento, Napoli, Liguori, 1989, 51-81
Not attending students will study, in addition to cantos and parts of cantos as above:
1. One beetween:
S. Jossa, Ariosto, Bologna, il Mulino, 2009 (chapters on Furioso); easier
or
G. Ferroni, Ariosto, Roma, Salerno, 2008 (chapters on Furioso); more in depth
2. S. Zatti, Il Furioso tra epos e romanzo [1990], premessa di Michele Comelli, Milano, Ledizioni, 2018, in particolare per le pagine 9-90, 127-172
3. M. Santoro, Nell'officina del narrante: gli esordi, in Ariosto e il Rinascimento, Napoli, Liguori, 1989, 51-81
Students interested in a deeper knowledge of Italian literature should look at Letteratura italiana. Manuale per studi universitari, 2 volumi, Milano, Mondadori Università, 2018 (I: Dalle origini a metà Cinquecento e II: Da Tasso a fine Ottocento).
Useful reference tools could be:
a) for metre and poetic forms:
- P. Beltrami, Gli strumenti della poesia, Bologna, il Mulino;
- G. Lavezzi, I numeri della poesia, Roma, Carocci;
- G. Sangirardi-F. De Rosa, Breve guida alla metrica italiana, Milano, Sansoni.
b) for rethoric:
- B. Mortara Garavelli, Prima lezione di retorica, Roma-Bari, Laterza.
The students will be asked to prepare the whole Antologia della letteratura italiana. Dalla Scuola poetica siciliana a Alessandro Manzoni.
Teaching unit C
Orlando Furioso by Ariosto
Editions suggested:
Orlando furioso, a cura di S. Zatti e R. Ceserani, UTET.
or
Orlando furioso, commento di E. Bigi, a cura di C. Zampese, Rizzoli BUR.
Students are asked to prove an overall knowledge of the work (writing, structure, models, themes, style).
Cantos and parts of cantos to be studied will be specified on the Course's Site at the end of the lessons.
More texts to be discussed in the class will be available on Ariel.
Students are required to study:
S. Zatti, Il Furioso tra epos e romanzo [1990], premessa di Michele Comelli, Milano, Ledizioni, 2018, in particolare per le pagine 9-90
M. Santoro, Nell'officina del narrante: gli esordi, in Ariosto e il Rinascimento, Napoli, Liguori, 1989, 51-81
Not attending students will study, in addition to cantos and parts of cantos as above:
1. One beetween:
S. Jossa, Ariosto, Bologna, il Mulino, 2009 (chapters on Furioso); easier
or
G. Ferroni, Ariosto, Roma, Salerno, 2008 (chapters on Furioso); more in depth
2. S. Zatti, Il Furioso tra epos e romanzo [1990], premessa di Michele Comelli, Milano, Ledizioni, 2018, in particolare per le pagine 9-90, 127-172
3. M. Santoro, Nell'officina del narrante: gli esordi, in Ariosto e il Rinascimento, Napoli, Liguori, 1989, 51-81
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of a preliminary written test on the teaching units A and B and an oral test on the teaching unit C; both are aimed at ascertaining students' knowledge of the bibliography.
The written test is held in January, May 2022 and September 2023; passing the written test is a prerequisite for the oral exam. Written tests will be graded sufficient, discreet, good, excellent and will be considered in the final overall grade. Grades of the written test will be published in Ariel in the specifically dedicated section.
The written test (90 minutes) counts of two sections: 5 closed-ended questions on technical aspects (chronology, works, metre, rhetoric) and 4 short open questions (max 8 lines) on authors, themes, and works. A fifth question is the analysis of a text: the student will be required to define author, work, genre, metrics, rhyme scheme, and to provide a paraphrasis and a short cultural and stylistical framework. The analysis will concerne one of the following texts (or part of texts), provided in the Anthology.
- Jacopo da Lentini, Amor è uno desio che ven da core
- Guido Guinizelli, Al cor gentil rempaira sempre amore (stanze I e IV)
- Guido Cavalcanti, Chi è questa che vèn, ch'ogn'om la mira
- Cino da Pistoia, Poscia che saziar non posso li occhi miei
- Dante, Guido, i' vorrei che tu e Lapo ed io
- Dante, Così nel mio parlar voglio esser aspro (stanze I e V)
- Dante, Vita nova: XIX Donne ch'avete intelletto d'amore (stanze I e II)
- Francesco Petrarca, Rvf: 1, Voi ch'ascoltate in rime sparse il suono
- Francesco Petrarca, Rvf: 90, Erano i capei d'oro a l'aura sparsi
- Francesco Petrarca, Rvf: 272, La vita fugge e non s'arresta una hora
- Luigi Pulci, Morgante, XVIII 115-120
- Pietro Bembo, Crin d'oro crespo
- Giovanni della Casa, Questa vita mortal
- Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, XXIV 1-3
- Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, I 1-5
- Giambattista Marino, Adone, III 156-158
- U. Foscolo, Né più mai toccherò le sacre sponde
- U. Foscolo, Dei sepolcri, vv. 137-150
- Giacomo Leopardi, A se stesso
- Giacomo Leopardi, Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell'Asia, vv. 133-143
The student will have to obtain at least 35 points (and at least 5 in the analysis).
The oral test consists of a critical discussion on the main issues of the work studied in Unit C. The student will have, at request, to prove his ability to paraphrase the text. The student will be required to prove his ability to develop a critical and organized exposition of the informations and compétences acquired through the classes and the bibliography, with a proper terminology
The final grade will be expressed in the 30 grade point system, and it will take into consideration the grade of the written test.
International students and Erasmus students are invited to contact the professor via email in office hours for further information on the exam.
Examination methods for students with disabilities or SLD must be defined with the teacher in agreement with the University Disability and SLD Services.
The written test is held in January, May 2022 and September 2023; passing the written test is a prerequisite for the oral exam. Written tests will be graded sufficient, discreet, good, excellent and will be considered in the final overall grade. Grades of the written test will be published in Ariel in the specifically dedicated section.
The written test (90 minutes) counts of two sections: 5 closed-ended questions on technical aspects (chronology, works, metre, rhetoric) and 4 short open questions (max 8 lines) on authors, themes, and works. A fifth question is the analysis of a text: the student will be required to define author, work, genre, metrics, rhyme scheme, and to provide a paraphrasis and a short cultural and stylistical framework. The analysis will concerne one of the following texts (or part of texts), provided in the Anthology.
- Jacopo da Lentini, Amor è uno desio che ven da core
- Guido Guinizelli, Al cor gentil rempaira sempre amore (stanze I e IV)
- Guido Cavalcanti, Chi è questa che vèn, ch'ogn'om la mira
- Cino da Pistoia, Poscia che saziar non posso li occhi miei
- Dante, Guido, i' vorrei che tu e Lapo ed io
- Dante, Così nel mio parlar voglio esser aspro (stanze I e V)
- Dante, Vita nova: XIX Donne ch'avete intelletto d'amore (stanze I e II)
- Francesco Petrarca, Rvf: 1, Voi ch'ascoltate in rime sparse il suono
- Francesco Petrarca, Rvf: 90, Erano i capei d'oro a l'aura sparsi
- Francesco Petrarca, Rvf: 272, La vita fugge e non s'arresta una hora
- Luigi Pulci, Morgante, XVIII 115-120
- Pietro Bembo, Crin d'oro crespo
- Giovanni della Casa, Questa vita mortal
- Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, XXIV 1-3
- Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, I 1-5
- Giambattista Marino, Adone, III 156-158
- U. Foscolo, Né più mai toccherò le sacre sponde
- U. Foscolo, Dei sepolcri, vv. 137-150
- Giacomo Leopardi, A se stesso
- Giacomo Leopardi, Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell'Asia, vv. 133-143
The student will have to obtain at least 35 points (and at least 5 in the analysis).
The oral test consists of a critical discussion on the main issues of the work studied in Unit C. The student will have, at request, to prove his ability to paraphrase the text. The student will be required to prove his ability to develop a critical and organized exposition of the informations and compétences acquired through the classes and the bibliography, with a proper terminology
The final grade will be expressed in the 30 grade point system, and it will take into consideration the grade of the written test.
International students and Erasmus students are invited to contact the professor via email in office hours for further information on the exam.
Examination methods for students with disabilities or SLD must be defined with the teacher in agreement with the University Disability and SLD Services.
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
Office hours: wednesday 15.00-18.00, by appointment only. Nevertheless, due to multiple administrative tasks, appointments could be given in other days.
Department of Literary Studies, Philology and Linguistics; sector Modern Philology, 1st floor, via Francesco Sforza