Comparative Literature

The course will address some contemporary narrative forms that move between fiction, non-fiction, and essay. In the first part of the course (A), we will focus on non-fiction: first, we will go back to its origins in American New Journalism and Non-Fiction Novel, reading Tom Wolfe's "Radical Chic" and Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," and then we will observe some recent developments of this narrative genres by reading Emmanuel Carrère's "L'Adversaire." Also, we will discuss some fundamental narratological concepts and we will focus on the concept of fiction (and, hence, non-fiction). In the second part of the course (B) will focus on recent examples of relationship between autobiography, biography, fiction, and photography. We will read in class Sebald's "Austerlitz," Ernaux's "Une femme," and Roland Barthes' "La Chambre Claire." Finally, the third part of the course (C), will deal with some recent developments in literary theory, through the reading of three narrative essays that came out in the 2000s, which re-propose the theme of the relationship with autobiography: Mario Lavagetto's "Eutanasia della critica", Tzvetan Todorov's "La letteratura in pericolo", and George Steiner's "I libri hanno bisogno di noi".
The course syllabus is valid until February 2024.