Literary Theory and Criticism
A.Y. 2023/2024
Learning objectives
The course aims at providing students with a solid basic grounding in the fundamental topics of literary theory and the methodological issues concerning the study of literature, in particular by refining the techniques for analysing and interpreting literary texts and discussing the assumptions, methods and aims of literary criticism.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge: students will learn the fundamental topics of theoretical, philosophical and methodological reflection on literature, such as interpretation and reception, the definition of literature and literary genres, narrative, poetry and versification, value and canon, and will gain a deeper knowledge of the possible perspectives of analysis in relation to these problems and a greater capacity for critical thinking and discussion.
Skills: students will become more competent at analysing and interpreting literary texts from several perspectives and they will learn to take part in the discourse of literary criticism.
Skills: students will become more competent at analysing and interpreting literary texts from several perspectives and they will learn to take part in the discourse of literary criticism.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
A-H
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
Part A and Part B aim to illustrate some problems in literary theory, to reflect on the historical issues addressed and debated by theory, on the form, possible definition, nature and relational mode of literary texts, and on the most recent developments in literary theory. At the same time, the tools of theory will be discussed in relation to the analysis of literary texts.
In part C we will focus on the novel, which we will discuss on the basis of Michail Bakhtin's Discourse in the Novel and of some reflections by Massimo Fusillo and Thomas Pavel.
The course syllabus is valid until February 2025.
In part C we will focus on the novel, which we will discuss on the basis of Michail Bakhtin's Discourse in the Novel and of some reflections by Massimo Fusillo and Thomas Pavel.
The course syllabus is valid until February 2025.
Prerequisites for admission
It is advisable to attend the course and take the exam in the second year, in order to have previously acquired basic knowledge in Italian Literature and Italian Linguistics.
Teaching methods
The course will be offered in a lecture format, but some time will be devoted to discussion with the teacher. This will help students delve into the issues under discussion, improve their analysis, reasoning, and interpretation skills, and learn more easily. To participate more actively, students will also be encouraged to read the works and essays in the course syllabus while attending classes. The Ariel website of the course will be used to share the teaching materials that might be proposed for discussion.
Regular class attendance is strongly advised.
Regular class attendance is strongly advised.
Teaching Resources
PART A and PART B
Laura Neri, Giuseppe Carrara (a cura di), "Teoria della letteratura. Campi, problemi, strumenti", Roma, Carocci 2022.
A selection of literary texts, chosen by the teacher and provided in class.
PART C
1) Mikhail Bakhtin, Discourse in the Novel, in The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M. M. Bakhtin, University of Texas Press, 1981, only sections 1-4;
2) Massimo Fusillo, Fra epica e romanzo, in Franco Moretti (ed.), Il romanzo, vol. II. Le forme, Einaudi, 2002, pp. 5-35;
3) Thomas Pavel, Il romanzo alla ricerca di se stesso. Saggio di morfologia storica, in Franco Moretti (ed.), Il romanzo, vol. II. Le forme, Einaudi, 2002, pp. 36-63.
TEACHING RESOURCES FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Students who do not attend should supplement the texts indicated in the bibliography with the following readings:
Alberto Casadei, "La critica letteraria contemporanea", Bologna, il Mulino 2015;
Tzvetan Todorov, "Mikhail Bakhtin. The Dialogical Principle", or Stefania Sini, "Michail Bachtin. Una critica del pensiero dialogico" (only one of the two: student's choice).
FURTHER INFORMATIONS
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course. Also students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
Further informations will be published on the online Ariel platform, on the website dedicated to Literary Theory and Criticism (A-H).
Laura Neri, Giuseppe Carrara (a cura di), "Teoria della letteratura. Campi, problemi, strumenti", Roma, Carocci 2022.
A selection of literary texts, chosen by the teacher and provided in class.
PART C
1) Mikhail Bakhtin, Discourse in the Novel, in The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M. M. Bakhtin, University of Texas Press, 1981, only sections 1-4;
2) Massimo Fusillo, Fra epica e romanzo, in Franco Moretti (ed.), Il romanzo, vol. II. Le forme, Einaudi, 2002, pp. 5-35;
3) Thomas Pavel, Il romanzo alla ricerca di se stesso. Saggio di morfologia storica, in Franco Moretti (ed.), Il romanzo, vol. II. Le forme, Einaudi, 2002, pp. 36-63.
TEACHING RESOURCES FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Students who do not attend should supplement the texts indicated in the bibliography with the following readings:
Alberto Casadei, "La critica letteraria contemporanea", Bologna, il Mulino 2015;
Tzvetan Todorov, "Mikhail Bakhtin. The Dialogical Principle", or Stefania Sini, "Michail Bachtin. Una critica del pensiero dialogico" (only one of the two: student's choice).
FURTHER INFORMATIONS
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course. Also students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
Further informations will be published on the online Ariel platform, on the website dedicated to Literary Theory and Criticism (A-H).
Assessment methods and Criteria
The final exam will consist of an oral exam about the topics of the course. In order to pass the exam, students will have to demonstrate at least sufficient knowledge of the topics of each part of the course (A, B, and C, if they are to acquire 9 credits; A and B, if they are to acquire 6). Students will be asked to present the works comprised in the course syllabus and to critically discuss about the issues that will have been dealt. Language proficiency (this includes technical language proficiency) and the accuracy of historical and literary references will also contribute to the final score.
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/14 - LITERARY CRITICISM AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Neri Laura Vittoria
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/14 - LITERARY CRITICISM AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Neri Laura Vittoria
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/14 - LITERARY CRITICISM AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Ballerio Stefano
I-Z
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
Part A and Part B aim to illustrate some problems in literary theory, to reflect on the historical issues addressed and debated by theory, on the form, possible definition, nature and relational mode of literary texts, and on the most recent developments in literary theory. At the same time, the tools of theory will be discussed in relation to the analysis of literary texts.
Part C focuses on the attempts to define the fantastic in literature, beginning with the proposals by Todorov and Ceserani, and on the analysis of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, an ambiguous text which allowed for a number of - often contradictory - critical interpretations over the years.
The course syllabus is valid until February 2025.
Part C focuses on the attempts to define the fantastic in literature, beginning with the proposals by Todorov and Ceserani, and on the analysis of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, an ambiguous text which allowed for a number of - often contradictory - critical interpretations over the years.
The course syllabus is valid until February 2025.
Prerequisites for admission
It is advisable to attend the course and take the exam in the second year, in order to have previously acquired basic knowledge in Italian Literature and Italian Linguistics.
Teaching methods
The course will be offered in a lecture format, but some time will be devoted to discussion with the teacher. This will help students delve into the issues under discussion, improve their analysis, reasoning, and interpretation skills, and learn more easily. To participate more actively, students will also be encouraged to read the works and essays in the course syllabus while attending classes. The Ariel website of the course will be used to share the teaching materials that might be proposed for discussion.
Regular class attendance is strongly advised.
Regular class attendance is strongly advised.
Teaching Resources
PART A and PART B
Laura Neri, Giuseppe Carrara (a cura di), "Teoria della letteratura. Campi, problemi, strumenti", Roma, Carocci 2022.
A selection of literary texts, chosen by the teacher and provided in class.
PART C
1) Henry James, "Il giro di vite" (1898), edited by Giovanna Mochi, Marsilio, Venezia 2007; studens must also read the introduction by G. Mochi, "Le 'cose cattive' di Henry James", pp. 9-42
2) Remo Ceserani, "Il fantastico", Il Mulino, Bologna 1996, only chapters. 2, 3, 4, pp. 49-113.
3) Edmund Wilson, "L'ambiguità di Henry James" [1934], in Edmund Wilson, "Il pensiero multiplo", Garzanti, Milano 1976, pp. 101-146;
4) David Punter, "L'ambivalenza della memoria. Henry James e Walter de la Mare", in Storia della letteratura del terrore. Il gotico dal Settecento a oggi [1980], Editori Riuniti, Roma 1994, pp. 264-284;
Suggested reading (not mandatory): Tzvetan Todorov, La letteratura fantastica [1970], Garzanti, Milano 2000 [only chapters 1-3, pp. 7-61].
TEACHING RESOURCES FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Students who do not attend should supplement the texts indicated in the bibliography with the following readings:
Alberto Casadei, "La critica letteraria contemporanea", Bologna, il Mulino 2015;
Tzvetan Todorov, La letteratura fantastica [1970], Garzanti, Milano 2000 [only chapters 1-3, pp. 7-61].
FURTHER INFORMATIONS
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course. Also students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
Further informations will be published on the online Ariel platform, on the website dedicated to Literary Theory and Criticism (A-H).
Laura Neri, Giuseppe Carrara (a cura di), "Teoria della letteratura. Campi, problemi, strumenti", Roma, Carocci 2022.
A selection of literary texts, chosen by the teacher and provided in class.
PART C
1) Henry James, "Il giro di vite" (1898), edited by Giovanna Mochi, Marsilio, Venezia 2007; studens must also read the introduction by G. Mochi, "Le 'cose cattive' di Henry James", pp. 9-42
2) Remo Ceserani, "Il fantastico", Il Mulino, Bologna 1996, only chapters. 2, 3, 4, pp. 49-113.
3) Edmund Wilson, "L'ambiguità di Henry James" [1934], in Edmund Wilson, "Il pensiero multiplo", Garzanti, Milano 1976, pp. 101-146;
4) David Punter, "L'ambivalenza della memoria. Henry James e Walter de la Mare", in Storia della letteratura del terrore. Il gotico dal Settecento a oggi [1980], Editori Riuniti, Roma 1994, pp. 264-284;
Suggested reading (not mandatory): Tzvetan Todorov, La letteratura fantastica [1970], Garzanti, Milano 2000 [only chapters 1-3, pp. 7-61].
TEACHING RESOURCES FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Students who do not attend should supplement the texts indicated in the bibliography with the following readings:
Alberto Casadei, "La critica letteraria contemporanea", Bologna, il Mulino 2015;
Tzvetan Todorov, La letteratura fantastica [1970], Garzanti, Milano 2000 [only chapters 1-3, pp. 7-61].
FURTHER INFORMATIONS
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course. Also students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
Further informations will be published on the online Ariel platform, on the website dedicated to Literary Theory and Criticism (A-H).
Assessment methods and Criteria
The final exam will consist of an oral exam about the topics of the course. In order to pass the exam, students will have to demonstrate at least sufficient knowledge of the topics of each part of the course (A, B, and C, if they are to acquire 9 credits; A and B, if they are to acquire 6). Students will be asked to present the works comprised in the course syllabus and to critically discuss about the issues that will have been dealt. Language proficiency (this includes technical language proficiency) and the accuracy of historical and literary references will also contribute to the final score.
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/14 - LITERARY CRITICISM AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/14 - LITERARY CRITICISM AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/14 - LITERARY CRITICISM AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)
Reception:
Mondays, 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm, by appointment.
Dipartimento di Studi letterari, filologici e linguistici, Modern studies section, second floor