18th and 19th Century Italian Literature

The course is divided into three sections, sociological, historical and monographic, and aims to provide the student with an in-deep representation of cultural dynamics within modern societies. On the one hand, the behaviour of social actors (divided by undifferentiated groups, classes or multitudes: Unit A) is decisive; on the other hand, the creative activities that belong to the writers' class are also decisive. Regarding the latter point, the Units B and C provide a basis: the first, intended to trace some coordinates of the literary system between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries; the second focused vice versa on a single work pf romance, which is noted for a particular popular amongst the public.

By the end of the course, the student will have to have an adequate measure of Knowledge and Skills.
Knowledge: they should be able to master from a historical and sociological point of view the development of cultural systems based on their internal dynamics, modulating the attitudes of the lessons with the rejection or confirmation of mass culture.
Skills: they should be able to draw on texts of a certain complexity; they will have to know how to connect and compare said texts. The student should also know how to maneuver within twentieth century Italian-European literature, identifying various phases and currents; and they must prove that they have the right tools for an interpretation and evaluation of a recently published literary text, the better if said text has been able to accrue wide popular success.