Polish Literature 1

The course is the first step of the Polish Literature Programme and is intended for first-year students. The course offers an introduction to the history of Poland from its origins to the present day, and a review of authors, works, currents and periods of Polish literature from the Middle Ages to Romanticism, with particular attention to the work and figure of key authors, such as the Renaissance poets Mikołaj Rej and Jan Kochanowski, mannerist A. Sęp Szarzyński, baroque Jan A. Morsztyn, romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz, Nobel Prize winners Czesław Miłosz and Wisława Szymborska.

Knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course students will have to demonstrate a good knowledge of the main events in Polish history, of the specific characteristics of Polish culture from the beginning to the present day, as well as of the main currents, of all the most important authors and of the most important works relevant to Polish literature from the Middle Ages to early Romanticism, with particular reference to the writers analyzed in the course, relying on information received during the lessons and obtained from the consultation of the texts indicated in the bibliography. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course students must be able to carry out a correct historical-critical framing of the treated works and authors, must be able to place currents, authors and works in the appropriate temporal, linguistic and cultural context, to understand the relationships between the texts dealt with, analyze them from the point of view of contents, style and versification, relying on the information received during the lessons and obtained from the consultation of the texts indicated in the bibliography.