Environmental Italian Literature
A.Y. 2025/2026
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 present, following the tradition and development of models, themes, forms, with a keen attention to the representation and critical use of spaces, both in terms of natural surroundings and of anthropic presence.
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 present, with a proper historic and geographical contextualization and specific reference to genres, themes and poetics, authors and works. 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 proper geohistorical 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
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
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 main works of siblings Beppe and Marisa Fenoglio.
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 main works of siblings Beppe and Marisa Fenoglio.
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 peculiarties.
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
Beppe Fenoglio, Il partigiano Johnny
Marisa Fenoglio, Vivere altrove, Sellerio
Gino Tellini, Scritture della migrazione. Per una prospettiva globale della letteratura italiana, Le Monnier Università
Plus, one between these two:
Marisa Fenoglio, Casa Fenoglio, Sellerio
Marisa Fenoglio, Il ritorno impossibile, Nutrimenti
Criticism. Either one of the following volumes:
Roberto Bigazzi, Fenoglio
Martino Marazzi, A occhi aperti. Letteratura dell'emigrazione e mito americano, FrancoAngeli
Martino Marazzi, Through the Periscope. Changing Culture, Italian America, SUNY Press, Albany, N.Y., 2022
Sergio Luzzatto, Partigia. Una storia della Resistenza, Mondadori
Additional readings for non-attending students.
Both:
Marisa Fenoglio, Casa Fenoglio, Sellerio
Marisa Fenoglio, Il ritorno impossibile, Nutrimenti
Plus, two among these:
Roberto Bigazzi, Fenoglio
Martino Marazzi, A occhi aperti. Letteratura dell'emigrazione e mito americano, FrancoAngeli
Martino Marazzi, Through the Periscope. Changing Culture, Italian America, SUNY Press, Albany, N.Y., 2022
Sergio Luzzatto, Partigia. Una storia della Resistenza, Mondadori
Course materials are uploaded in the Ariel portal: https://ariel.unimi.it
Unit B
Texts
Beppe Fenoglio, Il partigiano Johnny
Marisa Fenoglio, Vivere altrove, Sellerio
Gino Tellini, Scritture della migrazione. Per una prospettiva globale della letteratura italiana, Le Monnier Università
Plus, one between these two:
Marisa Fenoglio, Casa Fenoglio, Sellerio
Marisa Fenoglio, Il ritorno impossibile, Nutrimenti
Criticism. Either one of the following volumes:
Roberto Bigazzi, Fenoglio
Martino Marazzi, A occhi aperti. Letteratura dell'emigrazione e mito americano, FrancoAngeli
Martino Marazzi, Through the Periscope. Changing Culture, Italian America, SUNY Press, Albany, N.Y., 2022
Sergio Luzzatto, Partigia. Una storia della Resistenza, Mondadori
Additional readings for non-attending students.
Both:
Marisa Fenoglio, Casa Fenoglio, Sellerio
Marisa Fenoglio, Il ritorno impossibile, Nutrimenti
Plus, two among these:
Roberto Bigazzi, Fenoglio
Martino Marazzi, A occhi aperti. Letteratura dell'emigrazione e mito americano, FrancoAngeli
Martino Marazzi, Through the Periscope. Changing Culture, Italian America, SUNY Press, Albany, N.Y., 2022
Sergio Luzzatto, Partigia. Una storia della Resistenza, Mondadori
Assessment methods and Criteria
Written + oral exam:
at the end of the class, in May, 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. Two additional tests are typically scheduled in September and November or December. The exact schedule is published on the MyAriel website.
Grades breakdown: Fail, Basic, Average, Good, Excellent.
Once the written part is completed, students can access to the oral exam (Unit B). All students can take part in it, even those who were graded as Fail (in which case, they will have to repeat their preparation of Unit A, in accordance with the teacher).
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 .
at the end of the class, in May, 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. Two additional tests are typically scheduled in September and November or December. The exact schedule is published on the MyAriel website.
Grades breakdown: Fail, Basic, Average, Good, Excellent.
Once the written part is completed, students can access to the oral exam (Unit B). All students can take part in it, even those who were graded as Fail (in which case, they will have to repeat their preparation of Unit A, in accordance with the teacher).
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 .
Part C
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Parts A and B
L-FIL-LET/10 - ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Professor(s)