Literary Communication in Twentieth-Century Italy
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
In line with the objectives of the three-year degree course in Humanities for Communication, this course contributes to the acquisition of basic historical and theoretical competences aimed at training professionals capable of entering the world of communication, particularly in the field of publishing (especially book publishing) or cultural journalism.
The course aims to:
- provide students with the basic notions of the history of Italian literature and the history of publishing, from the early twentieth century to the early 2000s
- provide students with the basic theoretical and methodological tools to be able to interpret a literary text and a publishing product, that is the "book object" in its complexity and totality
The aim of the course therefore is to acquire historical knowledge of the development of the contemporary publishing and literary system, and to understand the methods of analysis of publishing mediation in relation to literary production, as a fundamental element in the formation of the cultural identity of contemporary Italy.
The course aims to:
- provide students with the basic notions of the history of Italian literature and the history of publishing, from the early twentieth century to the early 2000s
- provide students with the basic theoretical and methodological tools to be able to interpret a literary text and a publishing product, that is the "book object" in its complexity and totality
The aim of the course therefore is to acquire historical knowledge of the development of the contemporary publishing and literary system, and to understand the methods of analysis of publishing mediation in relation to literary production, as a fundamental element in the formation of the cultural identity of contemporary Italy.
Expected learning outcomes
Students will be asked to:
- memorise the basic notions of the history of publishing and the history of Twentieth-century Italian literature
- understand the link between literary production and publishing production, both historically, on the basis of concrete examples of authors and texts (case studies), and theoretically, by understanding the methodological aspects underlying this link
- apply these historical and methodological acquisitions to the reading and interpretation of literary texts taken as case studies during the lesson; students will independently confront other texts chosen from the list proposed in the program
- analyse literary texts, demonstrating the ability to place them in their historical context, both from a literary and editorial point of view
- analyse literary texts, demonstrating the ability to read and interpret them from the point of view of their stylistic identity
Comparison with literary texts will therefore enable students to learn to move competently within one of the most complex textual constructions produced historically by man (literature), acquiring methods and critical skills that can then be used in professional contexts in which the written word is at the centre of communication dynamics.
- memorise the basic notions of the history of publishing and the history of Twentieth-century Italian literature
- understand the link between literary production and publishing production, both historically, on the basis of concrete examples of authors and texts (case studies), and theoretically, by understanding the methodological aspects underlying this link
- apply these historical and methodological acquisitions to the reading and interpretation of literary texts taken as case studies during the lesson; students will independently confront other texts chosen from the list proposed in the program
- analyse literary texts, demonstrating the ability to place them in their historical context, both from a literary and editorial point of view
- analyse literary texts, demonstrating the ability to read and interpret them from the point of view of their stylistic identity
Comparison with literary texts will therefore enable students to learn to move competently within one of the most complex textual constructions produced historically by man (literature), acquiring methods and critical skills that can then be used in professional contexts in which the written word is at the centre of communication dynamics.
Lesson period: First 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
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Course Structure:
First 10 lessons: How to Study the Contemporary Italian Literature?
- Editorial mediation: an introduction to the basic theoretical and methodological issues related to book production, publishing house dynamics, text preparation for publication, editorial communication, and the overall interpretation of the "book as object." The focus is on the activities governing the transmission of texts over time, within the conceptual framework of editorial philology
- Interpretation of the narrative text: fundamental concepts of narratology and the evolution of the novel form; the different stylistic identities of the literary text
Following 20 lessons: Editorial History of the Italian Novel in the Twentieth Century
- Introduction to the history of Twentieth-Century Italian Literature, with a specific focus on the novel as the dominant genre of modernity and as a textual structure that accommodates both the ambitions of high literary experimentation and the aims of broad readability
- Framework of the new literary system of Late Modernity, illustrating its multiple layers: from avant-garde extremes to the communicative compromises of popular literature, passing through institutional literature
- Close reading and commentary of Twentieth-Century works, with special attention to enriching the established canon traditionally found in university (and school) textbooks by incorporating significant works by women writers published across the decades of the Twentieth Century and into the present day.
All the historical passages, both literary and editorial, and the related theoretical-methodological issues will be exemplified in concrete terms through direct confrontation with an author and the anthological selection of a text from one of his works (case study).
First 10 lessons: How to Study the Contemporary Italian Literature?
- Editorial mediation: an introduction to the basic theoretical and methodological issues related to book production, publishing house dynamics, text preparation for publication, editorial communication, and the overall interpretation of the "book as object." The focus is on the activities governing the transmission of texts over time, within the conceptual framework of editorial philology
- Interpretation of the narrative text: fundamental concepts of narratology and the evolution of the novel form; the different stylistic identities of the literary text
Following 20 lessons: Editorial History of the Italian Novel in the Twentieth Century
- Introduction to the history of Twentieth-Century Italian Literature, with a specific focus on the novel as the dominant genre of modernity and as a textual structure that accommodates both the ambitions of high literary experimentation and the aims of broad readability
- Framework of the new literary system of Late Modernity, illustrating its multiple layers: from avant-garde extremes to the communicative compromises of popular literature, passing through institutional literature
- Close reading and commentary of Twentieth-Century works, with special attention to enriching the established canon traditionally found in university (and school) textbooks by incorporating significant works by women writers published across the decades of the Twentieth Century and into the present day.
All the historical passages, both literary and editorial, and the related theoretical-methodological issues will be exemplified in concrete terms through direct confrontation with an author and the anthological selection of a text from one of his works (case study).
Prerequisites for admission
Ability to concentrate on and understand written texts, particularly literary texts, in the long narrative form of the novel.
Ability to orientate on a bibliographic level: identification and retrieval of critical texts and literary works starting from the online OPAC and within the holdings of the University libraries or others in the area.
Ability to orientate on a bibliographic level: identification and retrieval of critical texts and literary works starting from the online OPAC and within the holdings of the University libraries or others in the area.
Teaching methods
Frontal lessons with PowerPoint projections, links to web pages and prior distribution of reading materials to be used in class, these ones uploaded on the Ariel page of the course (further clarifications will be given in the classroom).
During the lessons, the historical and theoretical contents will be explained with the same structure and articulation with which they will be requested during the exam; the reading and analysis of the textual materials is a concrete and empirical example guided by the teacher of what the student will be asked to do autonomously during the exam.
Practical indications are given on how to check learning and evaluation criteria and suggestions are given on how to use the bibliography in the program for an effective preparation of the subject.
Attendance is optional but strongly recommended.
During the lessons, the historical and theoretical contents will be explained with the same structure and articulation with which they will be requested during the exam; the reading and analysis of the textual materials is a concrete and empirical example guided by the teacher of what the student will be asked to do autonomously during the exam.
Practical indications are given on how to check learning and evaluation criteria and suggestions are given on how to use the bibliography in the program for an effective preparation of the subject.
Attendance is optional but strongly recommended.
Teaching Resources
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS (THEY ARE REQUIRED TO TAKE THE EXAMINATION IN ITALIAN)
First 10 lessons: How to study contemporary Italian literature
· i contenuti delle lezioni
· Franco Brioschi, Costanzo Di Girolamo, Massimo Fusillo, Introduzione alla letteratura, Roma, Carocci, ed. 2013 (reprint 2021), only the following chapters (pp. 9-31 e pp. 135-180):
- L'istituzione letteraria (fino a 2.2)
- Modi della narrativa
· Alberto Cadioli, Il testo in tipografia. Lo studio filologico delle edizioni a stampa, Dueville (VI), Ronzani, 2024, the following chapters:
- Introduzione; Lo studio dei testi trasmessi con la stampa; Preliminari su alcuni lemmi (pp. 15-54)
- tutta la Seconda parte: Nell'editoria moderna (sec. XIX-XX) (pp. 163-250)
· Roberto Cicala, I meccanismi dell'editoria. Il mondo dei libri dall'autore al lettore, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2021, i seguenti capitoli:
- Parte I: Un libro oggi (pp. 21-30)
- Parte II, capitolo VI: Collane tra generi e paratesto + Capitolo VII: I testi in redazione: tra editing e grafica (pp. 79-142)
Lessons 11-30: Publishing history of the 20th century Italian novel
· lesson contents
· anthological excerpts provided from lesson to lesson for commentary purposes
· Letteratura italiana contemporanea. Narrativa e poesia dal Novecento ad oggi, edited by Beatrice Manetti e Massimiliano Tortora, Roma, Carocci, 2022, only the part dedicated to the novel: pp. 21-220.
· Vittorio Spinazzola, Le articolazioni del pubblico novecentesco (pp. 49-66) essay contained in the volume La modernità letteraria, Milano, il Saggiatore-Fondazione Mondadori, 2001 (the essay is made available on MyAriel, in the teaching materials section)
· One title of your choice from this group of books (each to be read with the introductory essay, when present):
- Gabriele D'Annunzio, Il piacere
- Giovanni Verga, I Malavoglia
- Regina di Luanto, Gli agonizzanti
- Maria Messina, La casa nel vicolo, https://www.edizionicroce.it/catalogo/la-casa-nel-vicolo/
- Sibilla Aleramo, Una donna, Milano, Feltrinelli
- Luigi Pirandello, Quaderni di Serafino Gubbio operatore, Oscar Mondadori o Feltrinelli
- Aldo Palazzeschi, Il codice di Perelà. Romanzo futurista (edizione 1911), Oscar Mondadori
- Piero Jahier, Con me e con gli alpini (edizione 1918), Claudiana
- Emilio Cecchi, Pesci rossi, Roma, Eliot
- Giuseppe Antonio Borgese, Rubè, Oscar Mondadori
- Alberto Moravia, Gli indifferenti, Tascabili Bompiani
- Cesare Pavese, Paesi tuoi, Tascabili Einaudi
- Elio Vittorini, Conversazione in Sicilia, BUR / Tascabili Bompiani
- Elio Vittorini, Uomini e no, Oscar Mondadori
- Renata Viganò, L'Agnese va a morire, Einaudi
- Alba De Cespedes, Quaderno proibito, Oscar Mondadori Cult (prefazione di Nadia Terranova)
- Anna Banti, Artemisia, Oscar Mondadori Cult (a cura di Daniela Brogi)
· One title of your choice from this group of books (each to be read with the introductory essay, when present):
- Beppe Fenoglio, I ventitré giorni della città di Alba, Tascabili Einaudi
- Vasco Pratolini, Metello, BUR
- Pier Paolo Pasolini, Ragazzi di vita, Tascabili Garzanti
- Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Il Gattopardo, Tascabili Feltrinelli
- Giorgio Bassani, Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini, Tascabili Feltrinelli
- Natalia Ginzburg, Lessico famigliare, Tascabili Einaudi
- Carlo Emilio Gadda, Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana, Adelphi
- Carlo Emilio Gadda, La cognizione del dolore, Adelphi
- Paolo Volponi, Memoriale, Tascabili Einaudi
- Edoardo Sanguineti, Capriccio italiano, Feltrinelli
- Nanni Balestrini, Vogliamo tutto, Oscar Mondadori
- Elsa Morante, La Storia, Tascabili Einaudi
- Gianna Manzini, Ritratto in piedi, Oscar Mondadori
- Italo Calvino, Le città invisibili, Oscar Mondadori
- Italo Calvino, Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore, Oscar Mondadori
- Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa, Bompiani o La Nave di Teseo
- Pier Vittorio Tondelli, Altri libertini, Tascabili Feltrinelli
- Antonio Tabucchi, Sostiene Pereira, Feltrinelli
- Dacia Maraini, La lunga vita di Marianna Ucria, BUR
- Ammanniti, Brancaccio e altri, Gioventù cannibale, Einaudi Stile Libero
- Goliarda Sapienza, L'arte della gioia, Einaudi
- Wu Ming, Q, Einaudi
- Antonio Franchini, Memorie di un venditore di libri, Marsilio
- Giorgio Falco, Condominio oltremare, L'Orma Editore
- Michela Murgia, Accabadora, Einaudi
- Helena Janeczek, La ragazza con la Leica, Einaudi
- Paolo Nori, Chiudo la porta e urlo, Mondadori
- Nadia Terranova, Quello che so di te, Guanda
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR NOT-ATTENDING STUDENTS
(FOREIGN STUDENTS ATTENDING LESSONS HAVE TO STUDY THE ITALIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY)
Below is the complete program with ALL the texts to be prepared.
Part one: Editorial history of 20th century Italian literature
· Ian Watt, The rise of the novel, Berkeley - Los Angeles, University of California, 2001 (chapters 1, 2, 6)
· Robert S. C., Gordon, An introduction to Twentieth-century Italian literature: a difficult modernity, London, Duckworth, 2005
· Mieke Bal, Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, 4ª ed., 2017
First 10 lessons: How to study contemporary Italian literature
· i contenuti delle lezioni
· Franco Brioschi, Costanzo Di Girolamo, Massimo Fusillo, Introduzione alla letteratura, Roma, Carocci, ed. 2013 (reprint 2021), only the following chapters (pp. 9-31 e pp. 135-180):
- L'istituzione letteraria (fino a 2.2)
- Modi della narrativa
· Alberto Cadioli, Il testo in tipografia. Lo studio filologico delle edizioni a stampa, Dueville (VI), Ronzani, 2024, the following chapters:
- Introduzione; Lo studio dei testi trasmessi con la stampa; Preliminari su alcuni lemmi (pp. 15-54)
- tutta la Seconda parte: Nell'editoria moderna (sec. XIX-XX) (pp. 163-250)
· Roberto Cicala, I meccanismi dell'editoria. Il mondo dei libri dall'autore al lettore, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2021, i seguenti capitoli:
- Parte I: Un libro oggi (pp. 21-30)
- Parte II, capitolo VI: Collane tra generi e paratesto + Capitolo VII: I testi in redazione: tra editing e grafica (pp. 79-142)
Lessons 11-30: Publishing history of the 20th century Italian novel
· lesson contents
· anthological excerpts provided from lesson to lesson for commentary purposes
· Letteratura italiana contemporanea. Narrativa e poesia dal Novecento ad oggi, edited by Beatrice Manetti e Massimiliano Tortora, Roma, Carocci, 2022, only the part dedicated to the novel: pp. 21-220.
· Vittorio Spinazzola, Le articolazioni del pubblico novecentesco (pp. 49-66) essay contained in the volume La modernità letteraria, Milano, il Saggiatore-Fondazione Mondadori, 2001 (the essay is made available on MyAriel, in the teaching materials section)
· One title of your choice from this group of books (each to be read with the introductory essay, when present):
- Gabriele D'Annunzio, Il piacere
- Giovanni Verga, I Malavoglia
- Regina di Luanto, Gli agonizzanti
- Maria Messina, La casa nel vicolo, https://www.edizionicroce.it/catalogo/la-casa-nel-vicolo/
- Sibilla Aleramo, Una donna, Milano, Feltrinelli
- Luigi Pirandello, Quaderni di Serafino Gubbio operatore, Oscar Mondadori o Feltrinelli
- Aldo Palazzeschi, Il codice di Perelà. Romanzo futurista (edizione 1911), Oscar Mondadori
- Piero Jahier, Con me e con gli alpini (edizione 1918), Claudiana
- Emilio Cecchi, Pesci rossi, Roma, Eliot
- Giuseppe Antonio Borgese, Rubè, Oscar Mondadori
- Alberto Moravia, Gli indifferenti, Tascabili Bompiani
- Cesare Pavese, Paesi tuoi, Tascabili Einaudi
- Elio Vittorini, Conversazione in Sicilia, BUR / Tascabili Bompiani
- Elio Vittorini, Uomini e no, Oscar Mondadori
- Renata Viganò, L'Agnese va a morire, Einaudi
- Alba De Cespedes, Quaderno proibito, Oscar Mondadori Cult (prefazione di Nadia Terranova)
- Anna Banti, Artemisia, Oscar Mondadori Cult (a cura di Daniela Brogi)
· One title of your choice from this group of books (each to be read with the introductory essay, when present):
- Beppe Fenoglio, I ventitré giorni della città di Alba, Tascabili Einaudi
- Vasco Pratolini, Metello, BUR
- Pier Paolo Pasolini, Ragazzi di vita, Tascabili Garzanti
- Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Il Gattopardo, Tascabili Feltrinelli
- Giorgio Bassani, Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini, Tascabili Feltrinelli
- Natalia Ginzburg, Lessico famigliare, Tascabili Einaudi
- Carlo Emilio Gadda, Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana, Adelphi
- Carlo Emilio Gadda, La cognizione del dolore, Adelphi
- Paolo Volponi, Memoriale, Tascabili Einaudi
- Edoardo Sanguineti, Capriccio italiano, Feltrinelli
- Nanni Balestrini, Vogliamo tutto, Oscar Mondadori
- Elsa Morante, La Storia, Tascabili Einaudi
- Gianna Manzini, Ritratto in piedi, Oscar Mondadori
- Italo Calvino, Le città invisibili, Oscar Mondadori
- Italo Calvino, Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore, Oscar Mondadori
- Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa, Bompiani o La Nave di Teseo
- Pier Vittorio Tondelli, Altri libertini, Tascabili Feltrinelli
- Antonio Tabucchi, Sostiene Pereira, Feltrinelli
- Dacia Maraini, La lunga vita di Marianna Ucria, BUR
- Ammanniti, Brancaccio e altri, Gioventù cannibale, Einaudi Stile Libero
- Goliarda Sapienza, L'arte della gioia, Einaudi
- Wu Ming, Q, Einaudi
- Antonio Franchini, Memorie di un venditore di libri, Marsilio
- Giorgio Falco, Condominio oltremare, L'Orma Editore
- Michela Murgia, Accabadora, Einaudi
- Helena Janeczek, La ragazza con la Leica, Einaudi
- Paolo Nori, Chiudo la porta e urlo, Mondadori
- Nadia Terranova, Quello che so di te, Guanda
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR NOT-ATTENDING STUDENTS
(FOREIGN STUDENTS ATTENDING LESSONS HAVE TO STUDY THE ITALIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY)
Below is the complete program with ALL the texts to be prepared.
Part one: Editorial history of 20th century Italian literature
· Ian Watt, The rise of the novel, Berkeley - Los Angeles, University of California, 2001 (chapters 1, 2, 6)
· Robert S. C., Gordon, An introduction to Twentieth-century Italian literature: a difficult modernity, London, Duckworth, 2005
· Mieke Bal, Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, 4ª ed., 2017
Assessment methods and Criteria
Assessment method: oral test
Type: oral questioning structured as an interview with the teacher on the topics envisaged in the program; in particular, starting with questions that cover the main contents and topics dealt with in the lesson, the interview will be structured in more or less in-depth directions depending on the student's ability to argue and analyse
Assessment parameters: the student must demonstrate:
- knowledge of the history of literature and publishing in Twentieth-century Italy
- have understood the dynamics of literary and publishing system in Twentieth-century Italy
- have acquired an adequate and effective ability to analyse the literary texts and the "book object" that conveys it
- have acquired basic concepts of publishing mediation and editorial philology
- to know and be able to critically analyse the case studies presented in class, both the anthological ones in the first part of the course and the complete ones in the second part
- have read and be able to critically analyse the theses read independently
- be able to express themselves correctly and appropriately in relation to the topics dealt with, using the specific critical terminology
- be able to link and rework the content presented in class and/or in the volumes and essays on the program.
Type of evaluation used: grade in thirtieths. The exam is passed with 18/30.
Type: oral questioning structured as an interview with the teacher on the topics envisaged in the program; in particular, starting with questions that cover the main contents and topics dealt with in the lesson, the interview will be structured in more or less in-depth directions depending on the student's ability to argue and analyse
Assessment parameters: the student must demonstrate:
- knowledge of the history of literature and publishing in Twentieth-century Italy
- have understood the dynamics of literary and publishing system in Twentieth-century Italy
- have acquired an adequate and effective ability to analyse the literary texts and the "book object" that conveys it
- have acquired basic concepts of publishing mediation and editorial philology
- to know and be able to critically analyse the case studies presented in class, both the anthological ones in the first part of the course and the complete ones in the second part
- have read and be able to critically analyse the theses read independently
- be able to express themselves correctly and appropriately in relation to the topics dealt with, using the specific critical terminology
- be able to link and rework the content presented in class and/or in the volumes and essays on the program.
Type of evaluation used: grade in thirtieths. The exam is passed with 18/30.
Modules or teaching units
Part A and B
L-FIL-LET/11 - CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Part C
L-FIL-LET/11 - CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)