TF101 - PHILOSOPHY OF LITERATURE

courses

ID:

TF101

Duration (hours):

48

CFU:

SSD:

FILOSOFIA TEORETICA

Located in:

CHIETI

Url:

Course Details:

PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES/CORSO GENERICO Year: 3

Year:

2025

Course Catalogue:

https://unich.coursecatalogue.cineca.it/af/2025?co...

Date/time interval

Secondo Semestre (01/03/2026 - 31/05/2026)

Course Objectives

Through a teaching approach designed to encourage the problematization of conceptual frameworks rather than the presentation of notions in a definitive manner, the course develops some of the Department’s research lines by focusing on the analysis of contemporary thought and, specifically, on the connections between twentieth-century French philosophy and the philosophical discourse on literature.
Exploring the relationship between the two fields (philosophy and literature) will enable students to approach a subject situated within an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary horizon, as demonstrated by the exam program, which includes— in its second part — the selection of literary texts.
Regarding the relationships at the center of the course, the aim is to show that a theoretical perspective is essential for observing the ways in which philosophy establishes fundamental links with other forms of knowledge, as occurs in the interaction between philosophy and literature.
By the end of the course, students should have acquired a solid ability to autonomously rework the issues discussed, further refining their philosophical vocabulary acquired in previous years of study. They should also have developed a critical mindset that allows them to identify, independently as well, the reasons why at times it is not possible to draw a clear distinction between philosophy and literature, or why in other cases maintaining a separation between the two fields is essential.

Course Prerequisites

No specific prerequisites are required.

Teaching Methods

Classes will be held in person and will follow a lecture-based, inclusive, and participatory methodology.

Assessment Methods

Oral Examination (100%)
The exam evaluates:
- comprehension of assigned texts
- ability to construct clear and coherent arguments
- critical engagement with philosophical issues
- proper use of philosophical vocabulary

Exam Policies:
- Completion of all required readings is mandatory.
- Partial completion of the syllabus results in exclusion from the oral exam.
- Students must bring the chosen texts (print or digital) to the examination.

Texts

a) Primary Text:

C. Scarlato, Il discorso filosofico intorno alla letteratura. Percorsi teoretici nel pensiero francese, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2024.

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b) Choose ONE of the following (Group A or Group B):

Group A – Literary Works

M. Blanchot, Thomas the Obscure (Station Hill Press).
S. de Beauvoir, The Blood of Others (Penguin Classics).
S. de Beauvoir, All Men Are Mortals (W.W. Norton and Company).
J.-P. Sartre, Nausea (New Directions).

Group B – Philosophical Works

G. Deleuze, Proust and Signs (University of Minnesota Press).
M. Foucault, Language, Madness, and Desire (University of Minnesota Press).
M. Merleau-Ponty, Sense and Non-Sense (Northwestern University Press).

Additional bibliographical references, including English- and French-language works, will be indicated exclusively during lectures and seminar meetings associated with the course. These additional references do not constitute exam material, although they are valuable tools for a deeper and more contextual understanding of the topics addressed in the course.

This course examines the relationship between philosophy and literature through the lens of French thought from the post-World War II period to the late 1960s. Drawing on structuralist and post-structuralist traditions, it will explore how twentieth-century French philosophers have conceptualized language, writing, the subject, political experience, and the literary text as a privileged site of theoretical inquiry.
Attention will be devoted to major figures such as Roland Barthes, Maurice Blanchot, Simone de Beauvoir, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean Paulhan, and Jean-Paul Sartre. The course adopts a theoretical and interdisciplinary perspective, engaging fields such as aesthetics, phenomenology, and the philosophy of language.

Course Language

Italian

More information

Attendance is not mandatory but is strongly recommended. No handouts, recordings and/or supplementary materials will be provided in place of lectures. For further information, both attending and non-attending students may contact: chiara.scarlato@unich.it