L000966 - CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE AND MEDIA

The course aims to provide knowledge on the fundamental issues of twentieth-century Italian literature through the reading of texts, analysis of themes, and the study of forms and poetics.

Model for the Application of the Dublin Descriptors


Course: Contemporary Italian Literature (Bachelor’s Degree)


Educational Objectives


The course aims to provide students with a solid foundational knowledge of Italian literature from the early twentieth century to the first decades of the twenty-first century. It introduces the main authors, texts, and literary movements, as well as basic critical tools for the analysis and interpretation of literary texts.
1. Outline of twentieth-century Italian literary history: modernism vs. realism.
2. Modernity and the crisis of the subject in the early twentieth century.
3. Narrative and poetry between the two World Wars.
4. Neorealism and post-war literature.
5. Experimentalism, neo-avant-garde movements, and new realisms.
6. Italian narrative from the 1980s to the present.


Authors and Texts


Gabriele D’Annunzio, Giovanni Pascoli, Luigi Pirandello, Italo Svevo, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Eugenio Montale, Cesare Pavese, Goffredo Parise, Elio Vittorini, Italo Calvino, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Beppe Fenoglio, Alberto Moravia, Elsa Morante, Umberto Eco, Antonio Tabucchi, Claudio Magris, and authors of contemporary Italian narrative.


Expected Learning Outcomes (Dublin Descriptors – First Cycle)


1. Knowledge and Understanding
Students are guided towards acquiring and deepening their knowledge of the fundamental developments of contemporary Italian literature, its main authors and most representative works, and towards understanding texts within their historical, cultural, and literary contexts.


2. Applying Knowledge and Understanding
Students are trained to analyse narrative and poetic texts through guided activities; they apply basic concepts of literary criticism and are able to identify the main themes, structures, and formal features of the texts.


3. Making Judgements
Students acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to formulate basic critical evaluations of literary texts; they are able to distinguish between textual evidence and interpretation and to reflect on the main issues raised by the works studied. Particular attention is devoted to rhetorical and stylistic analysis.


4. Communication Skills
Students are able to present the contents of the course clearly and accurately; they use basic disciplinary terminology and are capable of presenting analyses and interpretations both orally and in written form.


5. Learning Skills
Students develop autonomous study skills and are able to organise their work effectively in preparation for the examination.