RUSSIAN LITERATURE - MOD.2

The course, as a continuation to Module 1, aims at investigate in detail the intertextual and stylistic relation between Andrej Belyj and Nikolaj Gogol’ through two case studies ("The silver dove" and "Gogol’s Mastery").
In terms of knowledge and understanding, the teaching, which falls between the basic courses of the master's degree course in European, American and Postcolonial Languages and Literatures, is in line with the educational objectives of the degree program; it aims at instilling:
- a knowledge and understanding of the specific stylistic and thematic features common to both Belyj and Gogol’;
- a specialized knowledge and understanding – in original language – of examples of Belyj’s prose;
- a further knowledge and understanding of the terminology of textual analysis and literary criticism, with a focus on intertextuality.

Students are expected to acquire:
- in addition to an ability to translate literary texts and essays on literary and cultural subjects from Russian into Italian, an ability to reflect on the act of translation;
- an ability to comprehend the contents of texts in Russian;
- an ability to produce written and oral critical comments in Italian based on a thorough understanding of (even complex) original language Russian literary texts;
- an ability to identify – by utilizing the concepts learned – their final thesis topic on a literary-cultural context, to be written partly in Russian, formulating a personal argument and supporting it from their own reflections;
- an ability to move with ease in high-level professional situations in intercultural areas.

Having achieved the educational aims of Module 1 of the same academic year, even without having yet taken the exam.

This module, as a direct continuation of module 1, focuses on the relationship between A. Belyj and N. Gogol'. Intertextuality will be analysed in detail, with a particular (but not exclusive) reference to the novel "The silver dove". Thematic and stylistic links between the two authors will be clarified. Parts of "Gogol's Mastery", useful to understand Belyj's poetic development, will be read and analysed.

Testi primari:
- N. Gogol’, Veglie alla fattoria presso Dikan’ka, BUR 2016
- A. Belyj, Il colombo d’argento, BUR 1994
- A. Belyj, Masterstvo Gogolja, Moskva 2013 (capitoli scelti che verranno indicati a lezione)
Brani in russo di Serebrjanyj golub’ saranno inoltre analizzati a lezione, così come alcuni passaggi di altre opere di Belyj (tali materiali saranno forniti dalla docente).
Saggi critici:
- D. Rizzi, Gogol’ nel simbolismo russo: il caso di Belyj, «Russica Romana» X, 2003, pp. 73-92
- J.D. Elsworth, The Silver Dove, in J.D. Elsworth, Andrey Bely: a Critical Study of the Novels, Cambridge 1983, pp. 55-87
- T.R. Beyer, Belyj’s “Serebrjanyj golub’”: Gogol’ in Gugolevo, «Russian Language Journal», 1976 (30), 107, pp. 79-88
- K. Seke, K voprosu ob ornamentalizme rannej prozy A. Belogo (Serebrjanyj golub’), in Andrej Belyj. Master slova – iskusstva – mysli, Istituto universitario di Bergamo 1991, pp. 125-134
- R. Lachmann, Memory and Literature. Intertextuality in Russian Modernism, University of Minnesota Press, 1997, limitatamente ai capitoli Defining Intertextuality e Literature Made from Literature: Writing as Continuation, Writing as Rejoinder, and Rewriting, pp. 25-49.
Non attending students should contact the professor in order to agree upon the additional material.

The learning assessment will take place through an oral exam in which the student must demonstrate that he/she has acquired the contents of the analysis of the texts examined in class and of the assigned bibliography (50%). The student will then complete his/her preparation independently choosing a chapter (agreed upon with the professor) from Gogol’s Mastery. The chapter should be translated into Italian and analysed according to the analytical method displayed in class, and it will be the object of an oral presentation during the exam (25%). Lastly, the student must be able to describe with appropriate terminology the different phases of Belyj’s artistic evolution, linking biographical and literary facts to his historical and historical-cultural context (25%).

Partly frontal, partly seminar lessons, during which materials in original language will be read and analysed. In-depth materials or suggestions for further reading may be communicated through the professor’s web page.

Italian

The cycle of lectures of mod. 1 and mod. 2 are held one after the other, respectively on the first and second half of the semester.

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