THEORY OF LITERATURE

The ‘’Urban spaces, language, identity’’ section within the Theory of Literature course is situated among the most characterizing lessons of the whole course of studies . Some novels, between the 19th and 21st centuries, from different nationalities and particularly representative of the topic considered, will be considered, following an interdisciplinary approach, starting from the depiction of the elements of the narratological and rhetorical phenomenon applied to the genre of the urban realistic novel. The methodology of the discourse analysis according to the French school will also be applied through the textual analysis of the discursive phenomena of significant texts by underlining the social acts and practices of the subjects in relation to the different realities of the national territories.

At the end of the course the student is able to use the methodologies examined as he can make an analysis of the texts studied in their formal, rhetorical and stylistic elements and by detecting the main discursive aspects. He must prove to have knowledge of the subject matters , linguistic accuracy, lexical correctness; to have basic knowledge on some general concepts of literature, on the enunciative relations of the sentence, of the lexicon, and of the discourse as a place of artculation of the social , on the dymanics of literary communications and of the relationships between text and context, in relation to the historical and urban realities which are peculiar to any novel.

Knowledge of the basic structure, of the workings of the literary text and of the general frameworks (periodizations and literary movements) of the history of literary also with reference to foreign literary productions; overall knowledge of the main problems connected with a critical approach to the literary text. The prerequisites here indicated are an integral part of the course relating to the master's degree in Italian Philology and Literature.

The Theory of Literature course is based on the ‘’ Urban spaces, language and identity’’module: some novels of different nationalities and between the 19th and 21st centuries, will be analysed, according to the application of the narratological analysis and the detection of the rhetorical aspects applied to the urban realistic novel genre.The discourse analysis methodology will also be used through the textual analysis of the discursive phenomena of significant passages, pointing out the social acts and practices in agreement with the social state and in relation to the different realities of the national territories.The enunciative effects analysis and the point of view study will become meaningful paths placing themselves as interpretations of the world represented. Space will be the significant main medium to detect the peculiar mechanisnìms of a text as space produces actantial diversified roles: in particular the role of urban spatiality according to a historical signification will be analyzed within social and political mutations, produced by different territorial realities, as actants of textual significations as a ‘place’ and support of axiologies which determine the transformations of subjects and of individual values and/or produce their conflicts. The issues of mediation of orientation and of direction will be strictly connected within the personal space , the national urban spaces or will be produced by the effects of the industrial revolution , as for example in France, and by realities connected to colonialism and emigration : in general: the transformation of different urban realities and the changes lived through by immigrants or migrants will emerge in specific narrative programs involving a narrative and linguistic planning skill, activating stories that combine skills and performances. The representation of the external spaces will move from a sensitive connotative state which makes it possible to express moods and emotions to the conceptual level of cognitive dispositions.

NARRATIVE TEXTS
Italo Calvino, Marcovaldo, 1963
Cardoso Dulce Maria, Il ritorno, Feltrinelli, 2012
Mehdi Charef, La casa di Alexina. Storia di un bambino algerino nella Francia del 1960, (trad. Paola Salerni), Ediz. Universitarie Romane, 2018
Selim Özdogan, I sogni degli altri, Emons Pubblicazioni, 2021
Émile Zola, La preda (La curée)
Émile Zola, Il ventre di Parigi

CRITICAL ESSAYS
Alice Giannitrapani, Introduzione alla semiotica dello spazio, Carocci editore, 2013
Antoine Compagnon, Il demone della teoria. Letteratura e senso comune, Einaudi, 2000
Philippe Hamon, Esposizioni. Letteratura e architettura nel XIX secolo, CLUEB, 1994
Federico Bertoni, Letteratura. Teorie, metodi, strumenti, Carocci, 2018
Angelo Marchese, L'officina del racconto, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1983
Marina Sbisà (a cura di), Gli atti linguistici. Aspetti e problemi di filosofia del linguaggio, Feltrinelli, 1995 (1978)

Other texts will be provided by the teacher during the course

The final learning examination consists of a discussion of about 30 minutes on the topics discussed throughout the course. The student must show his knowledge of the contents and of his acquired skills, his ability to analyse the passages treated during the course by applying the methodologies studied, his ability to critically organize the texts even from a linguistic expository point of view, and his historical knowledge of the urban phenomena changes

The course is composed of lectures to attend to, in which an active participation of the students is required, as well as the use of multimedia support (word and power point).

Italian

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Cities, infrastructure and social capital" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development