SCANDINAVIAN LITERATURE 1

Swedish Literature 1 is offered at the first year of the BA-programme in Languages, Civilisation and the Science of Language (Lingue, Civiltà e Scienze del Linguaggio) to students who choose Swedish language as one of their two three-years languages. The course is crosswise valid for all of the three curricula of the BA-programme: Literatures and Culture; Linguistics, Philology and Language Teaching Research; International Politics and can also be attended as a freely chosen subject by students who are not studying Swedish as one of the two main languages. Swedish Literature 1 is a “core educational” (type B) or an “interdisciplinary” (type C) activity, according to whether Swedish is chosen as first or second language.
Swedish Literature 2 (module 1) is offered at the second year of the BA-programme in Languages, Civilisation and the Science of Language (Lingue, Civiltà e Scienze del Linguaggio) to students who choose Swedish language as one of their two three-years languages and in particular to those who choose the Literatures and Culture curriculum. Swedish Literature 2 (module 1) is a “core educational” (type B) or an “interdisciplinary” (type C) activity, according to whether Swedish is chosen as first or second language. Swedish literature 2 (module 1) is not included in the other two curricula offered in this BA-programme (Linguistics, Philology and Language Teaching Research; International Politics) but as a freely chosen subject it is recommended to all Swedish language students who wish to go deeper in Scandinavian Studies.

The course aims at giving a basic knowledge of the Swedish and Scandinavian literary and cultural heritage, providing the students with the right tools for the thematic and formal analysis of the literary text and developing their individual orienting and summarising skills, as well as their understanding of how this subject can relate to the aesthetic, social and existential issues of our time.

Knowledge and understanding
Swedish Literature 1/Swedish Literature 2 (module 1) is an institutional introductory course as it offers an outline of Swedish and Scandinavian history from 1910 to the 2000s, with a monographic module on the study of both poetry and prose by leading Swedish and Scandinavian writers who extensively use animal symbolism and metaphors in order to focus on two ranges of questions: on the one hand an existential exploration of the individual in the nineteenth century, and on the other a reflection on the relationship between humans, animals, and the natural environment.

Application skills
The aim of the course is to provide the students with the right tools for the literary-historical and social contextualisation of the leading authors and texts from 1910 to the 2000s.

Judgement skills
The course is meant to develop the individual orienting and summarising ability with regards to the addressed subject, as well as the understanding of how this subject can relate to the aesthetic, social and existential issues of our time.

Communicative skills
Students will be required to expose their knowledge of literary history and their considerations on the texts using the proper terminology during examinations as well as in class.

Learning skills
Students are expected to have the appropriate skills to take notes and potentially to share them on line as well as to critically consult the reference bibliography.

No pre-requirements are expected for Swedish Literature 1 because the course is addressed to beginners in the field of Scandinavian languages and literatures, while Swedish Literature 2 (module 1) is addressed to the students of the literary-cultural curriculum, who have already attended Swedish Literature 1 and are attending in parallel Swedish Literature 2, module 2. Skills in Swedish language will allow the more advanced students to approach the original texts.

Outline of Swedish and Scandinavian literature from 1910 to the 2000s.
Study of poetry and prose by leading Swedish and Scandinavian writers who extensively use animal symbolism and metaphors in order to focus on two ranges of questions: on the one hand an existential exploration of the individual in the nineteenth century, and on the other a reflection on the relationship between humans, animals, and the natural environment.

1) General part:
From: Storia delle Letterature Scandinave. Dalle origini a oggi, a cura di Massimo Ciaravolo, Milano, Iperborea, 2019. Capitolo 6: pp. 385-417; 445-458; 465-475; 489-510; 529-531. Capitolo 7: 533-552; 558-564. Capitolo 8: 621-629; 643-661; 686-705; 744-795; 911-931
2) Studied works:
Edith Södergran, Poesie scelte da Samlade dikter, Walström & Widstrand, 2015
Pär Lagerkvist, Poesie scelte da Ångest (1916, Angoscia) e da Kaos (1919)
Stig Dagerman, Il serpente, Milano, Iperborea, 2021
Tarjei Vesaas, Gli uccelli, Milano, Iperborea, 2017
Per Olov Enquist, Il libro delle parabole, Milano, Iperborea, 2014
Kerstin Ekman, La voce del torrente, Il Saggiatore, 2000
Peter Høeg, La donna e la scimmia, Mondadori, 1997
Inger Christensen, Poesie scelte da La valle delle farfalle, Donzelli, 2015

Students will sit an oral exam, in Italian, lasting approximately 20 minutes. The exam will focus on some of the works presented during the course, inserted in their historical, cultural and social context as well as in the poetics of their authors.
Students will have to show a thorough knowledge of the course topics, as well as the ability to present them in an appropriate form and to easily relate the specific texts to their context.
Students at an advanced level of Swedish language might be asked to translate, contextualize and analyse short passages from the original texts.
Non-attending students must complete the learning material with additional studies and come to office hours at least once before sitting the exam.

The course offers mainly frontal lectures, but with moments of voluntary participatory learning, as students may present in class one of the works included in the syllabus.
Though the course will be held in Italian, some texts will be presented in their original language (i.e. Swedish, Danish or Norwegian).

Italian

If you have any questions or need further explanations, please write to sara.culeddu@unive.it.
Booking office hours with the professor by email is highly recommended (a weekly timetable will be provided).
Student who cannot attend the course must contact the teacher in order to discuss supplementary learning material.

oral

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