COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Course title - The origin of the canon: Bible and literary genres. My lessons in Comparative Literature concern authors, genres and problems of Western literature from the 18th to the 21st century and use an integrative methodology that intends to reconcile the historical-cultural and philological-linguistic aspects. I decided to propose a reflection on the Bible understood as a book of the Canon of Western literature containing formal paradigms that give rise to literary discourse.

The course aims to introduce first-year students to the study of literature by proposing an excursus that highlights the evolution of literary genres within the Bible and their influence on the European and American literary tradition and on European and American writers in diachronic perspective. The general training objectives concern: a) the basic understanding of the main definitions of "simple" literary forms and of historically determined literary genres c) the ability to apply specific historical-literary terminology d) the ability to recognize the influence of biblical texts on modern literature. These skills concerning the functioning of the literary text and the development of Western literature should be considered basic skills to continue in the literary-cultural curriculum.

None. There is no prerequisite: it's enough a good knowledge of Italian.

The examination of the critical positions of N. Frye (1912-1991), G. Steiner (1929-2020), H. Bloom (1930-2019) will be conducted with reference to the main trends in comparative studies. Students will also be given essential methodology tools with the appropriate terminology and the correct nomenclature used in literary analysis.

Northrop Frye, The Great Code : the Bible and literature, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.
Harold Bloom, Ruin the Sacred Truths : Poetry and Belief from the Bible to the present, Harvard University Press, 1989.
George Steiner, “A Preface to the Hebrew Bible”, in No Passion Spent : Essays 1978–1996, London, Faber, 1996.
Roberto Calasso, Il libro di tutti i libri, Milano, Adelphi, 2019
The specific pages of the texts will be indicated by the teacher. Appropriate secondary reading may be suggested during the course.

The exam will take place in oral form and will focus exclusively on the program carried out by the teacher. During the oral exam the teacher will propose questions aimed at ascertaining the student's preparation, with particular reference to: the degree of knowledge and ability to understand and apply theoretical principles to the reading and interpretation of literary texts. The teacher will also verify learning skills, communication skills in verbal exposition, and the acquired autonomy of critical judgment.
An optional preparatory written test will be offered to students for the purpose of verification useful for monitoring the level of preparation achieved by the student before he or she takes the oral exam.

Lectures; programmed participation of students with brief interventions in which they’ll have to demonstrate communicative skills.

Italian

Appropriate secondary reading may be suggested during the course.

oral

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