ITALIAN LITERATURE - 1

This course is part of the compulsory characterising teaching of the course of study in PHILOLOGY, LINGUISTICS AND ITALIAN LITERATURE (common pathway), as the first module (6 CFU) of a total of 12 CFU.
It is also included among the related and complementary educational activities of [FM2] SCIENCES OF ANCIENTITY: LITERATURE, HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY (code FM0347, 6 CFU), and of [FM7] HISTORY FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO THE CONTEMPORARY AGE, as the first module (6 CFU) of 12 CFU in total.
The class thus has three main objectives: to trace the development of Italian literature, by way of specific examples; to foster the capacity of autonomous reflection on a literary text; to furnish the methodological tools of textual analysis. Particular attention is devoted to the centrality of the text, be it poetic or prose, as an indispensable starting point in any theoretical or critical discourse.

Knowledge and understanding: a thorough knowledge of the developmental lines of Italian literature of the first centuries; a thorough knowledge of the theory of literary forms covered by the course and Boccaccio's poetics; an autonomous knowledge and understanding of the forms of texts in prose and poetry of the first centuries; a knowledge and understanding of the language of the origins.
Ability to use said knowledge: Students should be able to employ their historico-critical knowledge in the study of Italian literary history; to use correctly the specific terminology of the discipline; to analyse a literary text in its various aspects.
Judgment: Students should be able to autonomously formulate and argue hypotheses, as well as critically evaluate alternative hypotheses.
Communication skills: Students should be able to express the specifics of critical discourse on literature with adequate terminology.
Learning skills: Students should be able to critically consult the assigned texts as well as the bibliography therein.

A good knowledge of the Italian language; standard reading abilities with texts in Italian; knowledge of the elements that characterize a literary text in prose and in verse.

From Petrarch to the Petrarchino
Pietro Bembo and the History of the Lyric Tradition

On the 500th anniversary of the publication of the Prose della volgar lingua (1525), the course will cover the salient points of the Italian lyric tradition, from the 'invention' of the rhyming book with Petrarch to the 16th-century canonisation sanctioned by Pietro Bembo's theoretical reflection and poetic practice.
Authors, forms and syllogies of lyric poetry from the 14th to the 16th century will be analysed, starting with Petrarch's Rerum vulgarium fragmenta. The varied and complex relationship of 15th-century poetry with Petrarch's model will be investigated through some particularly significant cases from a poetic (Poliziano, Lorenzo and Boiardo in primis) and theoretical point of view (the Aragonese Collection and Florentine reflection on 14th-century crowns). The second part of the course will instead focus on Pietro Bembo's poetic and intellectual training, in order to reconstruct the path that led him to theorise Petrarch's primacy in the Prose della volgar lingua. With this in mind, sections of some of his youthful works (Asolani, Stanze) will be analysed, as well as the compositional iter of his Rime, which renew and vary - structurally but also linguistically - the model he always declared.
Finally, the vitality and characteristics of 16th-century female Petrarchism and the role of 'Bembesque grammar' in female access to amorous rhyme will be shown through a few examples.

FRANCESCO PETRARCA, Canzoniere (si segnalano le edizioni a cura di S. Stroppa, Torino, Einaudi, 2016; U. Dotti, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2013; P. Vecchi Galli, Milano, Rizzoli, 2012).
LORENZO DE’MEDICI, Opere, a cura di T. Zanato, Milano, Mondadori, 2023.
ANGELO POLIZIANO, Stanze, Orfeo, Rime, a cura di D. Puccini, Milano, Garzanti, 2020.
MATTEO MARIA BOIARDO, Amorum libri tres, a cura di T. Zanato, Novara, Interlinea, 2012.
PIETRO BEMBO, MARIA SAVORGNAN, Carteggio d’amore, a cura di Carlo Dionisotti, Firenze, Le Monnier, 1950.
PIETRO BEMBO, Gli Asolani, edizione critica a cura di Giorgio Dilemmi, Firenze, Accademia della Crusca, 1991.
PIETRO BEMBO, Le Rime, 2 voll., a cura di Andrea Donnini, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2008.
PIETRO BEMBO, Prose della volgar lingua. L’editio princeps del 1525 riscontrata con l’autografo Vaticano latino 3120, a cura di C. Vela, Bologna, Clueb, 2001.
PIETRO BEMBO, Stanze, a cura di A. Juri, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2020.

An extensive list of other critical essays will be provided during the course as a bibliographical basis

Oral examination in the form of an interview (students whose syllabus includes the 12 cfu examination will take a single oral examination covering the first and second module).
The interview, which lasts approximately half an hour, aims to test knowledge of the texts under examination and the problems associated with their interpretation and historical-literary context.
In addition to the literary-historical preparation, particular attention will be paid to the ability to establish critically grounded relationships between the various problems examined and to account for them using appropriate language.
The final assessment will be based, in addition to the examination interview, on the seminar work required as an integral part of the course.
Assessment criteria:
In order to obtain a grade between 27 and 30 cum laude, students must be able to analyse the literary text in depth following the methodological indications acquired; possess and be able to communicate an organic vision of the themes addressed in class and/or studied in the manuals and critical texts in the bibliography; demonstrate excellent oral and written expression and argumentation skills; competently use the technical language of literary criticism.
An overall mark of between 23 and 26 will be awarded to those who demonstrate (orally and in writing): a good knowledge of the syllabus; the ability to carry out an analysis of the texts that is on the whole correct, even if marked by some imperfections of method and content; a good property of language with some uncertainty in exposition and/or imprecision in the use of technical language.
An acceptable but sketchy knowledge of the syllabus, a superficial understanding of the texts, a limited ability to analyse and an expression that is not always appropriate will lead to barely sufficient marks (between 18 and 22).
Poor knowledge of critical and literary texts, inadequate ability to analyse; incorrect or inappropriate written and oral expression will result in a negative assessment.

Lectures with active participation by students who will also - if numbers permit - be asked to give a seminar presentation during the second part of the course. Didactic materials available on the e-learning platform moodle.unive.it.
These textual and critical materials offer cues for further study, with respect to the reference texts listed above.

Italian

oral

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