RHETORIC

The course is one of the integrative courses of the Master's degree course in Italian Philology, Linguistics and Literature and aims to provide an advanced knowledge of the discipline, dedicating particular attention to the Italian context in a time span between the Middle Ages and the present day.
Together with grammar, rhetoric is the longest-lived of the sciences dealing with language and its uses; in its long history, spanning more than two millennia, this discipline has alternated between moments of discredit, in which it has been associated with the idea of empty declamation or dusty pomposity, and phases of splendour, in which it has constituted one of the pillars of the European educational system. After the crisis it underwent in the 19th century, Rhetoric experienced a new fortune in the course of the 20th century, when this discipline was identified as the progenitor of pragmatics and textual linguistics and was refounded (in fact, one speaks of 'new rhetoric') as a general theory of argumentation, capable of offering analytical tools suited to the challenges of the world of communication. In accordance with the dual nature of the discipline, which embraces a set of doctrinal propositions and communicative practices, the course offers insights into historical moments and specific theoretical aspects, accompanied by exemplifications conducted on texts (literary and non-literary) belonging to different periods, authors, genres, traditions.

At the end of the course, students will acquire:
- a thorough knowledge of the fundamentals of the history and theory of rhetoric, including the most recent developments in the discipline
- a strengthening of the linguistic basis with which to interpret a text
- the ability to analyse a text from a rhetorical point of view, paying particular attention to the figural dimension, textual mechanisms and argumentative technique
- the ability to compare the different rhetorical and expressive solutions of the autobiographies examined and to grasp their rhetorical constants.
- the ability to work independently on an assigned topic
- the ability to communicate in appropriate technical language the topics discussed in class.

Knowledge of the fundamentals of linguistics and linguistic and literary history, acquired through the basic linguistic and literary subjects of the three-year degree course in Literature.

Part I: Outlines of Rhetoric Theory and History
The first part of the course offers a critical and advanced presentation of the discipline, from both a historical and theoretical perspective, through a selection of texts and examples.

II part: Rhetoric and poetics of Eighteenth-century Italian autobiography.
The eighteenth century witnessed an impressive flowering of autobiographies. This course will consider a multiplicity of texts by some of the leading figures in eighteenth-century Italian culture, from Giambattista Vico to Pietro Giannone, from Carlo Goldoni to Vittorio Alfieri, from Giacomo Casanova to Lorenzo Da Ponte, showing how the autobiographical genre, which most of all seems to celebrate the triumph of individuality and spontaneity, is in fact subject to the constraints of long-lasting rhetorical, poetic and stylistic conventions; on a more strictly linguistic level, it also operates a complex negotiation with the legacy of dialects and the hegemony of foreign languages such as English and especially French, the language in which, moreover, perhaps the most important autobiography of the century is written: Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, published posthumously between 1782 and 1789.

***
Rhetoric SP, together with Analysis of Latin Texts SP, Greek Historiography SP, Roman Historiography SP, also offers an optional teaching path entitled 'Word and Power between History and Literature', through which students will be able to deal at a specialist level with a broad and multifaceted theme from different but related points of view.The course includes four common lessons and the in-depth study of a topic agreed upon with the lecturers, to be presented on a special day at the conclusion of the courses.This year the theme of the course is 'funerary rhetoric'. Those who are not interested in the integrated course can of course choose one or more courses individually.

Part I. One textbook of your choice from the following:
- Maria Pia Ellero, Retorica. Guida all’argomentazione e alle figure del discorso, Roma, Carocci, 2024.
- Bice Mortara Garavelli, Manuale di retorica, Milano, Bompiani, 2018.
- Michele Prandi, Retorica. Una disciplina da rifondare, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2023.

Part II.
- A dossier with excerpts from primary text provided by the teacher and available on Moodle.
- Secondary literature (main references):
- L’autobiografia: il vissuto e il narrato, Premessa by G. Folena, Padova, Liviana, 1986 (“Quaderni di retorica e poetica”, 1).
- A. Battistini, Lo specchio di Dedalo. Biografia e autobiografia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2008.
- Paul De Man, L’autobiografia come sfiguramento, in Teorie moderne dell’autobiografia, a cura di Bartolo Anglani, Bari, Graphis, 1996, pp. 51-56 (also available in English: Paul De Man, Autobiography as defacement, in Id., The Rhetoric of Romanticism, New York, Columbia University Press, 1984, pp. 67–81).
- L. Tomasin, “Scriver la vita”. Lingua e stile nell’autobiografia italiana del Settecento, Firenze, Cesati, 2009.

An oral exam lasting (approximately) thirty minutes will test knowledge of the topics and texts examined in class and mastery of the reference bibliography.
Assessment criteria:
A. scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- acceptable but barely or slightly more than adequate knowledge of the syllabus;
- limited text analysis skills and barely or little more than adequate expository and argumentative skills;
B. scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- fair knowledge of the examination syllabus;
- discrete text analysis and expository and argumentative skills (some inaccuracy in the use of discipline-specific language is noted);
C. scores in the 27-30 range and honors will be awarded in the presence of:
- good, very good or excellent knowledge of the syllabus;
- good excellent or excellent ability to analyze texts, exposition and argumentation, with full mastery of the technical language of the discipline (27-30) and personal critical contribution (30L).

Lectures and seminar presentations.

Italian

oral