Teaching code

4S00905

Teacher

Massimo Scotti

Coordinator

Massimo Scotti

Credits

9

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-FIL-LET/14 - CRITICAL COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Period

I semestre (Lingue e letterature straniere) dal Sep 28, 2020 al Jan 9, 2021.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes of the class “Letterature Comparate” L11 LLS lead students to acquire a knowledge of both the comparative methodologies and an overview of the topics related to both theory of literature and comparative literature. Through the application of the comparative tools, the subject of the course is analyzed in relation to the relative conceptual junctions. At the core of the analysis there is the comparison of texts belonging to different literary traditions, both diachronically and synchronously. At the end of the course, the student must demonstrate that he has acquired adequate knowledge and skills in the fields of comparative literature and literary theoy (knowledge and understanding); of having acquired the ability to learn and understand, and being able to argue and defend a position (learning skills); to be able to convey information, ideas, problems related to the subject imparted (making judgements).

Program

Title: "La penombra che abbiamo attraversato"

The course intends to critically retrace at least some sections of the long itinerary made by what is considered “children’s literature" in the Western tradition and the role that its texts have played in our training of readers, at various levels. The archetypes of the Self and of the evolutionary imagination will therefore be investigated, in a comparative perspective, but also the past and present youth literary canons, between the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries, in relation to the taste of contemporary fiction

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Critical Texts

1) Katherine Rundell, Why you should read children’s books though you are so old and wise, London, Bloomsbury, 2019, ISBN 978-1526610072
2) Lucia Rodler, Leggere oggi favole e fiabe, Bologna, Pàtron, 2020, ISBN 978-88-555-3482-6
3) La letteratura invisibile, a cura di Emy Beseghi e Giorgia Grilli, Roma, Carocci, 2011, 2016, ISBN 978-88-430-6027-6


Novels and romances

A) American stories

4) Mark Twain, The adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876); London, Macmillan, 2017, ISBN 9781509828005
5) Mark Twain, The prince and the pauper (2011); London, Harper Press, ISBN 9780007420063
6) Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), London, Macmillan, 2017, ISBN 9781509827992


B) Italian stories

7) Carlo Collodi, Le avventure di Pinocchio (1880, 1883), introduzione di Daniela Marcheschi, note di Carlo Fruttero e Franco Lucentini, Milano, Mondadori, “Oscar”, 2019, ISBN 978-88-04-70513-0
8) Edmondo De Amicis, Cuore (1886), edizione a cura di Luciano Tamburini, con un saggio di Umberto Eco, Torino, Einaudi, 2018, ISBN 978-88-06-23837-7
9) Vamba, Il giornalino di Gian Burrasca (1920), introduzione di Michele Mari, Milano, Garzanti, “I grandi libri”, 2017, ISBN 978-88-11-81127-5

C) English stories

10) James Matthew Barrie, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906) e Peter and Wendy (1911); Peter Pan, with an afterword by Ned Halley, London, Collector’s Library, 2008, ISBN 9781905716401
11) Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the looking glass (1871), London, MacMillan, 2018, ISBN 9781509865727
12) Charles Dickens, The Adventures of Oliver Twist (1837-1838), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1994, ISBN 0192545051
13) Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1849-1850), Oxford, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780192835789
14) Kenneth Grahame, The wind in the willows (1908), New York, Barnes & Noble, ISBN 9781435139718


D) Stories of girls

15) Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868-1869), London, Little Brown & Co., 2018, ISBN 9780316489270
16) Astrid Lindgren, Pippi Longstocking (1945), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2015, ISBN 9780192793850
17) Astrid Lindgren, Seacrow Island (1964), New York, New York Review of Books, 2015, ISBN 9781590178683


E) Exotic Stories

18) Rudyard Kipling, Kim (1901); Boston, Longman, 2011, ISBN 9780321435835
19) Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle books (1894-1895); London, Penguin, 2014, ISBN 9780141394626
20) Gerald Durrell, My family and others animals (1956), Harmondsworth, Penguin, 2006, ISBN 9780141321875
21) Selma Lagerlöf, Nils Holgersson’s wonderful journey through Sweden, translated by Peter Graves, London, Norvik Press, 2013, ISBN 97-81-909-4081-80


F) Contemporary stories

22) Harper Lee, To kill a mockingbird (1960), London, Arrow, 2015, ISBN 9781784752637
23) Diego Malaspina, Miralat, Milano, Topipittori, “Gli anni in tasca”, 2009, ISBN 978-88-89210-38-3
24) Christelle Dabos, A winter’s promise, translated by Hildegarde Serle, New York, Europa Editions, 2018, ISBN 9781609454838

GENERAL NOTES

Students who do not attend lessons are asked to send an e-mail to the teacher to agree on an interview, with reasonable advance compared to the exam.

The lessons will be held in the manner established by the University, in accordance with the safety standards, and are currently still being defined (therefore, further clarifications will take place). The reception time will be set accordingly; the interviews will take place at Professor Stefano Tani's studio at Polo Zanotto, on the second floor (it is advisable to agree in advance on the interview, especially in the periods following the end of the course). The teacher's address is the institutional one: massimo.scotti@univr.it

The lessons will be frontal, in Italian; students will be asked to intervene with questions, requests for clarifications and any type of comment that may serve to deepen and clarify the topics, individually and collectively.

Examination Methods

The exam will be held orally, in Italian. The texts to be studied are the following: the three critical essays (number 1, 2, 3). At least one novel of your choice for each of the six sections A), B), C), D), E), F). The candidate will be asked to fill in a list of the texts of their choice (from 4 to 24).

The contents of the lessons deposited on the moodle / panopto platform will be an integral part of the exam (these lessons will be canceled by the end of July 2021).

During the exam (which entitles you to 9 credits) the knowledge of the topics and the analytical skills developed by the student will be ascertained.

The interview that will form the core of the exam will aim to verify: - the depth and breadth of the knowledge acquired - the ownership of language and the mastery of adequate technical terminology - the ability to analytically compare styles, texts, themes, authors, periods, literary genres - analytical and argumentative ability.

In particular, the teacher will appreciate a critical, personal and possibly original analysis of the topics covered, not a tired repetition. Of the texts, for example, it will be more interesting to highlight the peculiarities and the literary value compared to the narration of the plot, which will be taken for granted.