Teaching code

4S01311

Teacher

Massimo Scotti

Coordinator

Massimo Scotti

Credits

6

Also offered in courses:

• Comparative Literature (i) of the course Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies
• Comparative Literature of the course Bachelor's degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-FIL-LET/14 - CRITICAL COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Period

2 B dal Apr 4, 2022 al Jun 4, 2022.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning outcomes

Teaching comparative literature aims at transmitting to the students crucial conceptual intruments and modes of thoughts concerning some important literary themes current in the Western World. By the end of the course the student will master notions and critical methodologies used by the professor in class.

Program

Title: "Les Revenants"

The course aims to illustrate, from a comparative perspective, the phenomenon of spiritism, and in particular the figure of the spirit medium, in literature, history and more generally in Western culture, between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The discussion will also involve a synthesis of the spirit phenomenon in antiquity


BIBLIOGRAPHY

A) Critical texts

1) Massimo Scotti, "Storia degli spettri", Milano, Feltrinelli, 2013 [ISBN] 978-88-07-88199-2

2) Raffaele Caterina, "Storie di locazioni e di fantasmi", Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2011 [ISBN] 978-88-498-3108-5

3) Andrea De Luca, "La scienza, la morte, gli spiriti", Venezia, Marsilio, 2019 [ISBN] 978-88-317-4288-7

4) Jean-Claude Schmitt, "Les Revenants", Paris, Gallimard, 1994 [ISBN] 88-420-4719-8

5) Julia Briggs, "Night Visitors", London, Faber, 1977, [ISBN] 0571111130

6) Francesco Zingaropoli e Cesare Lombroso, "Spiriti inquilini: le case infestate fra palcoscenici e tribunali", a cura di Gabriele Mina, Nardò, Besa, 2008 [ISBN] 978-88-497-0529-4


B) Stories

7) James Matthew Barrie, "Farewell, Miss Julie Logan", New York, Scribner's, 1932

8) Théophile Gautier, "Spirite", Wimereux, Éditions du Sagittaire, 2010 [ISBN] 9782917202166

9) Alfred Dõblin, "Reiseverkehr mit dem Jenseits", in "Erzãhlungen aus fūnf Jahrzehnten", Zürich-Düsseldorf, Walter-Verlag, 1979.

10) Henry James, "The Ghostly Rental", in "The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories", London, Penguin, 2017 [ISBN] 9780141389752, più i testi distribuiti in fotocopie (saggi di Virginia Woolf e Leon Edel)

C) Novels

11) Antonia S. Byatt, "The Conjugal Angel", in "Angels and Insects", London, Vintage, 1993 [ISBN] 0099224313

12) Sarah Waters, "The Little Stranger", London, Virago, 2009 [ISBN] 9781844086016 e [ISBN] 9781844086023
or
Sarah Waters, “Affinity”, London, Virago, 2000 [ISBN] 9781860496929

13) Agatha Christie, "The Sittaford Mystery", London, Harper, 2017 [ISBN] 9780008196233

14) Henry James, “The Bostonians”, edited by Daniel Karlin, Cambridge University Press, 2019 [ISBN] 9781107003989

In view of the exam, attending students (i.e. those attending classroom lessons) will be required to study two texts in depth for each of the three sections.
Therefore, for section A) Critical texts: the number 1, plus another chosen from 2 to 6; for section B) Short stories: two texts to be chosen from 7 to 10; for section C) Novels: two chosen texts from 11 to 14; the qualifications selected by each candidate will be reported on a list to be presented for the exam.
Non-ATTENDING students will be required an extra volume in section A) Critical texts and another in section C) Novels

Bibliography

Examination Methods

During the exam (which entitles you to 6 credits) the knowledge of the topics and the analytical skills developed by the student will be ascertained.

The interview (in Italian) 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.

In view of the exam, ATTENDING students (i.e. those attending classroom lessons) will be required to study two texts in depth for each of the three sections indicated in the program.
Therefore, for section A) Critical texts: the number 1, plus another chosen from 2 to 6; for section B) Short stories: two texts to be chosen from 7 to 10; for section C) Novels: two chosen texts from 11 to 14; the qualifications selected by each candidate will be reported on a list to be presented for the exam.
Non-ATTENDING students will be required an extra volume in section A) Critical texts and another in section C) Novels