The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning outcomes

According to the periodization adopted in our French literature courses (first year: from 1850 to today; second year: Eighteenth century and first half of the Nineteenth century; third year: Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries), this course introduces to French literature from 1850 to today, with in-depth analysis of some aspects, authors and works, in order to develop critical competences concerning various literary genres.
At the end of the course, students shall therefore acquire overall knowledge of the history of French literature from 1850 to today (main literary movements, authors and works), along with critical competences and the capacity of applying them to the analysis of texts belonging to different literary genres (poetry, narrative prose, essay, and theatre).

This course is divided in two parts because students attending courses that pertain to the Department of Cultures and Civilizations achieve 6 credits (part 1 of the course), whereas students attending courses that pertain to the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures achieve 9 credits (part 1 and 2 of the course, the second part, which deals with contemporary literature, being conceived as the completion of the first).

Program

Part 1

An outline of the history of French literature and edition from 1850 to the 1970s with in-depth analysis of some emblematic aspects, authors and works, and a critical introduction to the study of texts belonging to different literary genres:
a. poetry, from Baudelaire to Surrealism;
b1. narrative prose, from Flaubert to Zola and Huysmans;
b2. the novel, from early XXth century to the “nouveau roman” and the OuLiPo;
c. essaysm, testimonial and creative writing, from Existentialism to Roland Barthes;
d. the theatre, from late XIXth century to the “nouveau théâtre”.
The reading of two entire literary works in French, among those presented during the course, is compulsory. Only students attending courses which pertain to the Department of Cultures and Civilizations may read the two chosen books in the Italian translation.

A detailed program with bibliographical information, as well as a selection of literary and critical texts, will be given at the beginning of the course.
Students attending the course will be given access to a mid-term paper (1/3 of the final evaluation): students will be required to comment on an excerpt from one of the literary discussed during the course (literary context and genre, thematic and stylistic analysis).
Students unable to attend the course are requested to contact the teacher. Some critical readings given at the beginning of the course are especially selected for them in order to prepare the final oral exam.

The course, as well as the mid-term paper and the final oral exam, are in Italian. All texts (literary excerpts and extended readings) must be in French, except the two books that, as already mentioned, only students attending courses which pertain to the Department of Cultures and Civilizations may choose to read in Italian.
Further instructions, concerning both the mid-term paper and the oral exam, will be given during the course.

Select bibliography
Paul Aron, Denis Saint-Jacques et Alain Viala, Le dictionnaire du littéraire, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 2002.
Éric Bordas, Claire Barel-Moisan, Gilles Bonnet, Aude Déruelle et Christine Marcandier, L’analyse littéraire, 2e édition, Paris, Armand Colin, 2015.
Jean-Yves Mollier, Une autre histoire de l’édition française, Paris, La Fabrique Editions, 2015.
Lionello Sozzi (a cura di), Storia europea della letteratura francese. II. Dal Settecento all’età contemporanea, Torino, Einaudi, 2013.
Sandra Teroni (a cura di), Il romanzo francese del Novecento, Roma/Bari, Laterza, 2008.
Anne Ubersfeld, Les termes clés de l’analyse du théâtre, Paris, Seuil, 1996.
Alain Vaillant, La poésie. Initiation aux méthodes d’analyse des textes poétiques, Paris, Nathan, 1992.

Part 2

Part 2

An outline of contemporary French literature from 1980 to today, with particular regard to nowaday’s theatrical trends and to the developments and intercations of narrative prose and essayism:
a. an outline of contemporary French literature;
b. some voices: François Bon, Laurent Mauvignier, Maylis de Kerangal.
The reading of one entire literary work in French, among those presented during the course, is compulsory.

A detailed program with bibliographical information, as well as a selection of literary and critical texts, will be given at the beginning of the course.
Students unable to attend the course are requested to contact the teacher. Some critical readings given at the beginning of the course are especially selected for them in order to prepare the final oral exam.

The course and the final oral exam are in Italian. All texts (literary excerpts and extended readings) must be in French.
Further instructions concerning the oral exam will be given during the course.

Select bibliography
Paul Aron, Denis Saint-Jacques et Alain Viala, Le dictionnaire du littéraire, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 2002.
Éric Bordas, Claire Barel-Moisan, Gilles Bonnet, Aude Déruelle et Christine Marcandier, L’analyse littéraire, 2e édition, Paris, Armand Colin, 2015.
Joseph Danan, Entre théâtre et performance: la question du texte, Arles Actes Sud, 2013.
Jean-Yves Mollier, Une autre histoire de l’édition française, Paris, La Fabrique Editions, 2015.
Gianfranco Rubino (a cura di), Il romanzo francese contemporaneo, Roma/Bari, Laterza, 2012.
Lionello Sozzi (a cura di), Storia europea della letteratura francese. II. Dal Settecento all’età contemporanea, Torino, Einaudi, 2013.
Dominique Viart et Bruno Vercier, La littérature française au présent. Héritage, modernité, mutations, Paris, Bordas, 2005.

Bibliography

Examination Methods

It must be rerembered that this course is divided in two parts because students attending courses that pertain to the Department of Cultures and Civilizations achieve 6 credits (part 1 of the course), whereas students attending courses that pertain to the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures achieve 9 credits (part 1 and 2 of the course, the second part being conceived as the completion of the first).
For students attending the course who choose to present their mid-term paper, the final evaluation will be the result of:
a) mid-term paper (1/3 of the evaluation);
b) oral exam (2/3 of the evaluation).
For students unable to attend the course, the complete program will be discussed during the oral exam.