Italian Literature

3 semester credits. This course is an introduction to contemporary Italian literature from Neorealism to the present time. Important topics include novels, short stories, essays, and poetry that will be read and discussed. As in all countries of the Western world, the post-war period in Italy was a time of enormous development, upheaval, and change that completely transformed Italian society. The worldwide impact of globalization of the last few decades has introduced economic and cultural challenges in Italy. The aim of the course is to analyze and understand how the process of transformation in Italian society has been reflected in the literary production.

3 semester credits. This course is an introduction to contemporary Italian literature from Neorealism to the present time. Important topics include novels, short stories, essays, and poetry that will be read and discussed. As in all countries of the Western world, the post-war period in Italy was a time of enormous development, upheaval, and change that completely transformed Italian society. The worldwide impact of globalization of the last few decades has introduced economic and cultural challenges in Italy. The aim of the course is to analyze and understand how the process of transformation in Italian society has been reflected in the literary production. All readings, assignments and exams will be in Italian. Prerequisites: Four semesters of Italian language or equivalent.

3 semester credits. This course will examine excerpts of Dante Alighieri's greatest passages from the Divine Comedy and other works in relation to the space and history of Florence. Textual analyses will be performed, unpacking the dense symbolism and motifs reflective of the intellectual and moral climate during 14th century Florence. Students will visit churches, piazzas, and palaces within the city and will examine these locations in the context of Dante's life and surrounding controversy, the accusations and denunciations in his writings, the physical descriptions of the city, and the characters and historical figures present in his works. The classroom approach of this course is based on experiencing the city as the academic space for learning and engagement. Classes are not held in a traditional, frontal-style setting; each lesson is carefully mapped for curricular content and featured locations. This course includes a language component (beginning level), which integrates Italian language through a real-world application and interdisciplinary approach.

3 semester credits. This course focuses on the important trio of fourteenth century Italian literature: Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, and Giovanni Boccaccio. A major emphasis of study is based on the texts of Dante's Vita Nuova and the Divine Comedy, Petrarca's Il Canzoniere, and Boccaccio's The Decameron. All three writers will be discussed in relation to the culture and society of their times.

3 semester credits. This course focuses on the important trio of fourteenth century Italian literature: Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, and Giovanni Boccaccio. A major emphasis of study is based on the texts of Dante's Vita Nuova and the Divine Comedy, Petrarca's Il Canzoniere, and Boccaccio's The Decameron. All three writers will be discussed in relation to the culture and society of their times. All readings, assignments and exams will be in Italian. Prerequisites: Four semesters of Italian language or equivalent.

3 semester credits. This course is centered around Ferrante’s four-volume work known as The Neapolitan Novels: My Brilliant Friend (2011), The Story of a New Name (2012), Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2013), The Story of the Lost Child (2015). Lectures will investigate the multifaceted universe of a friendship between two women, Lila and Lenù, from their childhood to adulthood. It also aims to shed light on the connections between their experiences and Southern Italy’s complex history and culture from the post-WWII war years to the present. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the course will examine the protagonists’ effort to break out of the circle of extreme poverty, illiteracy, and male violence. Amongst the themes addressed by this course through the study The Neapolitan Novels, students will explore issues such as post-war settlement in Italy and in the South, Italy’s Southern Question, the Neapolitan Camorra and its influence on the poor, the changing role of women during the Seventies, the “Economic Miracle,” terrorism during the “anni di piombo,” student movements in the late Sixties, Italian factory strikes throughout the Seventies, and technological advancements for computing machines.

4 semester credits. This course is centered around Ferrante’s four-volume work known as The Neapolitan Novels: My Brilliant Friend (2011), The Story of a New Name (2012), Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2013), The Story of the Lost Child (2015). Lectures will investigate the multifaceted universe of a friendship between two women, Lila and Lenù, from their childhood to adulthood. It also aims to shed light on the connections between their experiences and Southern Italy’s complex history and culture from the post-WWII war years to the present. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the course will examine the protagonists’ effort to break out of the circle of extreme poverty, illiteracy, and male violence. Amongst the themes addressed by this course through the study The Neapolitan Novels, students will explore issues such as post-war settlement in Italy and in the South, Italy’s Southern Question, the Neapolitan Camorra and its influence on the poor, the changing role of women during the Seventies, the “Economic Miracle,” terrorism during the “anni di piombo,” student movements in the late Sixties, Italian factory strikes throughout the Seventies, and technological advancements for computing machines. This course includes field learning hours for learning through first-hand experience outside of the traditional classroom.

Cross-listed from Italian Cultural Studies

Cross-listed from Comparative Literature