2008-2009 Graduate Courses in Italian
| AUTUMN | WINTER | SPRING |
|---|---|---|
| 30400 Corso di perfezionamento | 30400 Corso di perfezionamento | 31803 Survey 2. Letteratura italiana dal Cinquecento al Seicento. |
| 31200 Poeti del Duecento | 31703 Survey I. Letteratura italiana dal Duecento al Quattrocento | 36703 Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered |
| 33203 Rome in Literature and Film | 33403 Marinella | 42100 Readings and Research |
| 34803 Outsiders I: Elsa Morante | 34403 Orlando furioso | |
| 35800 MA Seminar | 34903 Outsiders II: Italo Svevo | |
| 42100 Readings and Research | 35800 MA Seminar | |
| 35900 MA Seminar II | ||
| 42100 Readings and Research |
Graduate Course Descriptions
30400. Corso di perfezionamento. The goal of this course is to help students achieve mastery of composition and style through the acquisition of numerous writing techniques. Using a variety of literary and nonliterary texts as models, students examine the linguistic structure and organization of several types of written Italian discourse and are guided in the acquisition of the rules underlying each discourse type. Staff. Autumn, Winter.
31200. Poeti del Duecento. A reading of the earliest Italian documents and poetry from the Sicilian School to the Dolce Stil Nuovo , paying particular attention to the historical situation and to the rhetorical tradition. Final Paper. H. Justin Steinberg. Autumn.
31703. Survey I. Letteratura italiana dal Duecento al Quattrocento. PQ: Ital 20300 or consent of the instructor. An introduction to Italian literature of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. We will read works by three of the greatest figures of Italian literature—Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio—as well as a number of other important authors of the medieval period. The literary genres examined will be primarily lyric and narrative poetry and the short story (the Italian novella) . There will be equal emphasis placed on the formal, metrical, and technical aspects of reading early Italian literature as well as the vibrant social, political, and material contexts in which these texts were produced, circulated, and read. H. Justin Steinberg. Winter.
31803. Survey 2. Letteratura italiana dal Cinquecento al Seicento. PQ: Ital 20300 or consent of the instructor. This course is an introduction to the literature of the Renaissance and Baroque periods and a close reading of works by major authors (e.g., Alberti, Michelangelo, Stampa, Castiglione, Ariosto, Tasso). We study various literary genres (i.e., drama, dialogues, treatises, lyric and narrative poetry) and important cultural debates of the period, including the querrelle des femmes and the nascent women’s literary tradition. Armando Maggi. Spring.
33203. Rome in Literature and Film. The “Eternal City” of Rome has permeated cinematic and literary works in complex representations that make of it one of the richest motifs across centuries and national cultural expressions. In this course, the focus will be on films by Rossellini, Fellini, De Sica, Bertolucci, and Pasolini in the Italian cinematic tradition, as well as on a few selected films directed by non-Italians ( Gladiator , Roman Holiday ). Novels by D'Annunzio, Moravia, Ginzburg, Gadda, and Malerba, all set in Rome and in which the city plays a central role in the economy of the texts in question, will be read and analyzed. Our goal will be to explore the multiple significations and complexities of Rome as place, representation, dream, image, etc. Rebecca West. Autumn
33403. Marinella. Lucrezia Marinella is primarily known for The Nobility and Excellence of Women. This course is a thorough analysis of Marinella's vast and multifaceted oeuvre, which encompasses a variety of different genres. We will first read the volume Rime di Veronica Gambara, Lucrezia Marinella, Isabella della Morra e Selvaggia Borgini , which will help us situate Marinella's lyric poets within the context of early modern women poets. Marinella's pastoral novel Arcadia felice will be read in the light of Sannazaro's Arcadia, Tasso's Aminta, and Guarini's Pastor fido. We will then examine Amore innamorato et impazzato, Marinella's original poem in octaves which is a fascinating interpretation of classical mythology. Of her numerous hagiographic texts we will read selections from her two lives of Saint Francis of Assisi (the first in verses and the second in prose) and Vita di Maria Vergine, Imperatrice dell'universo in octaves, a masterpiece of baroque poetry. Armando Maggi. Winter.
34403. Orlando furioso. PQ: Ital 203 or consent of instructor. A study of chilvalric romance and of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso , the unrivaled masterpiece of the genre in Italy. The course will concentrate on Ariosto's poem, however, we will also discuss the epic-chivalric tradition, Ariosto's precursors, (especially M. M. Boiardo's Orlando innamorato ), critical discussions of the genre and interpretations of the poem in sixteenth-century Italy and today. There will be an oral presentation and a term paper. Classes will be conducted in Italian; concentrators will do all work in Italian. Elissa Weaver. Winter.
34803. Outsiders I: Elsa Morante. One of the most innovative and original writers of twentieth-century Italy, Elsa Morante (1912-1985) did not enjoy canonizationand full integration into the modern Italian novel tradition during her life. From the late 1940s to her death, her works stimulated numerous critical debates, but she remained fundamentally an “outsider”whose art could not find a comfortable place in the prevailing niches into which her more “insider” contemporaries were placed. In this course we shall read and analyze in detail her novels and essays, and consider the earlier and more recent critical reception of her corpus. We shall also consider her influence on subsequent writers, and the ways in which her poetics and practice interact in important ways with feminist, queer, and political theories of current interest. Given that her major novels are translated into English, the course is open to non-specialists of Italian literature, although students concentrating on Italian literature will read the original versions. Rebecca West. Autumn.
34903. Outsiders II: Italo Svevo. Jewish and Triestine, Italo Svevo was an “outsider” in many ways: culturally, geographically, and linguistically. Now included as one of the twentieth-century's canonical writers, he is emblematic of those writers whose works move from the margins to the center, and it is to this fascinating process that we shall devote much attention, as we read and analyze Svevo's novels and short stories. We shall also consider the intellectual and cultural milieu of early twentieth-century Trieste, itself an “outsider” city vis-à-vis the nation of Italy. The importance of Freudian thought to Svevo's art will be discussed, as well as his creative rapport with James Joyce. Readings will be in Italian. Rebecca West. Winter.
35800. MA Seminar I. Staff. Autumn.
35900. MA Seminar II. Staff. Winter.
36703. Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. This course analyzes Torquato Tasso's epic rewriting of the First Crusade from a historical, literary, and theological point of view. Through an in-depth reading of Jerusalem Delivered (La Gerusalemme liberata) we will investigate the poet's vast and profound knowledge of Renaissance philosophy and literature, and Christian theology, in particular Counter-Reformation spirituality. Along with his famous poem, we will read selections from those of his texts in prose and verses that are crucial for a correct understanding of his poetics: his philosophical Dialoghi , which address a variety of cultural, literary and spiritual issues; a selection of his lyric poetry; his theoretical treatises on the nature and goals of epic poetry. Special emphasis will be given to Jerusalem Conquered , Tasso's rewriting of his epic poem in the light of a much stricter adherence to Catholic Reformation. Armando Maggi. Spring.
42100. Readings and Research. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.