BA Italian Studies / Course details

Running parallel with the Level 2 options in Italian, and building on the techniques of textual analysis  that were introduced at Level 1, this is a hands-on course which will enable students to improve their reading abilities in Italian, whilst deepening their appreciation and understanding of literary texts and of social issues in the Italian-speaking world.  Through a combination of small-group discussions, group tutorials and private study, students will acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to undertake close readings of texts (chosen from a prescribed list) and to write analyses of them that situate them in their social-political context. The discussions will focus on a range of tutor-led and student-led activities designed to develop an understanding of literature in Italian and also methods of analysing and discussing that literature.

• To develop critical thinking, conceptual reasoning and analytical skills 

• To develop the ability to read and analyse literary texts 

• To develop the ability to place literary texts in social and political context 

• To develop a better understanding of the historical and social realities of the Italian-speaking world 

• To develop a better understanding of literary texts in Italian 

The first semester will be devoted to developing close reading skills on shorter excerpts (e.g. a poem, a scene from a play). It will also fine-hone students’ commentary skills.  

In the second semester, students will turn to the study of longer narrative forms (e.g. novels, films and novellas). With the help of their Academic Adviser they will formulate a topic and a research question about the novel of their choice and write an essay about.

Below is an indicative list of texts to be studied on this unit:

Theatre – Plays:

• Luigi Pirandello, Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore / Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921)
• Luigi Pirandello, Enrico IV / Henry IV (1922)

If you choose to work on plays the commentary will be based on a scene from one of these plays of your choice.  

Poetry:  

• Guido Cavalcanti (1255-1300), The Complete Poems (New York: Italica Press, 1992)  
• Dante, Divina Commedia / Divine Comedy (1321): Canto V or Canto XXVI – Inferno
• Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837), Selected Poems, ed. by Eamon Grennan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997)  
• Andrea Zanzotto (1921-2011), Selected Poetry of Andrea Zanzotto, ed. by Ruth Feldam and Brian Swann – Available online

If you choose to work on Zanzotto’s, Cavalcanti’s, or Leopardi’s poetry, the commentary will be based on one/two poems of your choice.

Short Stories:

• Italo Calvino, Gli amori difficili [1970] / Difficult Loves (London: Secker and Warburg, 1983)  
• Natalia Ginzburg, The Complete Short Stories (Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2011)

If you choose to work on short stories, the commentary will be based on an extract from one short story of your choice taken from one of these collections.

Prose (extract from novels):

• An extract from Alessandro Manzoni, I promessi sposi / The Betrothed (1827)
• An extract from Italo Svevo, La coscienza di Zeno / Zeno’s Conscience (1923)
• An extract from Italo Calvino, Le città invisibili / Invisible Cities (1972)

Please note: if students have an interest in any particular topic, we can agree a text that is not in this list. You should however remember that in Semester 1 we will work on short excerpts (i.e.: you cannot write a commentary on an entire novel, however you will be able to work on an extract from a chapter in prose, if you wish).

Secondary bibliography will be made available after you will have selected the text you wish to work on.

Suggested further readings

• Chambers, Ellie, and Andrew Northledge, The Arts Good Study Guide (Milton Keynes: Oxford University Press, 1997)
• Cuddon, J. A., The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (any edition)
• Eagleton, Terry, How To Read Literature (New Heaven, London: Yale University Press, 2013)
• McKee, Alan, Textual Analysis: A Beginner’s Guide (London: SAGE, 2003)
• Reardon, Denis, Doing Your Undergraduate Project (London: SAGE, 2004)  

This course will combine tutor-led and student-led group discussions, individual tutorials, problem-based sessions and independent research.

There will also be one guided visit to the library.

eLearning:  

Extensive resources will be available via Blackboard. These will include copies of slides and/or handouts used in class discussions and tutorials, links to relevant online sources, and supplementary materials to aid students in preparing for classes and assessment.  

Having satisfactorily completed this course unit, students will be able to: 

• demonstrate an improved ability to read in Italian 

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Italian literary texts  

• write commentaries and essays in English discussing and analysing Italian literary texts  

• place literary texts in their historical context within the Italian-speaking world  

• make use of relevant methodology 

• engage critically with secondary literature  

Having satisfactorily completed this course unit, students will: 

• Display cultural analytical skills (literary analysis, social and political analysis) 

• Be able to value knowledge for its own sake, and to appreciate literary creativity within the Italian-speaking world 

Having satisfactorily completed this course unit, students will demonstrate: 

• A significantly improved ability to read Italian 

• A significantly improved vocabulary and syntax in Italian 

• An ability to manage time, and work to deadlines; 

• An improved ability to work with information and communication technology (ICT) 

Having satisfactorily completed this course unit, students will have learned to: 

• undertake independent learning and reflect upon their achievements; 

• participate constructively in group discussions; 

• think critically and present arguments logically 

Resit Assessment:

Essay on novel

Set Texts: 

Semester 1: A selection of short stories, poems and plays will be made available on Blackboard 

Semester 2: A list of selected novels and novellas with short summaries will be made available on Blackboard. All texts suggested are available in the University of Manchester library and in affordable pocket editions.  

Suggested further readings 

Ciccarelli, Andrea, and Peter Bondanella, The Cambridge companion to the Italian novel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003) 

Chambers, Ellie, and Andrew Northledge, The Arts Good Study Guide (Milton Keynes: Oxford University Press, 1997) 

Cuddon, J. A., The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (any edition) 

Eagleton, Terry, How To Read Literature (New Heaven, London: Yale University Press, 2013) 

McKee, Alan, Textual Analysis: A Beginner’s Guide (London: SAGE, 2003) 

Reardon, Denis, Doing Your Undergraduate Project (London: SAGE, 2004)