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CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE FOR PRIMARY AND CHILDHOOD SCHOOL WITH WORKSHOP
Module CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE FOR PRIMARY AND CHILDHOOD SCHOOL

Academic Year 2025/2026 - Teacher: GIUSEPPE PALAZZOLO

Expected Learning Outcomes

To know the general outlines of the history of contemporary Italian literature through the study of the most representative texts and authors. Understanding, analysing and interpreting complex texts (narrative, poetic and argumentative). To be able to apply the acquired knowledge in order to orient oneself in the literary context of reference, among the authors, texts and main issues. To be able to adapt one's professional skills in contemporary Italian literature to the provisions of the current “Indicazioni nazionali per il curricolo della scuola dell’infanzia e del primo ciclo d’istruzione”.

Course Structure

Lectures and laboratory

Required Prerequisites

Knowledge of the lineaments of Italian literary history from its origins to the nineteenth century and the essential historical outlines of the twentieth century. Adequate competence in comprehension and critical reading of literary texts.

Attendance of Lessons

Class attendance is optional but strongly recommended. Attendance at laboratory hours is mandatory.

Detailed Course Content

The Course is divided into four modules. The study of the authors will be conducted through the analysis of texts that allow a direct comparison with the poetics of each, as well as through knowledge of the main critical contributions for the works under consideration. A specific form of study will be dedicated to short fiction, fairy tales, fables, novellas and short stories.

Textbook Information

Textbooks:

G. Langella, La modernità letteraria. Manuale di letteratura italiana moderna e contemporanea, Pearson 2021, pp. 615. 

P. Boero, C. De Luca, La letteratura per l'infanzia, Laterza 2009, especially chapters III, IV, VIII, IX.

 

A) The questions of modernity (3 ECTS)

Alessandro Manzoni, Giacomo Leopardi, Giovanni Verga, Carlo Collodi.

Texts:

he study will be complemented by an anthology of essays that will be provided in class and made available on Studium. They must be read in full:

A. Manzoni, I promessi sposi, edition of your choice (recommended editions: Mondadori 2006; Bur 2014).

G. Leopardi, I Canti, edition of your choice (a selection of ten poems).

G. Verga, Vita dei campi and Rusticane (a selection of four novellas).

C. Collodi, Le avventure di Pinocchio, edition of your choice (recommended editions: Einaudi 2014; Bur 2022).


B) Bildung in the early 20th century: poems and novels (3 ECTS)

Giovanni Pascoli, Luigi Pirandello, Guido Gozzano, Umberto Saba, Italo Svevo, Cesare Pavese, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Eugenio Montale.

Texts:

the study will be complemented by an anthology of texts that will be provided in class and made available on Studium. They must be read in full:

 

L. Pirandello, Quaderni di Serafino Gubbio operatore, Mondadori;

C. Pavese, La luna e i falò, Mondadori.


C) Bildung in the Second Twentieth Century: Poems and Novels (3 ECTS)

Salvatore Quasimodo, Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, Elsa Morante, Vittorio Sereni, Giorgio Caproni.

Texts:

the study will be complemented by an anthology of texts that will be provided in class and made available on Studium. They must be read in full:

I. Calvino, Il barone rampante, Mondadori;

I. Calvino, La giornata di uno scrutatore, Mondadori.

 

D) Short fiction: fairy tales, fables, novellas and short stories (3 ECTS, with laboratory)

Texts:

The study will be complemented by an anthology of texts that will be provided in class and made available on Studium. The anthology will include fairy tales, fables and novellas by the following authors: Luigi Capuana, Guido Gozzano, Italo Calvino, Dino Buzzati, Elsa Morante, Gianni Rodari, Leonardo Sciascia, Anna Maria Ortese, Stefano Benni.

The reading will be accompanied by the following essays:

V. Ja. Propp, Morfologia della fiaba, Einaudi 1966.

Le forme brevi della narrativa, a cura di E. Menetti, Carocci 2019, especially chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9.

 

 

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.

Course Planning

 SubjectsText References
1A) The questions of modernity  Alessandro Manzoni, Giacomo Leopardi, Giovanni Verga, Carlo Collodi (3 ECTS)G. Langella, La modernità letteraria. Manuale di letteratura italiana moderna e contemporanea, Pearson 2021, related chapters.P. Boero, C. De Luca, La letteratura per l'infanzia, Laterza 2009, related chapters.A. Manzoni, I promessi sposi, edition of your choice (recommended editions: Mondadori 2006; Bur 2014).G. Leopardi, I Canti, edition of your choice (a selection of ten poems).G. Verga, Vita dei campi and Rusticane (a selection of four novellas).C. Collodi, Le avventure di Pinocchio, of your choice recommended editions: Einaudi 2014; Bur 2022).
2B) Bildung in the early 20th century: poems and novels (3 ECTS) Giovanni Pascoli, Luigi Pirandello, Guido Gozzano, Umberto Saba, Italo Svevo, Cesare Pavese, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Eugenio Montale.G. Langella, La modernità letteraria. Manuale di letteratura italiana moderna e contemporanea, Pearson 2021, related chapters. The study will be complemented by an anthology of texts that will be provided in class and made available on Studium. They must be read in full: L. Pirandello, Quaderni di Serafino Gubbio operatore,  Mondadori; C. Pavese, La luna e i falò, Mondadori.
3C) Bildung in the Second Twentieth Century: Poems and Novels (3 ECTS) Salvatore Quasimodo, Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, Elsa Morante, Vittorio Sereni, Giorgio Caproni.G. Langella, La modernità letteraria. Manuale di letteratura italiana moderna e contemporanea, Pearson 2021, related chapters. The study will be complemented by an anthology of texts that will be provided in class and made available on Studium. They must be read in full:I. Calvino, Il barone rampante, Mondadori;I. Calvino, La giornata di uno scrutatore, Mondadori.
4D) Short fiction: fairy tales, fables, novellas and short stories (3 ECTS, with laboratory)G. Langella, La modernità letteraria. Manuale di letteratura italiana moderna e contemporanea, Pearson 2021, related chapters. P. Boero, C. De Luca, La letteratura per l'infanzia, Laterza 2009, related chapters.The study will be complemented by an anthology of texts that will be provided in class and made available on Studium. The anthology will include fairy tales, fables and novellas by the following authors: Luigi Capuana, Guido Gozzano, Italo Calvino, Dino Buzzati, Elsa Morante, Gianni Rodari, Leonardo Sciascia, Anna Maria Ortese, Stefano Benni.The reading will be accompanied by the following essays:V. Ja. Propp, Morfologia della fiaba, Torino, Einaudi, 1966.Le forme brevi della narrativa, a cura di E. Menetti, Carocci 2019, especially chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9.

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

The assessment of the examination will take into account: a) knowledge and understanding); b) applying knowledge and understanding; c) making judgements; d) communication skills; e) learning skills. In addition, the assessment will be in thirtieths and will take into account the candidate's mastery of the content and skills acquired, linguistic accuracy and lexical property, critical revision, commitment to autonomous in-depth study, as well as his or her ability to argue. A written test on some modules of the course and a final oral interview are expected.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

- Explain the basic points of Pascoli's poetics of the 'fanciullino'.

- Point out the narratological differences between the various types of short narrative forms studied (exemplum, fairy tale, fable, novella, short story).

- What trends in the author's historical time are the subject of critical reworking and/or inspiration in Leopardi's Canti?

- What interpretative questions does the ending of The Betrothed pose to the reader?