Course teached as: B004679 - LETTERATURA RUSSA 1 (12 CFU) 3-years First Cycle Degree (DM 270/04) in LANGUAGES, LITERATURES AND INTERCULTURAL STUDIES Curriculum STUDI LINGUISTICI, LETTERARI E INTERCULTURALI
Teaching Language
Italian
Course Content
The course will focus on the major authors, periods and genres in Russian literary culture in their historical contexts. Relevant analytical and interpretative strategies are introduced to enable students to develop a clear critical thinking and an understanding of a wide range of literary writing in Russia, from the end of the XVIII century to the end of XIX century (from N. Karamzin to L. Tolstoy).
G. Carpi, Storia della letteratura russa, Carocci, Roma 2016
Learning Objectives
The course (72 hours) will focus on the study of Russian literature from the end of the XVIII century to the end of XIX century. Aims of the course:
a. to introduce students to different literary genres;
b. to familiarize students with the critical instruments required for the analysis of literary texts;
c. to enable students to develop a critical consciousness and an awareness of critical theory and culture theory through detailed analyses of some the most representative texts of literature in Russia from the end of the XVIII century to the end of XIX century.
1. Knowledge and understanding: Students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding in historical and cultural contexts of Russia from the end of the XVIII century to the end of XIX century and will acquire the critical tools to cope with the formal and substantive components of the literary texts analyzed during the lessons.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will learn how to apply processes, models, questions, and theories that result in enhanced clarity in the comprehension of literary texts included in the program, which will be evaluated in both their formal and their contextual features.
3. Making judgements: Students will develop the ability to discuss the literary questions considered during the course, proposing critical perspectives and well-grounded judgements on the texts included in the program.
4. Communication skills: Students will develop the ability to can communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions, with particular reference to themes and questions considered during the lessons.
5. Learning skills: Students will acquire the methodological tools needed to read, analyze and understand literary texts in their generic structures.
Prerequisites
The prerequisites are those outlined by the course of study.
Teaching Methods
Lectures and Seminars
Further information
The course takes place in the first and in the second semester.
Further information will be given at the beginning of the course.
Students who are native speakers of Russian should request a specific program
Type of Assessment
Oral exam. The exam will test students’ knowledge of:
1. The history of Russian literature and culture from the end of the XVIII century to the end of XIX century.
2. Specific issues and themes in Russian literature of the end of the XVIII century to the end of XIX century;
3. The key texts and critical literature included in the reading list.
Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze and critically evaluate the key texts included in the reading list, and to place them within their historical and cultural contexts.
Successful candidates will be required to demonstrate adequate knowledge in all of the above points (1, 2, 3).
The exam aims to assess:
- The knowledge of key concepts in the history of Russian literature from the end of the XVIII century to the end of XIX century.
- The ability to describe and place literary phenomena within their contexts of production and reception;
- The ability of close reading and appreciation of all the texts included in the reading list as well as a thorough command of methodological and theoretical tools;
- The ability to use formal and critical terminology;
- activities and tests on e-learning Platform moodle.
Students will demonstrate that they can discuss the subjects treated during the course, make appropriate connections between different authors and works, and express themselves clearly.
Grades are given on the basis of 30 points. Points are awarded if students are able to
1) describe form and contents of the texts studied,
2) understand, summarize and propose critical readings of those texts,
3) elaborate personal judgements that are solidly grounded on the text and/or secondary literature,
4) use appropriate terms.
Nos. 1 and 4 are essential in order to obtain the minimum passing grade (18/30); higher evaluations depend on to what extent’ students have developed their skills in all four points listed above.
Course program
TEXTS:
N. Karamzin, La povera Lisa [Poor Liza] (transl. and ed. by A. Pasquinelli), Tranchida, Palermo 2003. A. Pushkin, Evgenij Onegin. Romanzo in versi [Eugene Onegin. Novel in Verse] (transl. and ed. by P. Pera), Marsilio, Venezia 2005; A. Pushkin, I racconti del defunto Ivan Petrovich Belkin [The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin], in Id., Romanzi e racconti (ed. by S. Vitale, transl. by A. Alleva), Garzanti, Milano 1990 (otherwise A. Pushkin, Il cavaliere di bronzo [The Bronze Horseman], in Id., Lirica [a c. di E. Lo Gatto], Sansoni, Firenze 1968, pp. 465-481). M. Lermontov, A Hero of Our Time (transl. by P. Pera), Mondadori, Milano 2009. N. Gogol, La prospettiva Nevskij [Nevsky Prospekt], Il cappotto [The Overcoat], Memorie di un pazzo [The Diary of a Madman], in Id. I racconti di Pietroburgo [Petersburg Tales] (ed. by S. Vitale, transl. by A. Alleva), Garzanti, Milano 1990 (otherwise N. Gogol’, Le anime morte [Dead Souls], Feltrinelli, Milano 2009). I. Goncharov, Oblomov (transl. by E. Lo Gatto), Einaudi, Torino 2006 (otherwise I. Turgenev, Padri e figli [Fathers and Sons] (transl. by P. Nori), Feltrinelli, Milano 2013). F. Dostoevsky, Delitto e castigo [Crime and Punishment] (ed. by S. Prina), Mondadori, Milano 2009. L. Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (ed. by S. Vitale), Garzanti, Milano 1997.
CRITICAL ESSAYS:
Ju. Lotman, Karamzin, in Storia della civiltà letteraria russa (ed. by M. Colucci & R. Picchio), Torino, UTET, 1997, v. I, pp. 317-324. Ju. Lotman, Puškin, in Storia della civiltà letteraria russa (ed. by M. Colucci & R. Picchio), Torino, UTET, 1997, v. I, pp. 404-433. P. Pera, Introduzione, in Aleksandr Pushkin, Evgenij Onegin. Romanzo in versi (ed. by P. Pera), Marsilio, Venezia 2005, pp. 9-61. V. Nabokov, Postfazione, in M. Lermontov, Un eroe del nostro tempo (transl. by P. Pera), Mondadori, Milano 2009, pp. 205-14. V. Nabokov, Nikolaj Gogol’ (Anime morte. Il cappotto), in Id., Lezioni di letteratura russa, Garzanti, Milano 1994, pp. 39-88. V. Strada, I. Goncharov e il suo Oblomov , in Id., Le veglie della ragione, Einaudi, Torino 1986, pp. 78-90 (otherwise V. Strada, Leggendo "Padri e figli", in Id., Tradizione e rivoluzione nella letteratura russa, Einaudi, Torino 1980, pp. 5-35). G.P. Piretto, Rodion Romanovich, pietroburghese, in Id., Da Pietroburgo a Mosca, Guerini studio, Milano 1990, pp. 41-52; G.P. Piretto, A Pietroburgo in un quartiere senza porte: elementi spaziali e intreccio in Delitto e castigo di F.M. Dostoevskij, in Id., Da Pietroburgo a Mosca, Guerini studio, Milano 1990, pp. 53-65. V. Nabokov, L.Tolstoj. Anna Karenina, in Id., Lezioni di Letteratura russa, pp. 169-271.
HANDBOOK:
G. Carpi, Storia della letteratura russa, Carocci, Roma 2010.