B029028 - FORMS OF ITALIAN PROSE AND POETRY

Italian

The course aims to critically analyze Italian literary texts that are of fundamental importance from an aesthetic, historical and civil point of view, in relation to the elaboration of the national cultural identity. The analysis, based on a philological-documentary background, addresses issues related to the literary genre, to theoretical and critical debates, and to the rhetorical configuration and distinctive linguistic-expressive features of the texts examined.

Course title: The poetic adventure of Tasso and the "Gerusalemme liberata"

Texts:
Full reading of "Aminta" and the "Gerusalemme liberata", and a selection of poems and prose pages.
Recommended editions:
- Torquato Tasso, Aminta, in Teatro, ed. by Marziano Guglielminetti, Milano, Garzanti, 2011; or ed. by Marco Corradini, Milano, BUR, 2015;
- Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, ed. by Lanfranco Caretti, Torino, Einaudi, 2014; or ed. by Franco Tomasi, Milano, BUR, 2009;
- further poems and prose will be made available on the moodle platform

Critical Studies:
- Matteo Residori, Tasso, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2009;
- Emilio Russo, Guida alla lettura della Gerusalemme liberata di Tasso, Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2014;
- Lanfranco Caretti, La poesia della Liberata, in Ariosto e Tasso, Torino, Einaudi, 2001, pp. 102-110.

A basic knowledge of the Italian literature and culture of the sixteenth century is required, with particular attention to Ariosto and the Petrarchist lyric, to be acquired by reading:
- Riccardo Bruscagli, Il Quattrocento e il Cinquecento, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2005 (the chapters on the sixteenth century, Tasso excluded, pp. 69-143);
- Gino Tellini, Letteratura italiana. Un metodo di studio, seconda edizione, Firenze, Le Monnier Università, 2014, pp. 93-194 (the part on the sixteenth century, including Tasso).

Students who do not opt ​​for the written paper (see the section "Learning assessment procedures") are required to carry out further critical reading, choosing ONE of the following options (which may be further specified during the lessons):
1). Claudio Scarpati, Geometrie petrarchesche nella Gerusalemme liberata, in Tasso, i classici e i moderni, Padova, Editrice Antenore, 1995, pp. 1-74; together with Gino Tellini, Tasso e Properzio (a proposito di GL VI, 104), in Filologia e storiografia. Da Tasso al Novecento, Roma, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2002, pp. 1-10;
2). Giovanna Scianatico, L'arme pietose. Studio sulla Gerusalemme liberata, Venezia, Marsilio, 1990;
3). Sergio Zatti, L'uniforme cristiano e il multiforme pagano. Saggio sulla Gerusalemme liberata, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 1983;
4). Ezio Raimondi, Il dramma nel racconto. Topologia di un poema, in Poesia come retorica, Firenze, Olschki, 1980;
5). Alessandra Coppo, All’ombra di Malinconia. Il Tasso lungo la sua fama, Firenze, Le Lettere, 1997.

Other reference bibliography (not required for the exam):
- Claudio Gigante, Tasso, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2007;
- Lettura della «Gerusalemme liberata», ed. by Franco Tomasi, Alessandria, Edizioni dell’Orso, 2005.

The teaching materials used in class will be made available on the moodle platform (e-l.unifi.it).

The course aims to strengthen knowledge and skills for the reading and analysis of poetic texts through the examination of the artistic path of Torquato Tasso in the field of late Renaissance culture, taking into account the intersections of literature with history, politics, theater, art, music, publishing, written and oral communication practices of social and court life.

- Knowledge and understanding: General knowledge of the history of Italian literature of the sixteenth century; understanding of the stylistic and thematic characteristics of the main literary genres in the different periods and of their interaction with other non-verbal creative languages; ability to interpret literary texts and their specific modes of signification.
- Applied knowledge and understanding: Knowledge of the use of scientific editions of texts from the Italian literary tradition and bibliographic sources; conscious use of text commentary tools; introduction to the practice of bibliographic research in the library.
- Autonomy of judgment: Acquisition of independent critical-analytical skills in the history and analysis of Italian literature; stimulation of intellectual participation behaviors and the formulation of one's own critical opinions.
- Communication skills: Knowledge and use of a terminology specific to the history of literature and to the interpretation of literary texts; ability to paraphrase a literary text and to comment on it clearly and effectively; ability to argue in an orderly and convincing manner.
- Ability to learn: being able to use autonomously the tools of information, investigation and interpretation for the study of literary texts and of cultural history; being able to apply an analytical model for the study of genres, styles, techniques and themes of the literary tradition; being able to set up a fruitful relationship with teachers; being able to use the study resources of the CdS and the School in a civilized manner.

The prerequisites are those required for the Master Course of Studies in Modern Philology.

Lectures. Students are encouraged to partecipate, to ask for explanations, to suggest interpretations and comments, especially during the reading and analysis of the texts, and to maintain a direct interaction with the teacher, also during the weekly office hours.

Each student is required to register on the course's moodle page. Students are expected to keep dutifully to attendance rules. In particular, please note that the course is valid (and the exam can be taken) only provided that two thirds of the attendance is verified (24 hours out of 36 total course hours).
Only students enrolled in part-time mode, students enrolled in single courses, or those unable to attend for serious health reasons (with medical certification) are exempted from the frequency requirement. These students are required to personally contact the teacher at the beginning of the course, and in any case at least two months before the chosen exam date. Non-attending students who do not fall within the above categories are not allowed. The program for non-attending students is the same as that for attending students, except for any additions.

Students will be tested in an end-of-course oral examination (lasting about thirty minutes), covering three topics, and always including at least one explanation and analysis of the text. The examination assesses general knowledge of:
- data and concepts relating to the literature and artistic culture of the sixteenth century;
- the life and works of Tasso, in the context of the literary and cultural framework of his time;
- the texts of Tasso's works (poems and prose) read during the course;
- the texts of "Aminta" and the "Gerusalemme liberata" (full reading and commentary);
- the content of the lessons and any materials made available on the moodle page;
- the critical essays indicated in the course program.

Students must demonstrate the following skills:
- to be able to read, interpret and comment correctly the texts of Tasso's works addressed in class or for which full reading is requested;
- to possess adequate oral (and/or written) exposure skills, with a correct use of the proper terminology of the subject;
- to possess a sufficient capacity for personal critical processing of the materials studied.

Optional written paper:
It is possible to submit to the exam an optional written report concerning the analysis of the text of "Aminta" or of the "Gerusalemme liberata" or of another work by the author (choosing an episode, a chapter, a character, etc.). The topic must be agreed with the teacher and the report sent by email at least one week before the exam.
In this case, the exam will focus on the discussion of the report, plus a question on the rest of the program; the student who presents the written report is exempted from studying the critical essays of their choice.

For students who wish to do so, the possibility will also be offered to present short oral reports during the course, having as their object in particular the analysis of specific passages of the works addressed.

Course title:
The poetic adventure of Torquato Tasso and the "Gerusalemme liberata".

The examination of Tasso's artistic career, with particular regard to the "Rime", the "Aminta" and the laborious construction of the "Gerusalemme liberata", offers a fascinating artistic and human experience, within the environment of the Ferrara court, fifty years after Ariosto's "Orlando furioso", in a cultural climate moved by new profound concerns, in the climate of the Counter-Reformation. We will see some examples of the Tassian lyric, from the sonnet to the madrigal, then the pastorale fable of Aminta, a masterpiece of the genre, then dwelling on Tasso's commitment to the renewal of the epic poem, so that it responds to the needs of the man of his own times, with the "Gerusalemme liberata". We will see with what structural, narrative and stylistic resources Tasso combines in the poem the need for historical truth with the element of the marvelous, the moral and religious intent with the romance of adventure and love. The result is a complex work, crossed by disharmony, ambiguity and tensions, mirroring an age of crisis, but of immediate success and great popularity; while Tasso himself, with his troubled life, became a true literary character over the centuries.
The analysis of the texts will be placed within the literary debate of the time, between the Aristotelian precepts and the successful Ariosto model, and in vital dialogue with the great classical and modern literary tradition, as required by the poetics of Classicism, with appropriate reference to the author's theoretical works. Furthermore, the necessary attention will be paid to the many philological problems presented by Tasso's works, with particular regard to the composition and the revision of the poem, attested by the so-called Poetic Letters, and to the difficulties posed by its edition.