UCL - Poetry within Destruction and Re-creation : from Saba, Montale, Ungaretti to the Present

[ROM2852]

[15h] 5 credits

This course is taught in the 1st & 2d semester.

This two-yearly course is taught in 2010-2011, 2012-2013,...

Teacher(s): Costantino Maeder

Language: I

Level: Second

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

To be able to analyse an italian libretto. To learn how a libretto functions. To learn the characteristics of the libretto and of italian operas. To know how to write-up an analysis. To have read the fundamental libretti. To know how to interpret a libretto according to semiotic methods as well as post-semiotic ones.To know how to recognize the distinctive characteristics of a libretto and to replace them in their cultural context.

Main themes

Opera has been the most important of the arts for centuries. From its inception to the Novecento, it has influenced poetic and esthetic thought, as well as influenced the culture and the politics of Italy. In this course, we will proceed to show how a libretto can influence musical composition, how a librettist, thanks to formal techniques which are extraneous to theatrical or narrative composition, conditions the composition and can draw-up new maps of meaning. We will also show how the workmanship of the libretto takes in consideration the spectator's condition, whilst integrating it in the textual construction and in the creation of meaning. Approaches : pragmatic and linguistic, semiotic and post-semiotic, cultural analysis.

Content and teaching methods

Rinucci and the first opera libretti. Through the analysis of its madrigal production for theatrical celebrations, we will attempt to show how its librettis, Daphne or Eurydice for instance, condition libretto production up until the end of the seventeeth century. A fundamental aspect of this will be the controversial relationship between words and actions, as well as the relationship between the different frameworks of communication. The intertextual approach and the connection between antiquity and myths will be fundamental for these considerations.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Prerequisite (ideally in terms of competences). To know the general framework of italian history and literature. To know how to express oneself in italian. To know ho to write-up a text in italian. To know the basics pertaining to narratology and textual analysis. Evaluation : Oral and written exam. The student will choose a libretto of the same period as the one studied in class. She or he will be able to analyse it in terms of dramaturgy, and to foresee what will happen to it musically, as well be able to interpret it, whilst taking in consideration the intertext on which is based the libretto. At the oral exam, the instructor will discuss the written work with the student, and verify his or her knowledge of the contents of the course.

Support : I-campus.

Compulsory readings :

-Coursepack
-Manuel de librettologie, by C. Maeder, in-press.
-La drammaturgia musicale, by L. Bianconi, Milan : Bulzoni.

Suggested readings :

-Libretti d'opera italiens, dir. G. Gronda and P. Fabbri, Milan : Mondadori.

Students will also have read the pages devoted to theatre and opera in Giulio Ferroni's Storia della letteratura italiana.