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

Teacher(s)

Maeder Costantino;

Language

Italian

Prerequisites

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Main themes

In this course, we will analyse how texts from Italian poetry create meanings. We will study the various phenomena linked to the presence or absence of communication, to arguing, to iconicity and to how the significant produces meaning.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	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.

Content

In 2020-21 the course will be dedicated to the Italian humorous musical tradition. We will analyse a series of auctorial songs in order to understand what devices generate laughter - we will distinguish between the categories of parody, irony, humour... - and what are the stakes of reflection and the objectives of the artistic operation - social satire, free laughter, "demenziale". The corpus will include some cantautori from the '60s and '70s, such as Enzo Jannacci and Giorgio Gaber, famous pop-rock bands active since the '90s, such as Elio e le Storie Tese, as well as contemporary bands such as PopX and Alka Zelten.

Teaching methods

Students will learn how to use the necessary tools to explore the poetic texts of songs and introduce musical aspects into their analysis: the musical aspect does not require any previous musical training.
An important aspect of the course is studying the concept album as a new form of collected poetry.

Evaluation methods

Students are required to analyse a concept album and hand in a first draft of a written assignment by 20 November. In the light of the lecturers' comments, the final version is to be handed in before the official revision period.
There is a formal oral examination at which students are required to defend their assignment.

Other information

All the necessary information can be found on MOODLE together with a more detailed description of all the course requirements.

Bibliography

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Faculty or entity

ELAL