Italian literature and civilization: the three crowns. From the Middle Ages to the early Renaissance

Teacher(s)

Cavagna Mattia; Maeder Costantino (compensates Cavagna Mattia);

Language

Italian

Prerequisites

LFIAL1175, LROM1170

Main themes

The course offers students an interdisciplinary presentation of Italian history and the history of Italian art in the Renaissance and the Baroque. From the linguistic point of view, students will gain deeper knowledge of the concepts of diachronic linguistics and broaden their own vocabulary. 

Content

The student will discover the literary and artistic masterpieces of the Middle Ages, Humanism, and the early Renaissance, as well as the key historical moments of this period. The main authors of these periods will be treated: Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio. The student will discover the most important movements of this period, such as the Sicilian school, the Dolce Stilnovo or humanism. The rise of the cities, the first protodemocratic forms will also be presented as well as the more important political events that took place on the Italian peninsula.
The practical exercises will present elements of diachronic linguistics in order to understand the particularities of the volgari.
During the tutorial, the student will deepen the vocabulary.

Evaluation methods

During the first examination session, oral exam on the contents of the lessons and the exercice sessions. Linguistic tutoring will be evaluated at the end of the semester with a written exam.
During the second examination session, oral examen on the contents of the lessons and the exercice sessions; written exam and the linguistic tutoring. 

• October 27, 2022 and December 15, 2022: test on the compulsory readings (San Francesco, Guinizelli, Giacomo da Lentini, Dante, etc., and Ferroni's pages on the authors and periods). The students are required to obtain 10 out of 20 in order to access the written exams.
• First session: oral exam on the contents of the lecture, on the compulsory readings and on the contents of the practical work. The contents of the course will be examined outside the session.
• Second session: oral exam on the contents of the lecture and the readings of the practical work; written exam on the contents of the monitorat. 
   

Bibliography

Syllabus
L'étudiant est amené à utiliser les histoires de la littérature italienne et d'autres ouvrages de consultation qui se trouvent en bibliothèque et en ligne (JSTOR, Treccani, Accademia della Crusca, TLIO, etc.).
Histoire de la littérature italienne conseillée :
Giulio FERRONI, Profilo storico della letteratura italiana, Einaudi Scuola, Torino, 1991, 2 vol.
ou
Giulio FERRONI, Storia della letteratura italiana, Mondadori Università, Milano, 2012, 4 vol.

Teaching materials

• Syllabus électronique

Faculty or entity

ELAL