Department of Foreign Languages
JFT 414 - SUNY
The State University of New York
New Paltz, NY 12561
Phone (914) 257-3480
PROF. GIORGIO MELLONI - EXT. -3504 - mellonig@newpaltz.edu
COURSE 59332
ITALIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH I
Women
Sublime
and
Romantic
Nature
Course Syllabus
Course Overview
This course provides an in-depth study of the most important Italian
(and European) authors from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. The
course is taught in English. All readings and class discussions will
be in English. An optional seminar-based session in Italian is offered
to Italian minors and contract majors.
Course Objectives
1. To develop proficiency in various analytic approaches to literary
works by introducing students to some of the most relevant examples of
seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth-century Italian (and
European) fiction, drama, poetry and film.
2. To enable students to approach these literary works from a variety
of critical perspectives (from hermeneutics to historical methodology,
from feminist theory to formalism, from psychoanalysis to phenomenology).
3. To give students the opportunity to enrich their knowledge and critical
analysis through the discussion of each reading.
4. To help students demonstrate their ability to research historical
and artistic topics, present arguments and organize evidence in two essays
and in the midterm and final examinations.
5. To place Italian literature in the context and the recent questioning
of the Western Canon.
6. To view the Italian literature and culture in the framework of the
world major social and esthetic phenomena in the seventeenth, eighteenth,
nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
7. To identify, discuss and evaluate moral critiques of the idea of
beauty, of sexual cultural roles, of the idea of nature, and the historical
and sociological embodiment of these concepts.
Course Description
The main goal of this course is to trace the Italian Romantic contribution
to the idea of Modernity through the interpretation of the best known examples
of the artistic representation of female beauty in Italian, European, and
American Literature from the Romantic Age to the present day. The
concepts of women sublime (very common notion in the European XIX century
after the diffusion of Kant’s speculation) and romantic nature will be
defined according to the writings of the main authors. The theoretical
structure of the course is centered around the following themes and key-terms:
the perception of beauty and ugliness, the concepts of natural deformity
and the human monster (both moral and physical), and the images of the
female body and psyche. The different artistic portrayals analyzed
during the course will lead students to a better understanding and appreciation
of the literary, artistic, philosophical and ethical influence of the Italian
(and the European) romantic mind on the present.
Topics
The thematic structure of this course will provide students with an
overview of the main literary and philosophical imageries and ideas related
to the romantic notions of sublime and nature. The students will
be reading texts by Giacomo Leopardi, Alessandro Manzoni, Edgar Allan Poe,
Ugo Iginio Tarchetti, Victor Hugo, and the authors of the librettos of
Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia and Verdi’s Rigoletto. They will be also
listening to Italian operas and watching the movie Passione d’amore by
Ettore Scola, a filmic adaptation of the gothic novel Passion by Tarchetti,
a major representative of the Italian artistic Bohème (la Scapigliatura).
Both the book and the movie were the inspiration and reference point for
the American musical Passion, the winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical
by Stephen Sondheim.
Required Texts
1. Alessandro Manzoni, The Betrothed, New York, NY, Penguin Books, 1972;
2. Joseph Tusiani, Leopardi’s Canti, Fasano, Schena Publisher,
1998;
3. I. U. Tarchetti, Passion. A Novel, San Francisco, CA, Mercury House,
1994;
4. Passion. A Musical (Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim), New York,
NY, Theatre Communication Group, 1994.
5. Photocopied materials (small course packet) distributed in class
or left on reserve at the library or available on ERes {see http://lib.newpaltz.edu/cgi-bin/eres/view.pl}.
6. Short readings from books put on reserve at the library.
Course Requirements
The course will be seminar-based (with periodical lecture sessions)
and students will consequently be encouraged to participate actively in
group discussions. All the texts will involve the teacher and the
students in a continuous activity of reading and interpreting. STUDENTS
ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ THE PAGES ASSIGNED AND TO COME TO CLASS PREPARED
to share their understanding of the pages read and/or share questions the
reading provoked. Moreover, each student will give one oral graded structured
presentation. Guidelines for presentations will be available on Blackboard.
Exams
There will be two exams: a mid-term on Wednesday March 3rd in class,
and a comprehensive final on Wednesday May 12th, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
THERE ARE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS.
Papers
Students will write two 8- to 10-page essays related to the materials
covered in class. All compositions must be NEATLY TYPED, with at
most 1.5” margins all around. Papers with a grade of C- or less must
be returned to me incorporating the written suggestions for improvement.
The final grade of any paper will take into consideration how thoughtfully
it has been rewritten and be the average of both grades. Papers turned
in beyond the deadline will receive a grade of -5 per each day of delay.
Grading System
The final grade will be based upon:
-
class participation [15%]
-
oral presentation [15%]
-
a midterm exam [20%]
-
a final exam [25%]
-
two essays (8-10 pages) [25% total].
Attendance Policy
Attendance is REQUIRED. The maximum unexcused absences allowed
are three. Beyond three unexcused absences the final grade will be
diminished by 3% per absence. In order to have an absence excused
students must provide a formal justification (e.g. a note from a physician,
from a professor, from a team coach, from a family member in case of extenuating
circumstances, etc.). Arrive ON TIME, at least no later than ten minutes
after class has started. Three times late equals one time absent.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty
in their college work. Cheating, forgery, and plagiarism are serious
offenses, and students found guilty of any form of academic dishonesty
are subject to disciplinary action. For definitions of these offenses,
as well as the process that a faculty member will follow if a student is
found to be engaging in any form of academic dishonesty, see the section
on Academic Integrity in the Advising Handbook, available at www.newpaltz.edu/acadadv.
If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism or cheating
please consult with me immediately.
ADA Policy
Students with documented physical, learning, psychological and other
disabilities are entitled to receive reasonable accommodations. If
you need classroom or testing accommodations, please contact the Disability
Resource Center (Student Union Building, Room 205, 257-3020). The
DRC will provide forms verifying the need for accommodation. As soon
as the instructor receives
he form, you will be provided with the appropriate accommodations.
Students are encouraged to request accommodations as close to the beginning
of the semester as possible.
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