ITL 321 INTRODUCTION TO ITALIAN LITERATURE
The course will introduce students to different literary genres and periods of Italian literature. Selections of poetry, prose and drama from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Romanticism, and the Twentieth century will be examined in class from the language as well as the literary perspectives. We will try to point out basic characteristics and changes in language, themes, and style throughout the centuries. Given the fact that most of the literature we know from the past was written by male writers, we will focus on the representations of woman, beginning with the idealized woman-angel of the Middle Ages, and, whenever possible, confront it with those made by women writers. Authors represented in this course include: Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio, Gaspara Stampa, Giacomo Leopardi, Luigi Pirandello, Sibilla Aleramo, Elsa Morante, Anna Maria Ortese, Natalia Ginzburg, Dacia Maraini, Italo Calvino, Eugenio Montale.
Required Texts:
Letteratura Italiana per Stranieri by Paolo E. Balboni & Anna Biguzzi (at Co-op or Amazon)
Natalia Ginzburg, La città e la casa(at Co-op)
