SCANDINAVIAN LITERATURE

Locating the subject within the study plan of the MA-programme

The course Scandinavian Literature 1 (6 ects) is offered at the first year of the MA-programme in European, American and Postcolonial Languages and Literature (LLEAP), and is addressed to students who choose Scandinavian Studies, with Swedish as a language of specialization. As Scandinavian Literature 2 the same course is offered to students at their second year at the LLEAP-programme. And with the name “Scandinavian Literature” (6 ects), the same course is offered to the students who choose Swedish as their language of specialization at the MA-programme in Language Sciences. Students of Scandinavian studies at both MA-programmes, at their first or second year, form therefore a common class.

Expected results

The course “20th-century Scandinavian poetry” proposes to read, study and analyse poetic texts written by several major authors in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. Italian or English translations will be used to the purpose. It aims at an in-depth knowledge of the examined texts and at a critical reflection upon the interaction between the strategies of dissolution and abolition of given traditional forms that were typical of Modernism (free verse, free rhythm, freer associations of images and thoughts) and the unavoidable memory and reuse of the same traditional forms (meter and ‘bound’ rhythm, rhyme, stanzas and strophic patterns); such an interplay will be considered as the double face of Scandinavian poetic Modernism. Other leitmotifs will be the connection with natural elements and the general refusal of a dignified and solemn language. Students will have to be able to read, understand, analyse and comment on the examined texts, locating them in the right contexts (the authors’ poetics, the social and historical climate). The proficient reading of texts in the original language is required for poems written in Swedish; as to the Scandinavian poems at large, a good understanding is required, also with the help of translations.

Prerequisites

The course is addressed to former students of Scandinavian studies at BA-level and is held in Swedish for the most part. In order to give Scandinavian literature 2, students must have passed Scandinavian literature 1. Texts will be examined in the original language, but translations will help. The professor will assist students when reading texts in Norwegian and Danish.

Contents

The course structure is threefold: 1) approximately 3 lectures: theoretical introduction on the relationship between Scandinavian Modernism and traditional forms; on poetry and rhythm/sound; on poetry and images; forms and contents in the analysis of the poetic text; 2) approximately 4 lectures: reading and analysis of a broader number of Scandinavian poets from the end of the 19th to the end of the 20th century, based on the anthology prepared by the professor, and on three essays plus translations on Edith Södergran, Gunvor Hofmo and Tua Forsström, published in the magazine Poesia; 3) approximately 8 lessons: in-depth analysis of the poetic work by Karin Boye, Olav H. Hauge, Inger Christensen and Tomas Tranströmer (approximately 2 lectures for each author), based on the Italian editions (with original text) that are made available as pdf.

References

Christian Janss – Arne Melberg – Christian Refsum, Lyrikens liv. Introduktion till att läsa dikt, Göteborg: Daidalos, 2013; pp. 64-79; 83-84; 158-60; 227-28; 224-27; 230-31; 259-60 (pdf);

Massimo Ciaravolo, Libertà, gabbie, vie d’uscita. Letteratura scandinava della modernità e della città 1866-1898, Venezia: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2022, pp. 189-96, 231-44 (on the poems “Jeg ser” by Sigbjørn Obstfelder and “Ekbátana” by Sophus Claussen) (online: https://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/it/edizioni/libri/978-88-6969-601-5/ )

Massimo Ciaravolo (a cura di), Storia delle letterature scandinave dalle origini a oggi, Milano: Iperborea, 2019; the parts concerning 20th-century poetry and the studied poets (can be bought; or at the BALI-library);

Massimo Ciaravolo – Piero Pollesello, ”Edith Södergran. Contro i fragili sogni”, Poesia, 105, aprile 1997, pp. 26-34 (pdf);

Massimo Ciaravolo, “Tua Forsström. Quel punto luminoso dove cadono stracci e maschere”, Poesia, 123, dicembre 1998, pp. 44-55 (pdf);

Massimo Ciaravolo, “Gunvor Hofmo. Un mondo senza Ruth”, Poesia, 299, dicembre 2014, pp. 2-15 (pdf);

Karin Boye, Poesie, a cura di Daniela Marcheschi, Firenze: Le Lettere, 1994 (pdf);

Olav H. Hauge, La terra azzurra, a cura di Fulvio Ferrari; introduzione di Idar Stegane, Milano: Crocetti, 2008 (pdf);

Inger Christensen, Alfabeto, a cura di Inge Lise Rasmussen Pin e Daniela Curti, Pisa: Giardini, 1987 (pdf)

Tomas Tranströmer, Poesie dal silenzio, a cura di Maria Cristina Lombardi, Milano: Crocetti, 2001 (pdf);

Obs: the introductions to the books by Boye, Hauge, Christensen and Tranströmer are important and included in the syllabus.

All four books will be presented and analyzed. Students attending the course will choose 2 out of 4 books to prepare for the examination. Of the other 2, a more restricted selection will be proposed.

Additional syllabus for students not attending the course

Students not attending the course are requested to agree upon the additional materials at the professor’s office hour. Basically, they will prepare all four books by Boye, Hauge, Christensen and Tranströmer for the examination.

Assessment

The examination is oral, it lasts about 40 minutes and it is in Swedish (unless otherwise agreed upon, according to the needs). Some of the texts dealt with in the course are analysed and discussed from the point of view of forms and contents, and they are referred to their significant biographical, authorial, historical, cultural and literary contexts. One question may include reading and translating from Swedish / Scandinavian a passage from one of the works in the syllabus.

Didactic methods

The course offers mainly frontal lectures, but with moments of participatory learning, as students may, on a voluntary basis, present and discuss in class and in Swedish one of the works included in the syllabus (the 4 books by the poets). If students present a book in class, they will not have to prepare it again for the examination.

More information

If you have questions or need further explanations, please write to massimo.ciaravolo@unive.it. Booking time with an e-mail is recommended if you want to meet the professor at office hours. Student who cannot attend the course are asked to contact the teacher in order to discuss the syllabus with the supplementary reading.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Natural capital and environmental quality" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development