COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

The course is part of the degree course in Lingue, civiltà e scienze del linguaggio - Bachelor's Degree programme.

The main objective of the course is to provide the tools to relate literatures and cultures of different languages and countries, applying different interpretative methodologies. Furthermore, literature is related to the recent history of the respective countries.

1. Knowledge and understanding:
- Knowledge of the cultural and literary aspects of the various geographical areas with particular reference to the Spanish and English-speaking linguistic communities;
- Knowledge of the contemporary history of the countries of the studied languages, through their literature;
- Knowledge of the main intercultural phenomena of different linguistic communities with particular reference to those of Spanish and English speakers.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- Knowing how to establish relations between the culture of the countries and the communities of the two languages of study and their own culture;
- Knowing how to read a literary text to obtain useful information for the knowledge of the history and culture of a country;
- Knowing how to build links between different cultures and different forms of culture.
3. Ability to judge:
- Ability to interpret a literary text in relation to the historical-cultural reality in which the text and the reader have fallen.
4. Communication skills:
- Know how to use a suitable basic vocabulary of literary and historical scope.
5. Learning skills:
- Know how to critically use literary and theoretical texts and relate them;
- Knowing how to insert specific knowledge on a text in a wider knowledge.

There is no prerequisite: it's enough a good knowledge of Italian.

The course deals with the so-called post-memory literature, which is a series of recent texts that dealt with the theme of Nazism and the Holocaust in a period in which witnesses are, for chronological reasons, in sharp decline. Starting from some of the cornerstones of the literature of memory, such as Primo Levi or Georges Perec, we will come to more recent works, belonging to literatures of various nationalities, but also to cinema and visual arts, to verify how the theoretical problem of post-memory finds development in important narrative works. Particular attention will be devoted to the relationship between literature and history, to the national specificity in the treatment of the theme, with particular attention to English-speaking linguistic areas (Philip Roth, Quentin Tarantino) and Spanish-speaking (Bolano, Cercas).

Required text:

- P. Levi, I sommersi e i salvati, Torino, Einaudi, 1987 e successive edizioni.
- A. Cinquegrani, Il sacrificio di Bess. Sei immagini su nazismo e contemporaneità, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2018.

The student is also required to read or see two of the following works:
LITERATURE:
P. Levi, Storie naturali, Torino, Einaudi, qualsiasi edizione
G. Perec, W o il ricordo d'infanzia, Torino, Einaudi, qualsiasi edizione
J. Littell, Le benevole, Torino, Einaudi, 2008
P. Roth, Il complotto contro l'America, Torino, Einaudi, 2004
R. Bolano, Il Terzo Reich, Milano, Adelphi, 2010
R. Bolano, Stella distante, edizione Sellerio o Adelphi
J. Cercas, Soldati di Salamina, Milano, Guanda, 2001 o successive
J. Cercas, L'impostore, Milano, Guanda, 2014 o successive
O Guez, La scomparsa di Josef Mengele, Neri Pozza, 2018

CINEMA
L. Cavani, Il portiere di notte
L. Von Trier, Antichrist
Q. Tarantino, Bastardi senza gloria
S. Lonitsa, Austerlitz
G. Del Toro, La forma dell'acqua

Optional in-depth texts:
- J. Littell, Il secco e l'umido, Torino, Einaudi, 2008.
- Pop Shoah. Immaginari del genocidio ebraico, a cura di F. R. Recchia Luciani e C. Vercelli, Genova, Il Melangolo, 2016
- M. Hirsch, The Generation of Postmemory. Writing and Visual Culture after the Holocaust, Columbia UP, 2012

The exam will be based on an oral interview, this will be based on two parts:

1. Personal reading of the narrative or cinematographic works included in the list. The student will be asked to give a personal reading based on what was learned in class and on the theoretical texts. The exhibition will be free and not bound to specific questions. the teacher reserves the right to ask for clarifications on some points that are not clear. The exhibition will be evaluated in thirtieths, taking into account: 1. communication skills (1-10 points); 2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding (1-10 points); 2. Ability to judge (1-10 points).
2. Knowledge of theoretical texts. It will be based on the two mandatory texts and the explanation proposed in class. Two questions will be proposed, the first to test the ability to learn, the second to verify knowledge and understanding of the texts. Each of these questions can change the score previously obtained by +/- two points. The student will still be required to achieve the sufficiency in this part to pass the exam.

NON ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Non-attending students will add the text of J. Littell, The dry and the wet, already included in the bibliography of the optional texts. For the rest the exam will take place in the same way as the students attending

Frontal lesson. Some points considered particularly important and stimulating for the student will be discussed in seminar lessons.

Italian

oral

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