MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE - SECOND PART - LABORATORY

The course in Digital Literary Studies is part of the Master’s Degree Programme in Digital and Public Humanities and is connected with the Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities (VeDPH) in the Department of Humanities. Placed in the second semester of the first year, it provides the literary foundation of the programme. The course introduces basic concepts and skills — textuality and modelling, hypertext, encoding, close reading, and distant reading — which subsequent courses develop with greater technical depth, and foregrounds the specifically literary, critical, and genealogical dimension of working with texts in digital form. As a course also shared with the Master’s Degree Programme in Italian Philology, Linguistics and Literature (FM40), it also includes a selection of readings and activities designed for students in that programme.

1. Knowledge and understanding:
- Knowledge of the traditions, history, and fundamental debates of the Digital Humanities as applied to literary studies.
- Understanding of textuality and hypertextuality in digital environments.
- Familiarity with electronic literature and with literary writing native to the web and social media, as well as with critical theories concerning the relationship between literary form and digital media.

2. Understanding of how authorship, voice, and authenticity are reconfigured when text is generated or transformed by machines.
- Applying knowledge and understanding
- Ability to analyse a literary text in digital form, integrating close reading with an introductory use of quantitative tools.
- Ability to apply narratological and critical categories to literary objects born in, or hybridised with, digital environments.

3. Making autonomous judgements
- Ability to develop an independent critical analysis of a digital literary object, selecting appropriate concepts and tools.
- Ability to situate a digital literary work within the history and theory of the field.

4. Communication skills
- Ability to present and discuss the results of the analysis.
- Ability to communicate the theoretical and practical implications of working with literature in digital form.

There are no pre-requirements. No prior technical or programming skills are required; students are expected to take part in guided hands-on activities and to read literary and theoretical texts in English.

The course introduces the fundamental conceptual and methodological tools for studying literature in digital environments. Starting from selected public-domain literary texts — in particular "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland" for the English-language path and "Le avventure di Pinocchio" for the Italian path — students will be guided in the analysis of different forms of digital textuality: encoded texts, hypertexts, online archives and resources, electronic literature, writing native to the web and social media, and texts generated or transformed by artificial intelligence systems.

The following topics will be addressed in particular:

- introduction to the Digital Humanities as applied to literary studies;
- digital textuality, lightweight text encoding, Markdown, and publication on GitHub;
- close reading, basic narratology, and critical analysis of literary texts;
- hypertext, non-linear reading, and models of navigation;
- introduction to the guided use of tools for the quantitative analysis of texts;
- electronic literature, digital poetry, and literary writing on the web and social media;
- authorship, voice, and authenticity in texts generated or transformed by machines.

Primary literary texts and working materials

- Lewis Carroll, "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland" (1865), in a public-domain English edition made available through Moodle (for the Italian path: Carlo Collodi, "Le avventure di Pinocchio").
- A selection of literary works, electronic literature, digital poetry, and web-based writing will be indicated during the course and made available through Moodle or through open-access online resources.

Reference essays and critical materials

- Martin Paul Eve, "The Digital Humanities and Literary Studie"s, Oxford University Press, 2022, open access, especially the introduction and chapter 1.
- As a reference text, the historical volume edited by Ray Siemens and Susan Schreibman, "A Companion to Digital Literary Studies", Oxford, Blackwell, 2008, available online: https://companions.digitalhumanities.org/DLS
- Further readings will be made available through Moodle during the course.

Evaluation will be based on the following components:
1) Final oral exam (mainly focused on the project and topics discussed in class and on Moodle)
2) Participation in discussions and activities
3) In-class presentation

oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

In order to obtain a mark between 27 and 30 cum laude, students are expected to analyse the topics of the course in depth following the methodological guidelines acquired; to possess and communicate an organic understanding of the topics addressed in class and/or studied in the manual and in the bibliography and on the course Moodle; to carry out an autonomous, well-documented critical analysis of a digital literary object, with awareness of the limits of the methods used; to demonstrate an excellent capacity for expression and argumentation and to use the technical language of the discipline competently.

An overall mark between 23 and 26 will be awarded to those who demonstrate a good knowledge of the course program; the ability to analyse the topics in a methodologically correct way, even if marked by some imperfections; and a good command of language, although with occasional uncertainties in exposition and/or minor imprecision.

An acceptable but limited knowledge of the course program, a superficial understanding of the topics, a restricted analytical ability, and expression that is not always appropriate will lead to sufficient marks (18-22).

Poor knowledge of the course topics, inadequate analytical skills, and incorrect or inappropriate expression will result in an insufficient assessment.

The course combines lectures, seminar-style discussion, close reading of literary and theoretical texts, and guided hands-on activities. Each session is devoted mainly to a single mode of work (reading, practice, or discussion). Practical sessions introduce, at an introductory level and without assuming prior programming experience, tools and environments for working with literary texts in digital form (e.g. Markdown and version control, a text-analysis tool such as Voyant). Students develop an individual digital literary case study, supported by incremental steps and feedback during the course. Materials are made available on Moodle so that non-attending students can also follow the course and prepare for the final assessment.

All course materials, instructions for the case study, working texts, and any supplementary readings are made available on Moodle. Non-attending students are invited to consult the platform regularly and to follow the instructions provided for the case study and the oral exam.


Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion.
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments:
Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.