The course will focus on Italo Calvino's narrative and essay production from the first cosmic tales (1964) to the short stories of Palomar with the aim of identifying themes, forms and reasons of a season marked by his abandon of the form of the novel, by increasing metafictional suggestions, as well as the interest in the creative experiments of Oulipo and, more generally, in the international literary debate.
Calvino’s fictional works:
- «Tutte le cosmicomiche», 1997 (only the short stories titled «Un segno nello spazio», «Tutto in un punto», «Senza colori», «La spirale», «I cristalli», «Priscilla – I. Mitosi, II. Meiosi, III. Morte», «Ti con Zero», «L’inseguimento», «Il guidatore notturno», «Il conte di Montecristo», «La memoria del mondo»: the list can still be updated in class).
- «Le città invisibili», 1972 (to be read with the help of Federico Bertoni, «Primo interludio. Le città invisibili», in «Realismo e letteratura. Una storia possibile», Torino, Einaudi, 2007).
- «Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore», 1979.
- «Palomar», 1983 (only the stories we focus on in class).
Theoretical texts:
- Italo Calvino, «Una pietra sopra: discorsi di letteratura e società», 1980.
- Giorgio Bertone, «Il castello della scrittura», in «Italo Calvino. Il castello della scrittura», Torino, Einaudi, 1994, pp. 119-176.
Learning Objectives
KNOWLEDGE - The profile of one of the most important intellectuals and narrators of the twentieth century will be studied with attention to its mature production, focusing on their genesis and meanings also with the help of other author's texts, the critical bibliography, and the literary context where they are published in.
COMPETENCE - The goals of the course are providing the necessary tools to understand and to comment on novels (in their semantic and structural complexity), to put them in relation with the socio-historical, cultural and literary context, and and also providing them the instruments to improve their technical language for describing and explaining the books they read.
BEHAVIOR - The course aims to stimulate the student to develop a good and fruitful communication with the teacher as well as to the conscious use of the orientation and research tools offered by the university structure and the Cds.
Prerequisites
It is necessary to have a basic knoweledge of the italian literary context of the second half of ‘900 and of the critical language of reference.
Teaching Methods
Frontal lessons of two hours each, which may be supplemented with short oral reports of the students (which will be assessed in the final examination).
Further information
Partime students (other students are required to attend at least 2/3 of the total classes) are asked to get in touch with Dr. Nicola Turi to agree on a specific syllabus.
The lessons will be held on Mondays (9-11am: classroom 9 in via Capponi 9), on Tuesdays (9-11am: classroom 3 in via Capponi 9) and on Wednesdays (9-11am: classroom Apollo in Piazza Brunelleschi) starting from November 6th.
Through the e-learning platform, students can enroll in the course and download useful materials to deepen the content of the course.
Type of Assessment
Oral exam. The questions cover the content of the texts included in the program and commented in class (including in relation to the historical and literary context of reference), in order to assess students' knowledge, analytical skills and language properties.
Course program
CALVINO WRITER AND THEORIST: HIS SECOND PERIOD
The course aims to focus on motives and meanings of the last Calvino’s production, starting from «Cosmicomiche» (collected for the first time in 1965) to arrive at «If on a winter’night a traveler» (1979) and to the short stories held in «Palomar» (1983). The author's creative project – a metafictional one, developed through narrative forms different from traditional novel - will be defined and analyzed in relation to previous Calvino’s (fictional and non fictional) works, and also to the theoretical debate and the literary production of the sixties and seventies.
Calvino’s fictional works:
- «Tutte le cosmicomiche», 1997 (only the short stories titled «Un segno nello spazio», «Tutto in un punto», «Senza colori», «La spirale», «I cristalli», «Priscilla – I. Mitosi, II. Meiosi, III. Morte», «Ti con Zero», «L’inseguimento», «Il guidatore notturno», «Il conte di Montecristo», «La memoria del mondo»: the list can still be updated in class).
- «Le città invisibili», 1972 (to be read with the help of Federico Bertoni, «Primo interludio. Le città invisibili», in «Realismo e letteratura. Una storia possibile», Torino, Einaudi, 2007).
- «Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore», 1979.
- «Palomar», 1983 (only the stories we focus on in class).
Theoretical texts:
- Italo Calvino, «Una pietra sopra: discorsi di letteratura e società», 1980.
- Giorgio Bertone, «Il castello della scrittura», in «Italo Calvino. Il castello della scrittura», Torino, Einaudi, 1994, pp. 119-176.