Extended programme:
This course intends to provide a deep knowledge about Modern and Contemporary Italian Literature, with special regard to the 20th century. Lessons are focused on the description of literary movements, authors, programs and journals (“Voce”, “Ronda”, “Officina”, “il Verri”, etc.), from the last 19th century to the present day.

As far as poetics are concerned, on one hand, the 20th century articulates a movement breaking up with canon and rules, which is the case of the historical avant-gardes and their consequent reprises (neo-avantgarde, research poetry, poetry in prose, etc.); on the other hand, the 20th century seems to be based on the revival of the tradition with its closed and measurable forms, etc. Through the reading and the analysis of some highly significant texts, the course will bring into focus the moments when this dialectic seems to be more direct and historically meaningful. Some examples are the first 15 years of the 20th century, with Crepuscolarismo, Futurismo and Vociani; the Fifties and Sixties, with the neo-avantgarde and the “poesia dopo la lirica”; the first twenty years of the new century, with its neo-epic tendencies, the poetry in prose and the writings of Realismo Terminale.

The second part of the course is dedicated to a textual and critical insight about Andrea Zanzotto’s poetry. He was able to summarize in his work the polarities and the tensions of the 20th century, resulting in a synthesis rich in references to the main themes of contemporary culture: the neo-capitalist transformation, the End Feel, the post-human, the ecological issues, the environmental crisis, the meaning of words as tradition and memory. During the lessons, some texts taken from the poet’s collections will be read: Vocativo, Dietro il paesaggio (1951), Dietro il paesaggio (1957), IX Ecloghe (1962), La beltà (1968), Galateo in bosco (1978), Idioma (1986), Meteo (1996), Sovrimpressioni (2001), Conglomerati (2009).