The key objectives in this module are to continue to extend students’ reading and listening skills in Italian through the study of longer texts/films; to widen and deepen their understanding of Italian language texts/films as cultural products which provide important insights for the development of the range of inter-cultural competencies required to function professionally in a Italian-speaking environment. A theme in this module is the distinctive contribution made by the interlinked genres of Italian theatre and Italian cinema to the development of international performance on stage and screen.
Much of what is recognised as western theatre derives from Italian philosophy and practice in the Renaissance; Italian film-making is recognised as central to the emergence of cinema as a global phenomenon. Both phenomena will be studied in this module as a means of helping students develop their knowledge and understanding of Italian culture in its broadest sense. Focussing on specific texts, such as Luigi Pirandello’s Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore, Eduardo de Filippo’s Filumena Marturano and Dario Fo’s Morte accidentale di un anarchico, and on films such as Rossellini’s Roma città aperta, Antonioni’s L’avventura, Olmi’s L’albero degli zoccoli, Fellini’s La voce della luna and Benigni’s La vita è bella, students will be encouraged to think critically about Italian cultural production on stage and screen in both its national and international contexts and to engage critically with the individual works studied using appropriate critical and theoretical apparatus in their exploration of the crucial contribution which Italy has made.
Class content will reflect the research specialisms of Italian lecturing staff in Language Studies; the texts and films studied may vary from year to year to reflect student demand and staff availability. All texts/films studied will be in the original language.
| This module follows on from the module Italian Studies 1. Its key objectives are to continue to extend students’ reading and listening skills in Italian through the study of longer texts/films than those which feature in the Italian Language modules; to widen and deepen their understanding of Italian language texts/films as cultural products which provide important insights for the development of the range of inter-cultural competencies required to function professionally in a Italian-speaking environment. A theme of this module is the distinctive contribution made by the interlinked genres of Italian theatre and Italian cinema to the development of international performance on stage and screen. Much of what is recognised as western theatre derives from Italian philosophy and practice in the Renaissance, while ever since the development of cinema, and in the second half of the 20th century in particular, Italian film-making has been recognised as central to the European aspect of the emergence of cinema as a global phenomenon. Both genres will be studied in this module as a means of helping students develop their knowledge and understanding of Italian culture in its broadest sense. Class content will reflect the research specialisms of Italian lecturing staff in the School of Languages, Law and Social Sciences, and the actual texts and films studied may vary from year to year to reflect student demand and staff availability, as determined by the research focus of the staff concerned. All texts/films studied will be in the original language. |
Italian Studies 2
Luigi Pirandello; Modern theatre, Renaissance, Commedia dell’arte,
n/a
Neorealist cinema; Rossellini & De Sica; social & economic challenges in post-war Italy; avant-garde/art house/independent film-making
n/a
Film & Cinema 1960's - 1990's: Fellini & Antonioni; Bertolucci, Olmi, Tornatore and the Taviani brothers; Salvatores, Moretti and Benini.
The class will be delivered through a mixture of lectures and seminars. Specific reading will be identified for each lecture hour, prioritised as ‘essential’ and ‘further reading’, and should require approximately 2 hours of private study/preparation. Each tutorial topic will be accompanied by a list of specific readings/questions and/or prompts. Adequate tutorial preparation should involve approximately 2 hours of private study.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Formal Examination | 50 |
| Other Assessment(s) | 50 |