1 - 10 of 24 results for: ITALIAN

Preference to freshmen. To the English and American literary imagination, Italy has long been a source of fascination. During the past hundred years, writers from Nathaniel Hawthorne to Frances Mayes have explored the broad range of contradictory resonances of the Italian setting, in fiction, travel essays, and memoirs. While some writers have celebrated the sensuality of Italian culture and landscape, others have imagined Italy as a more dangerous place -- as dangerous as the erotic love with which it is often identified. The range of literary responses to Italy by writers in English during the past hundred years will be examined, and the ways in which our culture has continued to construct myths of Italy will be explored. We will also see how these myths have been transformed into commodities in today's consumer culture, making "Italy" one of the most profitable fictions in the marketplace. Taught in English.

Gateway course for Italian studies. An examination of representations of love and sexuality in Italian literature, art, film, and popular culture from the Italian Renaissance to the current period. Beginning with the figure of Silvio Berlusconi and ending with Dante's love for Beatrice, the course considers differences in social practices and mores over time, the role of literary and artistic representations in establishing cultural expectations about love, the question of gender roles and identity in Italian society, as well as contemporary stereotypes about love in Italy and Italians in love. Taught in Italian. Prerequisites: ITALLANG 22A or equivalent

The origins of Italian literature. Poetry such as 13th-century love lyrics, Dante's Vita Nuova and Petrarca's Canzoniere; prose such as stories from Boccaccio's Decameron. Taught in Italian. Prerequisites: ITALLANG 22A or equivalent.

The literature, art, and history of the Renaissance and beyond. Readings from the 15th through 18th centuries include Moderata Fonte, Machiavelli, Ariosto, Tasso, Galileo, and Goldoni. Taught in Italian. Prerequisites: ITALLANG 22A or equivalent (2 years of Italian)

The history of the Italian nation and national literary identity in the 19th and 20th centuries. The relationship between literary texts and their historical context from the Risorgimento to the Resistance. Focus is on the romantic lyric, futurism, fascism, and the changing status of women. Authors include Foscolo, Leopardi, D'Annunzio, Aleramo, Marinetti, Pirandello, Ungaretti, and Montale. Prerequisite: ITALLANG 22A or equivalent. Taught in Italian.

Survey of Italian films from neorealism to the present day with an emphasis on sexuality, desire and transgression. Taught in English; films in Italian with English subtitles; readings in English. Mandatory evening film screenings.

A comparison between the different roles played by writers as members of the intellectual establishment in Catalonia, Spain and Italy. Focus on the relation between intellectuals and politics in shaping national identity. We will give especially consideration to the role played by intellectuals during the Fascist and Francoist dictatorships and during Spain's transition to democracy. Taught in English.

Issues of freedom, morality, faith, knowledge, personal identity, and the value of truth explored through film; philosophical investigation of the filmic medium itself. Screenings to include Twelve Monkeys (Gilliam), Ordet (Dreyer), The Dark Knight (Nolan), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Allen), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman). Taught in English.

The mafia has become a global problem through its infiltration of international business, and its model of organized crime has spread all over the world from its origins in Sicily. At the same time, film and fiction remain fascinated by a romantic, heroic vision of the mafia. Compares both Italian and American fantasies of the Mafia to its history and impact on Italian and global culture. Taught in English.