Principles of Literary Communication



This course will focus on the basic rules upon which any literary communication is based. Particular attention will be dedicated to rhetoric and poetics problems. The course will explore some important theories and methods regarding, respectively, the creation and production of texts and their readership reception. The course will analyze a few literary masterpieces of the Western literary canon, with a close reading of their narrative beginning and ending: the two most poignant textual places in any literary work. Places of fundamental importance since they convey all the most significant aspects (rhetorical, thematic, linguistic, narratological, etc.) which are necessary for a correct reading of the selected text. The aim of this course is to offer to the students a clear basis for reading narrative works. GLIT



Primary works required for this course:

Manzoni Alessandro, I promessi sposi (1840-1842), (as a founding model of the historical novel genre).

Sciascia Leonardo, Il giorno della civetta, 1961 (as a sample of a peculiar detective story genre)

Attanasio Maria, Correva l’anno 1698 e nella città avvenne il fatto memorabile, Sellerio, Palermo, 1994 (as a sample of a contemporary short historical narrative).