Twentieth Century Italian Poetry: Saba, Ungaretti, Montale, Hermeticism and anti-Hermeticism



The course will focus on modern and contemporary Italian poetry from the early twentieth century to the seventies as exemplified by Umberto Saba, Giuseppe Ungaretti, and Eugenio Montale. Fundamental texts such as Il porto sepolto (1916) and Il dolore (1947) by Ungaretti; the Canzoniere (1921) by Saba; Ossi di Seppia (1925) and Satura (1971) by Montale will be studied. Aside from the work of these three major poets the course will examine other significant trends in modern Italian poetry: Hermeticism (Salvatore Quasimodo, Alfonso Gatto, Leonardo Sinisgalli, Mario Luzi) and anti-Hermeticism (Diego Valori, Carlo Betocchi, Sergio Solmi.)



Required Text: G. TELLINI, La poesia italiana del Novecento: Saba, Ungaretti, Montale, Ermetismo e Antiermetismo, Firenze, 2019 (Instructor will provide additional materials).