Course Details
Masters of Italian Crime Fiction: Gadda, Scerbanenco, Sciascia and Eco
18 Mar 2014
Personal Interest
Other
Victoria University Community Continuing Education
This course is only offered in Wellington
After Hours
4 weeks, Tue 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
4 weeks, Tue 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
$120.00
Early Bird Discount available until 2 weeks prior to the course start date $108.00 incl GST
Early Bird Discount available until 2 weeks prior to the course start date $108.00 incl GST
Overview:
Crime fiction in Italy developed late, compared with other European countries. Since its origins, however, the Italian output has been characterised by high literary standards and experimentalism. Moreover, crime fiction has often been used to tackle important issues of Italian contemporary history, thus playing the role of a ‘social novel’.
This course analyses four crime novels written by Italian authors who have gained both international critical acclaim and popular success. They are:
•Carlo Emilio Gadda’s Quer Pasticciaccio Brutto de Via Merulana (1947 and 1957, translated as That Awful Mess on Via Merulana, 1984)
•Leonardo Sciascia’s Il giorno della civetta (1961, translated as The Day of the Owl, 1984)
•Giorgio Scerbanenco’s Venere Privata (1966, translated as A Private Venus 2012)
•Umberto Eco’s Il nome della rosa (1981, translated as The Name of the Rose, 1983).
This course provides the opportunity for a close reading of these novels in their historical context.
Target audience:
All the books are available in both Italian and English. The course will therefore appeal not only to people who know the Italian language but to lovers of Italian culture and crime fiction in general.
Learning objectives:
By the end of this course, participants will have gained:
•knowledge of the most important crime novelists in the Italian tradition of the genre
•an insight into contemporary Italian society.
Course format:
This course consists of two-hour sessions held on a Tuesday evening over four weeks. Sessions are interactive and discussion is encouraged. There is a short break half-way through each session, and you are welcome to bring refreshments if you wish.
Crime fiction in Italy developed late, compared with other European countries. Since its origins, however, the Italian output has been characterised by high literary standards and experimentalism. Moreover, crime fiction has often been used to tackle important issues of Italian contemporary history, thus playing the role of a ‘social novel’.
This course analyses four crime novels written by Italian authors who have gained both international critical acclaim and popular success. They are:
•Carlo Emilio Gadda’s Quer Pasticciaccio Brutto de Via Merulana (1947 and 1957, translated as That Awful Mess on Via Merulana, 1984)
•Leonardo Sciascia’s Il giorno della civetta (1961, translated as The Day of the Owl, 1984)
•Giorgio Scerbanenco’s Venere Privata (1966, translated as A Private Venus 2012)
•Umberto Eco’s Il nome della rosa (1981, translated as The Name of the Rose, 1983).
This course provides the opportunity for a close reading of these novels in their historical context.
Target audience:
All the books are available in both Italian and English. The course will therefore appeal not only to people who know the Italian language but to lovers of Italian culture and crime fiction in general.
Learning objectives:
By the end of this course, participants will have gained:
•knowledge of the most important crime novelists in the Italian tradition of the genre
•an insight into contemporary Italian society.
Course format:
This course consists of two-hour sessions held on a Tuesday evening over four weeks. Sessions are interactive and discussion is encouraged. There is a short break half-way through each session, and you are welcome to bring refreshments if you wish.
Teacher:
Barbara Pezzotti (PhD) teaches Italian language and culture. She is the author of The Importance of Place in Contemporary Italian Crime Fiction: A Bloody Journey (2012). She is also a former journalist for the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 ore (the Italian equivalent of the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal).
Barbara Pezzotti (PhD) teaches Italian language and culture. She is the author of The Importance of Place in Contemporary Italian Crime Fiction: A Bloody Journey (2012). She is also a former journalist for the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 ore (the Italian equivalent of the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal).