Ateneo - UPO

Les Fleurs du Mal de Baudelaire entre poétique et iconographie

The course is structured according to the following axes of study and reflection:
1) Historical and historiographical framework of the poetry;
2) History of French poetry from of the 19th century;
3) Focus on Baudelaire and Les Fleurs du Mal
4) Reading, commentary and translation of texts

- A high school textbook for historical framing.
- P. -L. REY, La littérature française du XIX siècle, Paris, A. Colin, 1993
- BAUDELAIRE, Les Fleurs du Mal, edizione di Claude Pichois, Paris, Gallimard/Poésie, 1996
- E. ADATTE, Les Fleurs du Mal et le Spleen de Paris, Paris, Corti, 1986
- G. BONNEVILLE, Les Fleurs du Mal de Baudelaire, Paris, Hatier, 1987
- M. MODENESI - L. NISSIM, Au fond de l'inconnu. Antologia e saggi critici, Milano, Mimesis, 2012, pp. 9-96
- M. BLANCO, Leggere Baudelaire, Roma, Carocci, 2013

The course aims to enable students at least to be able to place the author and his text in the historical and literary context of the poetry and to be able to critically analyse a text and identify its main themes. A more advanced objective is to be able to identify common elements and differences between authors, texts and literary paths.
In particular, the student will be required:
1) Knowledge of the Historical and historiographical framework of the poetry
2) Knowledge of the main historical and literary events of the 19th century.
3) Reflections on 19th century poetry and Baudelaire
4) Analysis and translation of texts.

Knowledge of the French language.
Knowledge of the most relevant problems and issues within the literary genre of the poetry.

1) Frontal lessons.
2) Continuous interaction.
3) Reading, contextualisation and analysis of texts.

Other information will be provided during the course.

In addition to continuous interaction, through the direct participation of students, the examination will consist of:
1) in a question on the history of the 19th century French poetry. The student will have to demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental problems and issues of the literary genre of the poetry and be able to identify how the potery has evolved over the centuries.
2) in a question on Baudelaire. The student must be familiar with the themes and literary debates that developed in France between in 19th century and must be able to elaborate a discourse on the main authors analysed during the course.
3) a few questions on the texts to be analysed, in order to demonstrate their effective reading and comprehension. The student must demonstrate the ability to place the chosen texts in their historical/literary context and to identify the particular themes of the author.

In order to obtain a pass, the student must demonstrate a solid knowledge of the history of the 19th century French poetry. They will have to know the authors and the fundamental themes of the 19th century poetry and will have to demonstrate that they have read the texts and understood their specific characteristics.
In order to achieve excellence, students must be able to make their own comparisons between the authors studied and develop a coherent critical discourse that takes into account the historical/literary evolution of the poetry. They will also have to demonstrate that they have read the texts in depth and are able to make connections between the authors and between the texts, highlighting common elements and differences.

The analysis of the texts will start from an overview of the literary genre of the 19th century poetry. It will then highlight the structure and the modalities of the compositions of Baudelaire; finally, it will illustrate the main themes of these texts. Particular attention will be paid to the historical and social context.
The programme is structured in the following way:
1) fist/second weeks: historical background of 19th century poetry.
2) third/fourth weeks: framing of Baudelaire and Les fleurs du mal
3) fifth-eighth weeks: reading of the texts and textual analysis of the texts.

To achieve the basic skills, the following are required:
1) Knowledge:
- General knowledge of the history of French literature.
- Knowledge of the problems and fundamental issues of the literary genre of the poetry.
- Specific knowledge of Baudelaire and Les fleurs du mal.

2) Competences:
- Knowing how to frame the themes, authors and theoretical debates on the 19th century French poetry.
- Ability to synthesise (framing of texts, identification of specific themes, comparisons between the texts analysed during the course).

3) Transversal skills:
- To be able to present the arguments with clarity .
- To be able to present the authors and place them in their historical/literary context.
- Being able to read and analyse the texts, grasping the most important themes and core arguments.

For the achievement of a more advanced level, the student must demonstrate to:
- Be able to make connections between authors within the same historical/literary context.
- To be able to elaborate autonomously a thematic path that can be developed in chronological order.
- To be able to read the texts in a critical perspective, developing comparisons and being able to identify points of contact and difference between the various authors.