Ateneo - UPO

Two poets compared: Umberto Saba and Vittorio Sereni.

The teacher will prepare a booklet containing the texts that will be discussed during class, which will be deposited at the copy shop (copisteria Lisa, Vercelli, via Galileo Ferraris 76) before the start of class. When the booklet is available, a notice will be posted on the DIR platform, in the course area.Other reference texts for further study (not mandatory readings):
- Vittorio Sereni, Poesie, edizione critica a cura di Dante Isella, Milano, Mondadori, 1995;
- Umberto Saba, Tutte le poesie, a cura di Arrigo Stara, Introduzione di Mario Lavagetto, Milano, Mondadori, 2004 (I ed. 1988);
- Umberto Saba, Tutte le prose, a cura di Arrigo Stara, con un saggio introduttivo di Mario Lavagetto, Milano, Mondadori, 2001;
- Umberto Saba, Vittorio Sereni, Il cerchio imperfetto. Lettere 1946-1954, a cura di Cecilia Gibellini, Milano, Archinto, 2010;
- Cecilia Gibellini, Nell’atelier di Umberto Saba: da «Solaria» al «Canzoniere», in «Strumenti critici», gennaio 2013, pp. 119-134;
- Stefano Carrai, Saba personaggio degli «Strumenti umani», in «Gli strumenti umani» di Vittorio Sereni, Atti della Giornata di Studi (Università di Ginevra, 5 dicembre 2013), a cura di Georgia Fioroni, Pensa, 2015, pp. 67-79 (pdf available from Academia.edu);
- Cecilia Gibellini, Vittorio Sereni: viaggi, ritorni, agnizioni, in Leggere la lontananza. Immagini dell’altro nella letteratura di viaggio della contemporaneità, a cura di Silvia Camilotti, Ilaria Crotti e Ricciarda Ricorda, Venezia, Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2015, pp. 85-105 (link open-access: https://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/it/edizioni/libri/978-88-6969-055-6/vittorio-sereni-viaggi-ritorni-agnizioni/);
- Stefano Carrai, Saba, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2017;
- Niccolò Scaffai, Introduzione, in Umberto Saba, Poesie scelte da Giovanni Giudici, Milano, Mondadori, 2018 (prima ed. 1976; pdf available from Academia.edu);
- Vittorio Sereni, Poesie e prose, a cura di Giulia Raboni, con uno scritto di Pier Vincenzo Mengaldo, Milano, Mondadori, 2020.

The course aims to provide the fundamental methodological tools for analyzing poetic texts by examining the work of two major 20th-century Italian authors.The learning objectives are structured at two levels:Basic level: Historical and cultural contextualization of the two authors and their work; understanding of their theoretical and poetic stances; and the ability to interpret, analyze, and comment on key poetic texts.Advanced level: Acquisition of skills in intertextual analysis (identifying sources and echoes) and stylistic analysis (examining vocabulary, syntax, and choices regarding meter and rhetoric), as well as the ability to navigate critical and bibliographic resources (understanding the main contributions made by various critical approaches to the study of these two authors).

The 6 CFU earned during the course are distributed as follows:
1.5 CFU (30 hours of teaching of lecture-based and interactive teaching) (DE + DI) (see ‘Teaching Methods’);
4.5 CFU of independent study.

Historical-literary, linguistic-stylistic and basic metrics knowledge.

Frontal lessons with discussion; in-class reading, paraphrasing, and commentary on texts, with questions and discussion; online learning (DIR).

The teacher will make teaching materials available via the the university's online platform (DIR), to which students are invited to register before the start of lessons. Students unable to attend the majority of classes are asked to contact the teacher (cecilia.gibellini@uniupo.it) for general guidance on exam preparation and information regarding supplementary readings.Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizi-studentesse-e-studenti-condizione-di-disabilit%C3%A0-e-dsa. Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the teacher in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The exam consists of a two-hour written test designed to assess the student's knowledge and ability to apply it to the texts covered in the course. Specifically, the test will comprise two open-ended questions, structured as follows:1) A question designed to assess knowledge of the biographical details, cultural references, and theoretical and poetic stances of the two authors (examples: Saba and psychoanalysis; the experience of imprisonment and the sense of exclusion from history in Sereni’s work) or of a specific poetry collection of theirs (examples: the rediscovery of childhood in the poems of Il Piccolo Berto; themes and settings in Sereni’s first poetry collection). [50% of the exam grade]2) A text analysis exercise: identification, contextualization, paraphrasing, and commentary regarding a poem selected from those examined during the course. [50% of the exam grade]To pass the exam, students must provide satisfactory answers to both questions, demonstrating knowledge of the key aspects of the two authors' biographies, cultural references, and theoretical and poetic positions; the ability to chronologically place the authors' major poetry collections; and the ability to correctly paraphrase the poems studied in class while contextualizing them within the authors' poetics. A broader knowledge of the syllabus content – demonstrated by the ability to draw connections between different texts and substantiate them with precise references – will result in a grade above the minimum pass mark. To achieve an excellent grade, students must demonstrate the ability to present their knowledge independently – going beyond the points raised in class – by drawing comparisons with other primary texts and critical scholarship, and by formulating well-reasoned critical judgments. To achieve an excellent grade on the text analysis and commentary exercise, it will be necessary to enrich the literal explanation and contextualization of the text with observations regarding intertextuality (sources and echoes) and stylistics (lexis, syntax, and choices of meter and rhetoric).

1. Fundamentals of poetic text analysis. 2. Outline of the history of poetry from the late 19th to the early 20th century. 3. Umberto Saba: Il Canzoniere, theoretical reflections and statements on poetics, the self-commentary in Storia e Cronistoria, and prose works. 4. Vittorio Sereni: poetry collections, critical reflections, and prose works.

To achieve a satisfactory level of knowledge and competence, students must demonstrate:(KNOWLEDGE)familiarity with the key biographical details, cultural contexts, and theoretical and poetic stances of the two authors;knowledge of the authors' major poetry collections, situating them chronologically and within the evolution of each author's poetics;(COMPETENCE)the ability to paraphrase, interpret, analyze, and comment on the poetic texts examined during the course;(TRANSFERABLE SKILLS)the ability to present knowledge, information, and opinions regarding the texts and issues discussed clearly and effectively, using appropriate language and terminology.To achieve an advanced level, students must demonstrate:(KNOWLEDGE)familiarity with key critical contributions to the study of the two authors;(COMPETENCE)the ability to comment on the texts from an intertextual perspective, linking them to other works and identifying significant sources and echoes;the ability to examine the texts stylistically, analyzing vocabulary, syntax, and choices regarding meter and rhetoric;(TRANSFERABLE SKILLS)the ability to formulate reasoned critical judgments on the texts, independently drawing comparisons with other primary texts and critical scholarship, going beyond the material presented in class.