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| Unit name |
Reading Renaissance Culture |
| Unit code |
ITAL10026 |
| Credit points |
10 |
| Level of study |
C/4
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Lombardi |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
none
|
| Co-requisites |
none
|
| School/department |
Department of Italian |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts |
Description including Unit Aims
This unit aims to acquaint students with the political, institutional, and social framework of Renaissance Italy and the manner in which recent historiography has discussed the Renaissance as both period and cultural movement. The unit will focus attention upon specific genres of writing which came particularly to the fore in the wake of the classical revival (demonstrative rhetoric, epic, dialogue, etc., etc.) and the manner in which different scholars have chosen to characterise aspects of this period of cultural change as either continuity, revival, or decadence. Particular focus will be given to discussions concerning the Italian Renaissance's relation to European modernity.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students will be able to:
- analyse the paintings studied using appropriate terminology and demonstrate an understanding of their context in Renaissance Italy
- demonstrate an understanding of the social and cultural context of artists and writers in Renaissance Florence
- compare and contrast secondary readings of the period
Teaching Information
Lectures with interactive elements
Assessment Information
Essay 60% Commentry 40%, 1500 words each.
Reading and References
Set text:
- Castiglione, Il Cortegiano Milano: Feltrinelli, 1972 (or: any other edition in Italian)
- Castiglione, The Courtier, C. Singleton translator, D. Javitch editor. New York : Norton, 2002.
Secondary Readings:
- D. Quint, Introduction to Literary Theory/Renaissance Texts Baltimore : JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press, 1986.
- T.S. Eliot, “Tradition and the Individual Talent” in The sacred wood : essays on poetry and criticismLondon : Methuen & Co., 1920.
- T. Greene, The Light in Troy. Imitation and Discovery in Renaissance PoetryNew Haven : YaleUniversity Press,1982.
- S. Greenblatt, Renaissance Self -Fashioning: from More to Shakespeare. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1980.
- M. Mc Luhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy; the making of typographic man. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962
