IS 277 Italian Storytelling from Page to Stage
The course explores the expression of the male and female narrative "I" against the greater context of the historical development of the Italian novel, with an emphasis on the late 19th and 20th centuries. An experiential approach to classic texts, framed by embodied learning methodology whereby students will improvise and adapt excerpts to allow literature to come alive through focused performance exercise and spectator reflection. As the traditional Italian hero finds his narrative trajectory from Modernity into the Postmodern, the Italian heroine appears to be engaged in the pursuit of Other agendas. The ongoing affirmation of a feminine alternative to the insistently male-dominated Italian canon will be studied via readings from the following novels: Giovanni Verga's The House by the Medlar Tree and Italo Svevo's Confessions of Zeno, Luigi Pirandello's, The Late Mattia Pascal, Sibilla Aleramo's A Woman, Grazia Deledda's Cosima, Natlia Ginsburg Family Sayings, Dacia Maraini's The Silent Duchess, Anna Banti's Artemisia. The course will be conducted entirely in English.