Università Roma Tre

On the threshold of modernity: the prose of Foscolo and Leopardi

The course will consider two fundamental texts of Italian literary and philosophical modernity: the “Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis” by Ugo Foscolo and the “Operette morali” by Giacomo Leopardi. Whilst the "Ortis" is the first modern novel of our literature, the "Operette" are a collection of prose texts in the form of a dialogue or of a short story in which Leopardi elaborates a profound philosophical thought. The voices of Foscolo and Leopardi reflect on issues that are still very topical today – the individual's relationship with nature, his private and public identity, his relationship with society and history, the pursuit of happiness – and devolep words, a language and new forms of prose writing.
Texts will be read and commented upon in class as much as possible, and will be adequately introduced and contextualized.

Texts:
- Ugo Foscolo, “Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis”, a cura di M.A. Terzoli, Roma, Carocci, 2012
- Giacomo Leopardi, “Operette morali”, a cura di L. Melosi, Milano, BUR, 2008.
NB: texts must be read in these editions.

Critical studies:
- Matteo Palumbo, “Foscolo”, Bologna, il Mulino, 2010, chap. 1, 3, 5
- Emilio Russo, “Ridere del mondo. La lezione di Leopardi”, Bologna, il Mulino, 2017
Didactic materials will be available on Moodle.
Students who have attended regularly will be exempted from reading critical studies.

Any gaps of a historiographical or rhetorical nature can be filled with the use of a good manual of literary history and through the entries available on the website of the Italian Encyclopedia Treccani (www.treccani.it).