AP/IT 4171 3.00

Food in Italian Literature

This course focuses on food culture in Italian literature and examines its historical, social and symbolic value from the Middle Ages to the present.  Food is an important element in Italian culture and, as such, it is presented as a means for exploring the dramatic, political, social and economic changes that have taken place in Italy over the centuries.  Food is also an important element in the development of cultural and individual identity.  Its preparation, production and consumption have played a significant role in shaping national and regional identities.
The first part of the course examines food in literature and arts during the unification of Italy in the 19th century. Readings include arias from various operas, excerpts from Collodi's Pinocchio, Manzoni's The Betrothed and Lampedusa's The Leopard.  The second part of the course deals with the importance of food (or lack thereof) during WWII.  Readings are from Primo Levi's account s of his concentration camp experience, Elsa Morante's History and Alberto Moravia's Two Women.  The third part of the course focuses on selections from Sibilla Aleramo's A Woman and Clara Sereni's Keeping House, as they highlight women's issues in relation to food, and also on the aesthetics of food in post-war literature as represented in Cesare Pavese and Italo Calvino.  In the last part of the course, we examine food as represented at the origins of Italian literature through the works of the tre corone Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio along with burlesque Medieval and Renaissance poetry.

When relevant and where available, clips from film adaptation of texts read will be used to enhance learning and present the notion of food on screen.