GRADUATE COURSES IN FRENCH

SPRING 2003

(Course information subject to change)
(Cross-reference with Department Roster)

Italian 540-401
Epic Love: Ariosto and Tasso
Prof. Cracolici
R 4-6

The conspicuous and heterogeneous literary material inspired from the legendary deeds of Arthurian and Carolingian knights was assembled and popularized during the Middle Ages in the form of cantari and for the pleasure of widely differentiated audiences. During the Renaissance, the same material underwent a process of literary sophistication in a way that conditioned profoundly the cultural imagination of Europe. In this course we will study the complex process that transformed the popular genre of the Medieval cantare into the more literary and theoretically refined forms of the chivalric romance (romanzo cavalleresco) and the heroic poem (poema eroico). Refashioned in this way, masterpieces like Ariosto's Orlando furioso and Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata contributed profoundly to the formation of a modern concept of literature. These works conveyed a new idea of narrative whose primary goal is not anymore the anecdotic account of historical or legendary deeds, but a strong claim for fiction and its poetic autonomy. The reading will include Ariosto's Orlando furioso and Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata, contemporaneous documents of the critical debates that they generated in Italy and Europe. Artistic and musical excursi will complement the study of the texts.

Italian 572-301
Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Narrative
Prof. Finotti
T 2-4

Every novel constructs itself on a story, and it has as its object an ordered succession of facts. Beginning in the Ottocento, the history is also the great myth of a modernity animated by faith in progress. Modern narrative tends, however, to award primacy to consciousness, whose movement is not linear and progressive, but circular and often regressive. How do these differing dimensions merge, and what rhetorical strategies permit time in a story to interweave itself with time in memory? What formal and structural choices lead to the development of an analytic narrative, capable of exploring--before psychoanalysis--the horizon of the unconscious, emphasizing its disaggregative action vis-à-vis subjectivity and society? How is an "anti-historical" novel born at the turn of the 20th century, and how does it develop? Texts by the following authors will be examined: Manzoni, Tommaseo, Nievo, Tarchetti, Fogazzaro, D'Annunzio, Pirandello, Svevo, Moraviaq, Pasolini, Primo Levi, Ammaniti.

Italian 602-301
Tools of the Trade
Prof. Kirkham / Prof. Cracolici
T 4-6

This course, to be taught by Prof. Kirkham with the participation of the other Italian graduate faculty, will introduce students to basic practical aspects of the profession. Topics will include I. Reading and Research (information collection, storage, and organization [e.g., how to read a critical edition]; the annotated bibliography, websites, library protocols); II. Writing (rhetoric; explication de texte/commentary, the book review; conventions of editorial style); III. Speaking and Teaching (technology and teaching, creating a Web page); IV. Publishing (when and where; from term paper to article; from dissertation to book); V. Exams and the Job Market (personal statement, CV). Topics will be keyed to major Italian authors from the Duecento to the present.

Romance Languages 690-301
Applied Linguistics
Prof. McMahon
W 4-6

Romance Languages 690 is a course required of all Teaching Assistants in
French and Italian in the second semester of their first year of teaching. It is designed to provide instructors with the necessary practical support to carry out their teaching responsibilities effectively and builds on the practicum meetings held during the first semester. The course will also introduce students to various approaches to foreign language teaching as well as to current issues in second language acquisition. Students who have already had a similar course at another
institution may be exempted upon consultation with the instructor.

Romance Languages 691-401
Technology and Foreign Languages
Prof. McMahon / Prof. Frei
T 9-10:30; R 4-5:30
(Crosslisted with German 517)

This course will introduce participants to the field of technology and foreign language teaching and learning. It will review the pertinent theoretical underpinnings for the pedagogically-sound use of technology in the teaching of languages starting with a brief overview of the historical development of the field. Students will learn to evaluate existing programs and applications with a critical eye through a systematic examination of projects that have been implemented both here at Penn and elsewhere. The course will also have weekly hands-on workshops to introduce participants to the design and development of multimedia materials, including image, video, and sound editing. The focus will be primarily on Web-based design and delivery. All participants will select a project to work on during the course of the semester; in addition they will develop an on-line teaching portfolio.