ITALIAN 204
Italian Fiction and Cinema
Please note: this is archived course information from 2018 for ITALIAN 204.
Description
A study of Italian novels, short stories and their adaptation into feature films. Texts are in Italian.
All too often fidelity to an original literary text is used as a criterion for judging the value of its film adaptation. This course questions the value of fidelity as criterion by examining the process of transformation of some modern Italian literary texts into feature films. We will consider how adaptation allows a film to successfully present the otherness and distinctiveness of its original text, bearing in mind the different narrative functions and codes of novels and film. The intellectual and social milieus in which these literary works and films were produced will also be considered.
The texts to be examined are the latest film by director Michelangelo Antonioni, Al di là delle nuvole (Beyond the clouds), derived from a series of short stories he himself wrote in the 1980s; Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s film Kaos, derived from short stories by early twentieth century playwright and novelist Luigi Pirandello; and Niccolò Ammaniti’s novel Io non ho paura (I am not scared), and its film adaptation by Gabriele Salvadores.
Availability 2018
Semester 1
Lecturer(s)
Coordinator(s) Dr Franco Manai
Reading/Texts
The literary texts will be available online except for the novel Io non ho paura (I am not scared), which can be purchased at the University bookstore.
Films can be viewed in the AV Library.
Assessment
Coursework only
Points
ITALIAN 204: 15 points
Prerequisites
ITALIAN 107
Corequisites
ITALIAN 200
Restrictions
ITALIAN 232, 336