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Study Abroad Home > Study Abroad in Rome > Course Descriptions > Rome in Literature: Authors & the Eternal City
Rome, Italy - Course Descriptions - Rome in Literature: Authors & the Eternal CityCourse Information
Contact Hours and CreditsSemester Session: 45 contact hours, 3 semester credits, 4 quarter creditsAvailabilityChoose a session below to view the complete description of that session.
Full DescriptionDescriptionThe devastation of Italy in the wake of Fascism and World War II became fodder for a huge artistic and literary boom—especially in Rome where in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele Mussolini declared his reign a reclaiming of the fallen Roman Empire. Many Romans embraced fascism without fully understanding its implications and then, utterly disillusioned, came to forefront of the Italian resistance. The dopoguerra, or period immediately after the war, was for Romans a period of profound self-scrutiny and reflection on both the history and the future of city that for millennia had been deemed “eternal.” From this self-examination a new “realism” was born, most notably in the Neorealism of Italian cinema, but likewise in the literature that found sudden wing as war-ravaged Rome came to be known as “La Citta’ Aperta” or Open City. American authors had an unprecedented hand in helping to shape the new literature. The publication of Elio Vittorini’s anthology Americana (1941), drawing heavily on the traditions of Faulkner, Steinbeck and Hemingway helped provide fresh guidelines for the development of a special brand of Roman realism as did the flourishing presence of the American Academy of Rome and a bustle of young American writers eager to make contact with the genius of the new era in Italian writing. This course will explore the conversation between post-war Roman writers (Alberto Moravia, Elsa Morante, Carlo Levi, Giorgio Bassani, Ignizio Stilone) and the Americans who found themselves inspired to be part of their circle, most notably and directly William Weaver (who would come to translate most of them) and Eleanor Clark. We will also consider the other eager students of post-war Rome (William Carlos Williams, John Updike, Muriel Spark, William Murray) and contemporary writers who have emerged from the American Academy influenced by their powerful predecessors, American and Italian alike. Course Materials Introduction to Elio Vittorini’s Americana (1941) A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway A Bell for Ada, John Hersey Open City : Seven Writers in Postwar Rome : Ignazio Silone, Giorgio Bassani, Alberto Moravia, Elsa Morante, Natalia Ginzburg, Carlo Levi, Carlo Emili (Paperback) Packet of readings by Elio Vittorini’s Americana (1941), Ezra Pound, William Weaver, Eleanor Clark, William Carlos Williams, John Updike, Muriel Spark, William Murray and selections from contemporary writers
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