ITALIAN STUDIES
DIRECTORY OF COURSE UNITS
2007-2008
The Directory of Course Units of Italian Studies is to be read in conjunction with the
Programme Handbook of the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures and, where
appropriate, with the Directories of other disciplines. The School’s Programme
Handbook contains the regulations of your degree programme and much other important
information, on topics such as the organization of programmes of study, student
progression, assessment, student support, student feedback and representation. This
edition of the Directory is as accurate as possible at point of publication but changes may
well be made due to staff appointments and changing circumstances. Every effort will be
made to inform you of such changes as soon as possible. Where possible, planned
revisions are flagged.
CONTENTS
Page no.
Contact details
1
Staff list
2
Choices
4
Quotas
4
Transferable skills
4
Structure of degree programmes: first year
5
Synopsis of first-year course units in Italian Studies
7
First-year course units
9
Structure of degree programmes: second year
28
Synopsis of second-year course units in Italian Studies
30
Second-year course units
30
Structure of degree programmes: final year
66
Synopsis of final-year course units in Italian Studies
68
Final-year course units
68
The University of Manchester
School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
ITALIAN STUDIES
Address
Telephone number
Fax number
E-mail address
URL
Italian Studies
School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
The University of Manchester
Samuel Alexander Building
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
(0044) 0161 275 3124
(0044) 0161 275 3031
italian@manchester.ac.uk
or gillian.woodward@manchester.ac.uk
http://www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/subjects/italian/
MEMBERS OF STAFF
HEAD OF ITALIAN STUDIES
& PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
Professor Stephen Milner (Room W304)
The Head of Italian Studies is responsible for the maintenance of academic standards
whilst the Programme Director’s role is to ensure the smooth running of the degree
programmes that involve Italian Studies. This includes representing Italian Studies on the
Undergraduate Programmes and Curriculum Committee of the School of Languages,
Linguistics and Cultures, overseeing student evaluation of course units, considering
changes to and improvements of existing course units and the introduction of new ones,
and ensuring adherence to the guidelines set out in the University’s Academic Standards
Code of Practice. Professor Milner will be pleased to meet any student who wishes to
discuss academic or personal matters during his published office hours. Alternatively, an
appointment may be made through the Italian Studies Undergraduate Support Officer
(Room S3.6).
ACADEMIC STAFF
Dr. Guyda Armstrong, M.A. (Edinburgh), Ph.D. (Leeds).
Lecturer (Room TBC)
Main teaching and research interests: Boccaccio, Medieval literature, history of the book,
feminist criticism
1
E-mail address
guyda.armstrong@manchester.ac.uk
Dr. Delia Bentley, Dott. Ling. e Lett. Straniere (Palermo), M.A., Ph.D. (Manchester)
Senior Lecturer (Room W305).
Main teaching and research interests: Italian and Romance linguistics.
E-mail address
delia.bentley@manchester.ac.uk
Dr. Francesca Billiani, Dott. Lett. (Trieste), Ph.D. (Reading)
Lecturer (Room W314).
Main teaching interests: 20th-century prose literature, narratology.
Research interest: culture under Fascism.
E-mail address
francesca.billiani@manchester.ac.uk
Liliana Foligno Smith, Dott. Ling. e Lett. Straniere (Turin)
Lector (Room S4.15).
Main teaching interest: Italian for business purposes.
E-mail address
liliana.f.smith@manchester.ac.uk
Dr. David Laven, M.A., Ph.D. (Cambridge) [Research Leave semester 1 & 2]
Senior Lecturer (Room W316).
Main teaching interests: the Risorgimento and its legacy; Fascism; the history of Venice
from its origins to the present; Machiavelli.
Research interests: Venice, 1797-1922; the historiography of Mediaeval and Renaissance
Venice in the long nineteenth century; the Risorgimento.
E-mail address
david.laven@manchester.ac.uk
Prof. Stephen Milner, M.A. (Cambridge), Ph.D. (London)
Serena Professor of Italian (Room W304).
Main teaching and research interests: Late medieval and Renaissance Italian cultural
studies: rhetoric, patronage, art history, and historiography.
E-mail address
stephen.j.milner@manchester.ac.uk
Mr. Spencer Pearce, Lic. Phil. (Gregorian University, Rome), B.A. (Manchester).
[Research Leave semester 2]
Lecturer (Room W315).
Main teaching and research interests: Dante, Renaissance culture, Late Medieval and
Renaissance philosophy, 20th-century poetry.
E-mail address
spencer.pearce@manchester.ac.uk
Dr. Elena Polisca, Dott.Ling. e Lett. Straniere (Urbino), M.A. (Exeter), Ph.D.
(Birmingham).
Senior Language Tutor (Room S4.15).
Main teaching interests: Italian language, 20th-century prose literature.
Research interest: 20th-century prose literature.
E-mail address
elena.polisca@manchester.ac.uk
2
Dr. Lara Pucci, BA (Bristol), PhD. (London)
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow (Room TBC)
Main teaching and research interests: Italian visual culture, fascism and cinema
Email address
Lara.Pucci@manchester.ac.uk
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT
Gillian Woodward, Undergraduate Support Officer for Italian Studies (Room S3.6).
E-mail address
gillian.woodward@manchester.ac.uk
NOTES

The undergraduate administrative support offices of the School of Languages,
Linguistics and Cultures are located on the third floor of the south wing of
Humanities Lime Grove (Rooms S3.5 and S3.6).

You should check your University e-mail regularly for communications from the
Italian Studies Undergraduate Support Officer and from members of staff.

All students have a Personal Tutor allocated to them on entry to the School. You
should see your Personal Tutor as required, normally three times in the course of
the academic year.

All members of staff are available to see students at set times, as indicated in the
notices posted on the doors of their rooms. You may see them at other times by
making an appointment by email or through the Italian Studies Undergraduate
Support Officer.
3
DIRECTORY OF COURSE UNITS
IN ITALIAN STUDIES
CHOICES
Please consult your Personal Tutor about your choice of course units. In addition to the
units listed here, it is anticipated that other units will be offered, as a result of the arrival
of new members of staff. When details are available, they will be posted on the Italian
website at:
http://www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/subjects/italian/UndergraduateStudy
Students should consult the Italian Studies Undergraduate Support Officer about these
units at Registration.
QUOTAS
Please note the maximum entry numbers given for most second-year and final-year
course units. These will only be exceeded in exceptional circumstances.
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
The following transferable skills are developed in all course units:
 the ability to manage time and work to deadlines;
 the ability to undertake independent learning and reflect on one’s achievements;
 the ability to develop powers of analysis and use them to solve problems;
 the ability to participate in pair and team work;
 the ability to assess the relevance and the importance of the ideas of others;
 the ability to present information, ideas and arguments orally with due regard to
the target audience;
 the ability to display good literacy skills in English and Italian;
 the ability to show an awareness of and a responsiveness to the nature and extent
of intercultural diversity.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ON CORE LANGUAGE COURSES
According to Paragraph 28 of the University’s Regulations for Undergraduate Awards,
following resit examinations, students may be allowed by the Board of Examiners to
progress to the next year of study taking additional course units of the same credit value
and at the same level (or a higher level if the programme specification allows) as the
failed credits, in addition to the full set of course units for that year, up to a maximum of
20 credits. It is possible for certain course units to be excluded from this provision, and
the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures has decided that failure in the core
language courses will not be permitted. This has two consequences. Firstly, automatic
compensation cannot be applied, so students who have received a mark below 40% in a
core language course unit will have to resit it, even if the mark is 30% or above. Secondly,
a student who fails a core language unit in the resit examination will not be able to carry
the credits into a subsequent year of study.
This ruling means that students taking ITAL10200, ITAL10210, ITAL20200 and
ITAL20210 must pass the course unit with a minimum mark of 40% in order to
proceed to the next year of study.
4
STRUCTURE OF DEGREE PROGRAMMES: FIRST YEAR
In each year of study Honours students normally take course units with a total credit
rating of 120. Students registered for degree programmes with an Italian component take
the following units in their first year.
1.
Single Honours in Italian Studies
1.1
Single Honours students with an A-Level pass in Italian or its equivalent:
Italian course units totalling 100 credits, namely ITAL10210, ITAL10300,
ITAL10601, ITAL10602, ITAL10701, ITAL10801, ITAL10402, ITAL10502.
The remaining 20 credits are made up from course units approved by the Faculty
of Humanities in subjects other than Italian.
1.2
Single Honours students who are beginners in Italian:
Italian course units totalling 100 credits, namely ITAL10200, ITAL10300,
ITAL10601, ITAL10602, ITAL10701 and EITHER ITAL10402 OR ITAL10502.
The remaining 20 credits are made up from course units approved by the Faculty
of Humanities in subjects other than Italian.
2.
Joint Honours programmes with Italian as a named Honours subject
2.1
English literature or English Language and Italian; History and Italian;
History of Art and Italian; Italian and Business & Management; Modern
Languages (including combinations with Latin, a Middle-Eastern language
and Linguistics); Master of Modern Languages
2.1.1 Students on the above programmes who have an A-Level pass in Italian or its
equivalent:
Italian course units totalling 60 credits, namely ITAL10210, ITAL10300,
ITAL10701 and EITHER ITAL10402 OR ITAL10502.
2.1.2 Students on the above programmes who are beginners in Italian:
Italian course units totalling 60 credits, namely ITAL10200 and ITAL10300.
2.2
European Studies and Italian; Biological Sciences with Italian; Mathematics
with Italian
2.2.1 Students on the above programmes who have an A-Level pass in Italian or its
equivalent:
Italian course units totalling 40 credits, namely ITAL10210 and ITAL10300.
2.2.2 Students on the above programmes who are beginners in Italian:
Italian course unit totalling 40 credits, namely ITAL10200.
5
3.
Honours in Combined Studies
3.1
Students of Combined Studies with an A-Level pass in Italian or its equivalent:
Italian course units totalling 40 credits, namely ITAL10210 and ITAL10300.
3.2
Students of Combined Studies who are beginners in Italian:
Italian course unit totalling 40 credits, namely ITAL10200.
6
SYNOPSIS OF FIRST-YEAR COURSE UNITS IN ITALIAN
SINGLE HONOURS: AB INITIO
Single Hons ab initio students take ALL core units listed below (90 credits), plus one of the two
option units (10 credits) and 20 credits of open units to achieve their 120 credit point quota.
Semester 1
Semester 2
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (ITAL10200)
(core)
40 credits
CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN CULTURE (ITAL10300)
(core)
20 credits
ITALIAN PROJECT WORK 1 & 2 (ITAL10601/10602)
(core)
2 x 10 credits
OPEN UNITS
20 credits
INTRO TO ITALIAN
READING MEDIEVAL AND
LINGUISTICS (ITAL10701)
RENAISSANCE CULTURE
(core)
(ITAL10402) (option)
10 credits
10 credits
ITALIAN VISUAL CULTURE
(ITAL10502) (option)
10 credits
SINGLE HONOURS: POST-A LEVEL
Single Honours Post-A level students take ALL units listed below (including 20 credits of open
units) to achieve their 120 credit point quota.
Semester 1
Semester 2
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (ITAL10210)
(core)
20 credits
CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN CULTURE (ITAL10300)
(core)
20 credits
ITALIAN PROJECT WORK 1 & 2 (ITAL10601/10602)
(core)
2 x 10 credits
OPEN UNITS
20 credits
INTRO TO ITALIAN
READING MEDIEVAL AND
LINGUISTICS (ITAL10701)
RENAISSANCE CULTURE
(core)
(ITAL10402) (core)
10 credits
10 credits
INTRO TO ITALIAN
ITALIAN VISUAL CULTURE
NARRATIVE FORM
(ITAL10502) (core)
(ITAL10801) (core)
10 credits
10 credits
7
JOINT HONOURS: AB INITIO
Joint Honours ab initio students take ALL core units listed below to achieve their 60
credit point quota in Italian.
Semester 1
Semester 2
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (ITAL 10200)
(core)
40 credits
CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN CULTURE (ITAL10300)
(core)
20 credits
JOINT HONOURS: POST-A LEVEL
Joint Honours Post-A level students take ALL core units listed below, plus one out of the
two option units listed below to achieve their 60 credit point quota in Italian.
Semester 1
Semester 2
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (ITAL10210)
(core)
20 credits
CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN CULTURE (ITAL10300)
(core)
20 credits
INTRO TO ITALIAN
READING MEDIEVAL AND
LINGUISTICS (ITAL10701)
RENAISSANCE CULTURE
(core)
(ITAL10402) (option)
10 credits
10 credits
ITALIAN VISUAL CULTURE
(ITAL10502) (option)
10 credits
First-year students who only need 40 credits in Italian (i.e., first-year students on the
following programmes: European Studies and Italian; Biological Sciences with Italian;
Mathematics with Italian; Honours in Combined Studies) take the Italian language unit
for beginners (ITAL10200), if they are beginners in Italian, or the Italian language unit
for Post A-levels (ITAL10210) and Contemporary Italian Culture (ITAL10300), if they
have Post A-level competence in Italian.
8
FIRST-YEAR COURSE UNITS
ITAL10200
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (1A)
Credits 40
Level 1
Pre-requisite:
A Level or its equivalent in a foreign language other than Italian. (This is not a
LEAP/Languagewise course unit. It is only open to students following Honours
programmes in which Italian is a named component.)
Taught during:
Both semesters.
Timetable:
Please see the noticeboard outside room W.3.13
Description:
This is a course unit for beginners in Italian, which aims to give students a basic
knowledge of written and spoken Italian. Students are introduced to written Italian by a
programme of lessons in grammar and translation, and to spoken Italian through classes
dealing with role-play situations and through work in the Language Centre. The taught
course is complemented by an independent language learning programme available
through WebCT.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able
 to read selected modern literary texts in Italian (beginning to do so by the
Christmas break);
 to demonstrate an understanding of the essential linguistic structures of Italian
(having an active knowledge of most of the topics covered by the set textbook and
a passive knowledge of the rest) by completing a variety of grammatical
exercises, involving manipulation and reformulation;
 to translate accurately from and into Italian short passages of an appropriate level
of difficulty;
 to use basic spoken Italian to cope with real-life situations;
 to take responsibility for their own learning of Italian;
 to make use of the resources of the Language Centre, of the Internet and of
WebCT.
Transferable skills:
In addition to the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory, students will
develop the ability to use information and communications technology.
9
Teaching and learning methods:
Three weekly grammar classes, 1 grammar lecture and 1 weekly oral class.
Language of teaching:
English and Italian.
Assessment
Coursework 25% (including 5% for the independent language learning programme); a 1hour unseen written examination at the end of Semester 1 (16.6%); a 2-hour unseen
written examination at the end of Semester 2 (33.4%); a 10-15-minute oral examination
(25%); the oral may include an aural test. This may be subject to review for 2007-08.
Students will be notified accordingly.
Deadlines for assessed coursework:
There are weekly deadlines for language coursework in the second semester.
The deadlines for the ILLP (Independent Language Learning Programme) are as follows:
semester 1: week 11; semester 2: week 5 and week 10
Convenor:
Elena Polisca.
Taught by
Elena Polisca.
Set text:
D. De Rôme, Soluzioni! (London: Arnold, 2003).
Recommended texts:



S. Adorni and K. Primorac, English Grammar for Students of Italian (London:
Arnold, 1995).
M. Fernandez-Toro and F. Jones, DIY Techniques for Language Learners
(London: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, 2001).
M. Maiden and C. Robustelli, A Reference Grammar of Modern Italian (London:
Arnold, 2000).
Recommended dictionaries:


Dizionario inglese-italiano, italiano-inglese (Turin: Paravia and Oxford
University Press, 2001).
De Mauro – Il dizionario della lingua italiana (Turin: Paravia, 2000).
Pathway:
ITAL20200 Italian Language (2A) and second-year content course units.
10
IT10210
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (1B)
Pre-requisite:
A-Level Italian or its equivalent.
Taught during:
Both semesters.
Timetable:
Please see the noticeboard outside W.3.13
Credits 20
Level 1
Description:
This course unit aims
 to revise, consolidate and extend students’ prior knowledge of Italian through a
structured programme of taught classes and assessed coursework;
 to develop students’ language-learning skills through a programme of
independent language learning available through WebCT, with discussions and
on-line surgeries;
 to enhance listening and speaking skills through a complementary series of oral
classes.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able
 to demonstrate a sound understanding of the aspects of Italian grammar covered
by the set textbook;
 to translate accurately from and into Italian passages of an appropriate level of
difficulty;
 to write summaries (in Italian) of Italian texts of an appropriate level of difficulty;
 to reflect upon and to improve their language-learning capabilities;
 to use spoken Italian to cope with real-life situations and to discuss a variety of
topics;
 to take responsibility for their own learning of Italian;
 to make use of the resources of the Language Centre, of the Internet and of
WebCT.
Transferable skills:
In addition to the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory, students will
develop the ability to use information and communications technology.
Teaching and learning methods:
Two weekly classes of written Italian and one weekly oral class (Written classes
comprise grammar work, translation from and into Italian, and summaries; oral classes
combine linguistic exercises and discussion of topics).
11
Language of teaching:
English and Italian.
Assessment:
Coursework 25% (including 5% for the independent language learning programme); a 1hour unseen written examination at the end of Semester 1 (16.6%); a 2-hour unseen
written examination at the end of Semester 2 (33.4%); oral examinations 25% (one oral
presentation per Semester and one oral exam at the end of Semester 2); the oral may
include an aural test.
Deadlines for assessed coursework:
Semester 1: weeks 7 and 9 for language work; weeks 5 and 11 for the ILLP (Independent
Language Learning Programme).
Semester 2: weeks 6 and 8 for language work; week 10 for the ILLP.
Convenor
Taught by
Elena Polisca.
Elena Polisca.
Set text:
F. Italiano and I. Marchegiani Jones, Crescendo! A Thematic
Approach to Intermediate Italian Language and Culture (New
York: Harcourt College, 1995).
Recommended texts:



S. Adorni and K. Primorac, English Grammar for Students of Italian (London:
Arnold, 1995).
M. Fernandez-Toro and F. Jones, DIY Techniques for Language Learners
(London: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, 2001).
M. Maiden and C. Robustelli, A Reference Grammar of Modern Italian (London:
Arnold, 2000).
Suggested dictionaries:


Dizionario inglese-italiano, italiano-inglese (Turin: Paravia and Oxford
University Press, 2001).
De Mauro – Il dizionario della lingua italiana (Turin: Paravia, 2000).
Pathway
ITAL20210 Italian Language (2B) and second-year content course units.
12
ITAL10300
Contemporary Italian Culture
Co-requisite:
ITAL10200 or ITAL10210.
Taught during:
Both semesters.
Timetable:
Lecture Thursday at 13.00; tutorials to be arranged
credits: 20
level: 1
Description:
This unit is designed to provide an introduction to the culture and society of
contemporary Italy in the post-war period with the particular aim of identifying and
challenging traditional stereotypes. The course identifies the major political, economic
and social changes which have occurred within the peninsula since WW2, providing
introductions to themes such as the problematic question of Italian national identity, the
complexities of Italian politics, the family as a societal structure, issues of gender,
regional diversities, and lastly the cinema and culture industry. Weekly lectures will be
accompanied by fortnightly 1-hour seminars in small groups based on specific chapters of
set texts and pre-circulated reading. In the second semester attention will be directed
towards the study of particular texts (narrative, filmic and poetic) which were written out
of this cultural context.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to demonstrate:

a working knowledge of the broad sweep of post-war Italian social and political
development;

possession of a range of research and bibliographical skills with which to
undertake cultural and textual analysis;

the ability to present written work in a professional manner (notes, bibliography
etc..);

an understanding of what it means to read.
Transferable skills:
Throughout the unit attention will be paid to the development of the applied skills of
independent research, writing skills and presentation.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
One weekly lecture and one fortnightly tutorial over two semesters.
Assessment:
One 2,000-word essay (50%), and either one 2000-word commentary/review or one
2000-word piece of filmic, literary or poetic criticism (50%).
13
Deadlines for submission of coursework:
The essay is to be submitted on the Thursday of week 11 of semester 1. The second piece
of coursework is to be submitted on the Thursday of week 11 of semester 2.
Convenor:
Stephen Milner.
Taught by
Members of staff in Italian Studies.
Max. entry:
None.
Set texts:
Semester 1:
David Forgacs and Robert Lumley eds., Italian Cultural Studies: An
Introduction (Oxford: OUP, 1996)
Paul Ginsborg, Italy and its Discontents 1980-2001 (Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
Semester 2:
Leonardo Sciascia, Il giorno della civetta, 1961 (any edition)
Federico Fellini, I vitelloni, 1953
Selected poems from Pier Paolo Pasolini, Le ceneri di Gramsci
(1957) and Vittorio Sereni, Gli strumenti umani (1965) and Stella
variabile (1981) in Vittorio Sereni, Il grande amico: poesie 19351981 (BUR L737; Milan: Rizzoli, 1990).
Further reading
 Bondanella, Peter, The Cinema of Federico Fellini (Princeton: Princeton
University Press).
 Bordwell, David, and Kristin, Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (Boston;
London: McGraw-Hill, 2004).
 Canon, JoAnn, The Novel as Investigation: Leonardo Sciascia, Dacia Maraini
and Antonio Tabucchi (Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2006).
 Canon, JoAnn, “The Detective Fiction of Leonardo Sciascia”, Modern Fiction
Studies, XXIX, 3, 1983, pp. 523-34.
 Chu, Mark, “Sciascia and Sicily: Discourse and Actuality”, Italica, 75:1, 1998,
pp. 78-92.
 Dickie, John, Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia (London: Hodder,
2004).
 Farrell, Joseph Leonardo Sciascia (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
1995).
 Foot, John, Calcio: A History of Italian Football (London: Fourth Estate, 2006).
 Gieri, Manuela, Contemporary Italian Filmmaking: Strategies of Subversion
(Toronto: Toronto University Press, 1996).
 Ginsborg, Paul A History of Contemporary Italy 1943-1980 (London: Penguin
Books, 1990).
 Jackson, Giovanna, Leonardo Sciascia, 1956-76. A Thematic and Structural Study
(Ravenna: Longo, 1981).
14





Lennard, John, The Poetry Handbook, 2nd edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2005) and companion website: http://www.oup.com/uk/literature/poetry .
Luzi, Alfredo, Introduzione a Sereni (Rome: Laterza, 1990).
McCarthy, Patrick ed., Italy Since 1945 (Oxford: OUP, 2000).
Shlomith, Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics (London:
Methuen, 1983).
Tani, Stefano, The Doomed Detective. The Contribution of the Detective Novel to
Postmodern American and Italian Fiction (Carbondale: Southern Illinois
University Press, 1984).
Pathway: Second-year Italian content course units.
15
ITAL10601
Italian project work 1
Co-requisites:
ITAL10200 or ITAL10210.
Taught during:
Semester 1.
Timetable:
Monday at 11.00
credits: 10
level: 1
Description:
This unit is designed for Single Honours students to develop research and team-work
skills which build on the work undertaken as part of the core Contemporary Italian
Culture unit. Working in small groups of 3-4, students will take a specific issue arising
from the core unit which relates to Italian regionalism and national identity (for example
the Southern question; the Northern Leagues; Immigration and Emigration) and build
towards a presentation and the submission of a portfolio by the end of the semester.
Progress will be monitored via a staged submission of component elements of the
portfolio (bibliography, glossary of terms, chronology etc.), involving brief presentations
to the other groups.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to demonstrate:

An ability to undertake both collaborative and independent research using printed
and electronic resources;

A familiarity with the range of research materials available for use in the JRUL
(how to use the various search functions of the catalogue; serials; electronic
journals; search engines; web-based materials);

the ability to work collaboratively in the devising of a poster presentation
combining visual with textual materials;

a understanding of what it means to research.
Transferable skills:
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
One weekly seminar over one semester.
Assessment:
One joint portfolio (50%) - consisting of a critical bibliography, a glossary, a chronology
of key dates, and a list of primary sources - and one 12-minute presentation (50%).
Deadline for assessed coursework:
16
The portfolio will be submitted on the Thursday of week 12. The presentations will take
place in the final two sessions of the unit.
Convenor:
Guyda Armstrong.
Taught by
Members of staff in Italian Studies.
Max. entry:
None.
Set texts:
David Forgacs and Robert Lumley eds., Italian Cultural Studies: An
Introduction (Oxford: OUP, 1996).
Paul Ginsborg, Italy and its Discontents 1980-2001 (Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).
Further reading
To be identified with tutor depending upon subject area selected for consideration.
Pathway: Second-year Italian content course units.
17
ITAL10701
INTRODUCTION TO ITALIAN LINGUISTICS
Credits 10.
Level 1
Co-requisites
ITAL10200 or ITAL10210 (This course unit is compulsory for students registered for the
Single Honours degree in Italian Studies and for Joint-Honours Post-A-level students.)
Taught during
Semester 1.
Timetable
A weekly hour on Thursdays at 11.
Description
This unit introduces the students to the history and the structures of the Italian language.
After a brief introduction to the origin and the development of Italian within the context
of the history of Italo-Romance (a group of sister languages derived from Latin), we look
at the sounds of Modern Italian and the phonetic transcription of Italian words. We then
reflect on the notions of noun, adjective, adverb and verb, illustrating these concepts with
Italian evidence. We further consider the grammatical functions subject, predicate and
object, examining these functions within Italian clauses. Finally, we discuss how Italian
clauses can join together into complex sentences. The principal aims of this course unit
are as follows:



to give students a grounding in the science of linguistic analysis with particular
reference to Italian;
to define essential linguistic concepts in the areas of phonetics, morphology, and
syntax and illustrate them with evidence from Italian;
to provide an outline of the historical background of Italian.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will have learnt
 to identify the sounds of Italian and make use of phonetic symbols;
 to identify the structure of Italian words;
 to differentiate between grammatical categories and grammatical
functions with evidence from Italian;
 to analyse the structure of clauses and basic sentence types with evidence from
Italian;
 to see present-day Italian in the context of its historical development.
Transferable skills
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
18
Teaching and learning methods
Weekly one-hour classes. As well as being introduced to the theoretical concepts which
are necessary to analyse the structures of the Italian language, the students are given the
opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge into practice by analysing authentic
excerpts in Italian.
Assessment
A 1½-hour exam (100%).
Convenor
Delia Bentley.
Taught by
Delia Bentley and Francesco Ciconte.
Maximum entry
None.
Set textbook
None.
Recommended reading
K. Börjars and K. Burridge, Introducing English Grammar (London: Arnold, 2001).
Crystal, David (2003). A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics. 5th edn. Oxford:
Blackwell.
A. L. Lepschy and G. Lepschy, The Italian language today (London: Routledge, 1988).
M. Maiden and C. Robustelli, A Reference Grammar of Modern Italian. (London:
Arnold, 2000).
N. Vincent, ‘Italian’, in M. Harris and N. Vincent (eds) The Romance Languages
(London: Routledge, 1988).
Further materials and bibliographical references will be provided in class.
Pathway
ITAL20341 The Structures of Modern Italian and ITAL20352 Italian Sociolinguistics.
19
ITAL10801
Introduction to Italian Narrative Form
credits: 10
level: 1
Co-requisite:
ITAL10210 (This unit is for Italian Studies Single-Hons. Post-A
level students only).
Taught during:
Semester 1.
Timetable:
Tuesday at 14.00.
Description:
The aim of this course unit is to introduce Post A-level candidates to Italian post-war
narrative forms through the reading and analysis of works by Italian novelists and film
makers. The course will start by introducing key narrative techniques and strategies such
as focalisation, treatment of time and space, representation of character, and narrative
voices. Building on this methodological background, it will then pay particular attention
to the close reading of the selected texts. Specifically, this unit will focus on the analysis
of how social and political discourses are represented in the narratives analysed.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to demonstrate:

a knowledge of the primary texts and the cultural contexts from which they arose;

a working knowledge of the secondary critical literature;

an increased competence in textual analysis;

a knowledge of some basic characteristics of narrative structure and literary form.
Transferable skills:
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
One weekly 1-hour seminar over one semester.
Assessment:
One 2,000-word essay (100%).
Deadline for submission of coursework:
The essay is to be submitted on the Thursday of week 12.
Convenor:
Francesca Billiani.
20
Taught by
Members of staff in Italian Studies.
Max. entry:
None.
Set texts:
Vitaliano Brancati, Il bell’Antonio, 1949.
Lina Wertmüller, Mimì metallurgico, ferito nell’onore, 1971.
Required Reading:
David, Bordwell and Kristin, Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (Boston; London:
McGraw-Hill, 2004).
Shlomith, Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics. (London:
Methuen, 1983).
Isaac, Rosler ‘ “Gallismo”, Ambiguity, and the Fascism of Desire in Il bell'Antonio by
Vitaliano Brancati’, Forum Italicum, 34:2 (2000 Fall), pp. 483-500.
Marguerite R., Waller, ‘”You Cannot Make the Revolution on Film”: Wertmuller's
Performative Feminism in Mimì metallurgico, ferito nell'onore’, Women &
Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory, 6:2 [12] (1993), pp. 11-25.
Further reading:
Peter, Bondanella, Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present (New York; London:
Continuum, 2002) .
Gian Carlo Ferretti, L’infelicità della ragione nella vita e nell'opera di Vitaliano Brancati
(Milan: Guerini, 1998).
Kriss, Ravetto The Unmaking of Fascist Aesthetics (Minneapolis, MN: University of
Minnesota Press, 2001).
Jacqueline, Reich Beyond the Latin Lover: Marcello Mastroianni, Masculinity, and
Italian Cinema (Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 2004).
Pathway: Second-year Italian content course units.
21
ITAL10602
Italian project work 2
credits: 10
level: 1
Co-requisites:
ITAL10200 or ITAL10210. Contemporary Italian Culture unit.
Taught during:
Semester 2.
Timetable:
Monday at 11.00.
Description:
This unit is designed for Single Honours students to develop further the skills introduced
in the Contemporary Italian Culture unit. Working in small groups of 3-4, students will
be required to identify two cultural products of different types/genres from a particular
post-war decade in Italy and read those products (novels, poems, films, art works,
buildings, etc.) as reflections and/or critiques of the culture from which they arose.
Progress will be monitored via serial reporting of progress against set targets in terms of
bibliographical work, building of critical glossary, time lines, and through brief
presentations to the other groups. Set reading of pre-circulated critical essays will also
provide discussion points within the seminars.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to demonstrate:

an ability to analyse the conditioning effect of cultural context on cultural
production;

an ability to read cultural products as primary texts;

an ability critically to juxtapose primary texts with existing secondary literature in
an engaged form of critique;

a knowledge of how to present essays according to discipline-area guidelines.
Transferable skills:
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
One weekly seminar over one semester.
Assessment:
One 2,000-word essay (100%).
22
Deadline for submission of coursework:
Thursday of week 11.
Convenor:
Francesca Billiani.
Taught by
Members of staff in Italian Studies.
Max. entry:
None.
Set texts:
Paul Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy 1943-1980 (London: Penguin
Books, 1990).
David Forgacs and Robert Lumley eds., Italian Cultural Studies: An Introduction
(Oxford: OUP, 1996).
Further reading
To be identified with tutor depending upon cultural products and decade selected for
consideration.
Pathway: second-year Italian content course units.
23
ITAL10402
Reading Medieval and Renaissance Culture
Co-requisites:
ITAL10200 or ITAL10210.
Taught during:
Semester 2.
Timetable:
Tuesday at 14.00.
credits: 10
level: 1
Description:
This unit aims to acquaint students with the political, institutional, and social framework
of late medieval and Renaissance Italy and the manner in which recent historiography has
discussed this period of Italian cultural activity. The unit will focus attention on specific
genres of writing which particularly came to the fore during this period of urban
expansion and their relation to the burgeoning interest in classical cultural forms
(demonstrative rhetoric; epic; dialogue, etc.) and the manner in which subsequent
scholars have chosen to characterise aspects of this period in terms of continuity, revival,
and decadence. The emphasis, therefore, will be on the relation of cultural reception to
contemporary representation. For the medieval period the set text will be Dante's Vita
nuova, with emphasis on form, genre, tradition: prosimetrum; poetry and narrative;
autobiography and writing; literary choice in the late Duecento; and contrasting
approaches to the work (Singleton, Harrison). For the Renaissance period the set text is
Alison Brown’s The Renaissance. A dispensa will be issued with selected primary and
secondary material for class preparation.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to demonstrate:

an appreciation of the role of reception in the construction of cultural identities;

a familiarity with a range of pre-modern literary registers;

an ability to compare and contrast secondary readings of the period as part of their
own development of a critical sense;

a consciousness of the way in which history is constantly rewritten according to
the changes in critical prisms through which scholars view the archive as a
symbolic construct.
Transferable skills:
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
One weekly 1-hour seminar over one semester.
Assessment:
One 500-word book/secondary source review (25%) and one 1,500-word essay (75%).
24
Deadline for submission of coursework
The review is to be submitted on the Thursday of week 7. The essay is to be submitted on
the Thursday of week 11.
Convenor:
Spencer Pearce.
Taught by
Stephen Milner & Guyda Armstrong.
Max. entry:
None.
Set texts:
Dante Alighieri, Vita nuova, introduction by Edoardo Sanguineti and notes by Alfonso
Berardinelli, 16th edn (I grandi libri Garzanti 176; Milan: Garzanti, 2002)
ISBN: 9788811581765 (€7.50 in November 2005)
Alternatively, a parallel-text edition:
Dante Alighieri, Vita nuova, Italian text with facing English translation by Dino S.
Cervigni and Edward Vasta (Notre Dame: The University of Notre Dame Press, 1995)
ISBN: 978-0268019266 (£13.49 in April 2007)
Alison Brown, The Renaissance (London: Longmans, 1999) plus a dispensa of secondary
articles and primary text extracts.
Further reading
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, translated with an
introduction by V. E. Watts, revised edition (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1999).
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (London: Penguin Books,
1990).
J. Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages (London: Penguin Books, 1955).
Robert Pogue Harrison, The Body of Beatrice (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 2000).
Charles S. Singleton, An Essay on the `Vita Nuova' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1949; Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977).
Pathway: Second-year Italian content course units.
25
ITAL10502
Italian Visual Culture
Co-requisites:
ITAL10200 or ITAL10210.
Taught during:
Semester 2.
Timetable:
Tuesday at 15.00.
credits: 10
level: 1
Description:
This unit is designed to develop a critical sense beyond the text by examining the
centrality of visual culture in the generation of meanings and its implication within the
politics of representational practices from the medieval to the modern periods. This will
be considered through the reading and group discussion of a number of critical studies
concerning the nature of visual cultural studies followed by the applied ‘reading’ of a
number of specifically Italian artefacts and visual forms (sculptural, pictorial, sartorial,
filmic, televisual, and virtual). Working in small groups, students will then take a specific
artefact and seek to position it within its historical semiotic field before examining its
subsequent ‘fortuna’ and (re)presentation. Assessment will be via the submission of a
poster display by the end of the semester together with a presentation in which students
will be encouraged to use multimedia.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to demonstrate:

an ability to undertake collaborative research using a variety of media;

a familiarity with the range of research materials available for use in the JRUL
(how to use the various search functions of the catalogue; serials; electronic
journals; search engines; and web based materials including WebCT);

the ability to work collaboratively in the devising of a poster presentation
combining visual with textual materials;

a understanding of what constitutes visual culture and its role in identity
formation.
Transferable skills:
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
A weekly 1-hour seminar over one semester.
26
Assessment:
One joint A2 poster (75%) and one 10-minute presentation (25%).
Deadline for the submission of coursework:
The poster is submitted at the presentation. The presentations will take place in the last
two weeks of the unit.
Convenor:
Prof. S. Milner.
Taught by
Members of staff in Italian Studies.
Max. entry:
None.
Set texts:
A variety of secondary and critical literature will be provided in the form of a unit
dispensa.
Required Reading:
To be developed in conjunction with tutor depending upon artefacts chosen.
Further reading:
Nicholas Mirzoeffed., The Visual Culture Reader, 2nd Ed. (London: Routledge, 2002).
Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, Practices of Looking (Oxford: OUP, 2001).
Stuart Hall ed., Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices
(London: Sage, 1997).
Pathway: Second-year Italian content course units.
27
STRUCTURE OF DEGREE PROGRAMMES: SECOND YEAR
In each year of study Honours students normally take course units with a total credit
rating of 120. Students registered for degree programmes with an Italian component take
the following units in their second year.
1
Single Honours in Italian Studies
1.1
Single Honours students who were not beginners in Italian in their first year:
Course units totalling 100 credits, namely ITAL20210 plus units to the value of
80 credits from the menu below. The remaining 20 credits are made up either
from course units in Italian or from ones outside Italian as listed in the Humanities
Faculty Course Unit database.
1.2
Single Honours students who were beginners in Italian in their first year:
Course units totalling 100 credits, namely ITAL20200 plus course units to the
value of 80 credits from the menu below. The remaining 20 credits are made up
either from course units in Italian or from ones outside Italian as listed in the
Humanities Faculty Course Unit database.
2.
Joint Honours programmes with Italian as a named Honours subject
2.1
English literature or English Language and Italian; Modern Languages
(including combinations with Latin, a Middle-Eastern language and
Linguistics)
2.1.1 Students on the above programmes who were not beginners in Italian in their first
year:
Course units totalling a minimum of 40 credits and a maximum of 80 credits,
namely ITAL20210 plus course units to a minimum value of 20 credits and a
maximum value of 60 credits from the menu below.
2.1.2 Students on the above programmes who were beginners in Italian in their first
year:
Course units totalling a minimum of 40 credits and a maximum of 80 credits,
namely ITAL20200 plus course units to a minimum value of 20 credits and a
maximum value of 60 credits from the menu below.
2.2
History and Italian; History of Art and Italian; Master of Modern
Languages
2.2.1 Students on the above programmes who were not beginners in Italian in their first
year:
Course units totalling 60 credits, namely ITAL20210 plus course units to a value
of 40 credits.
28
2.2.2 Students on the above programmes who were beginners in Italian in their first
year:
Course units totalling 60 credits, namely ITAL20200 plus course units to a value
of 40 credits.
2.3
Italian and Business & Management
2.3.1 Students of Italian and Business & Management who were not beginners in
Italian in their first year:
Course units totalling a minimum of 60 credits and a maximum of 80 credits,
namely ITAL20210 plus course units to a minimum value of 40 credits and a
maximum value of 60 credits from the menu below.
2.3.2 Students of Italian and Business & Management who were beginners in Italian in
their first year:
Course units totalling a minimum of 60 credits and a maximum of 80 credits,
namely ITAL20200 plus course units to a minimum value of 40 credits and a
maximum value of 60 credits from the menu below.
2.4
European Studies and Italian; Biological Sciences with Italian; Mathematics
with Italian
2.4.1 Students on the above programmes who were not beginners in Italian in their first
year:
Course units totalling 40 credits, namely ITAL20210 plus course units to a value
of 20 credits.
2.4.2 Students on the above programmes who were beginners in Italian in their first
year:
Course units totalling 40 credits, namely ITAL20200 plus course units to a value
of 20 credits.
3
Honours in Combined Studies
The permitted number of course units in Italian is prescribed by the Board of
Combined Studies. Students who were not beginners in Italian in their first year
take ITAL20210. Those who were beginners in Italian take ITAL20200. Further
Italian course units may be chosen from the range of those available in the second
year.
29
SYNOPSIS OF SECOND-YEAR COURSE UNITS AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
STUDIES
YEAR 2 STUDY PROGRAMME
Semester 1
Semester 2
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (ITAL20200 / 20210)
(core)
20 credits
Study project (ITAL20390)
20 credits
Structures of Modern Italian
Italian Neorealisms (ITAL20512 – 20
(ITAL20341 – 20 credits)
credits)
Dante’s ‘Inferno’ (ITAL20221 – 20
credits)
Italian Narrative Theory (Calvino):
(ITAL20101 – 20 credits)
Career Management Skills ( CARS
20001 -20 credits)
Intro TEFL Part 1 (ULTD 20021 10 credits)
Introduction to World Cinema I
(LALC 10002X -20 credits)
Society, Perception, and Self in
Renaissance Italy (ITAL20412 – 20
credits)
Love Poetry for Beginners: Dante,
Petrarch and Italian Lyric
(ITAL20612 -20 credits)
Career Management Skills ( CARS
20001 -20 credits)
Intro TEFL Part 2 (ULTD 20022 -10
credits)
Introduction to World Cinema II
(LALC 10002X -20 credits)
Introduction to Translation
(LALC20302 -10 credits)
Trends in European and Postcolonial
Cinema (LALC 20002 -20 credits)
Please ensure you select the requisite number of course units for your particular degree
programme as outlined in the ‘Structure of Degree programmes’ guidelines above. Only
20 credits worth of Year 1 units can be taken at level 2. Career Management Skills is
taken in either Semester 1 or 2 (i.e. is a repeat course).
*********
SECOND-YEAR COURSE UNITS
ITAL20200
Pre-requisite
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (2A)
ITAL10200.
30
Credits 20
Level 2
Taught during
Both semesters.
Timetable
Please see the noticeboard outside W.3.13
Description
This course unit aims
 to revise, consolidate and extend students’ prior knowledge of Italian through a
structured programme of taught classes and assessed coursework (translation and
summary);
 to develop students’ language-learning skills through a programme of
independent language learning available through WebCT, with discussions and
on-line surgeries;
 to enhance listening and speaking skills through a complementary series of oral
classes as part of the preparation for the period of compulsory residence in Italy.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able
 to demonstrate a sound understanding of the aspects of Italian grammar covered
by the set textbook;
 to reflect upon and to improve their language-learning capabilities;
 to use spoken Italian to cope with real-life situations and to discuss a variety of
topics;
 to take responsibility for their own learning of Italian;
 to make use of the resources of the Language Centre, of the Internet and of
WebCT.
Transferable skills
In addition to the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory, students will
develop the ability to use information and communications technology.
Teaching and learning methods
Two weekly classes of written Italian and one weekly oral class (Written classes
comprise grammar work, summary and translation from and into Italian; oral classes
combine summary, linguistic exercises and discussion of topics).
Assessment
Coursework 25% (including 5% for the independent language learning programme); a
2-hour unseen written examination at the end of semester 2 (50%); a 15-minute oral
examination at the end of semester 2 (25%, including an oral summary worth 5%); the
31
oral examination may include an aural test. This may be subject to review for 2007-08.
Students will be informed of any changes at the start of the academic year.
Convenor:
Liliana Foligno Smith
Taught by
Liliana Foligno Smith and other members of staff in Italian
Studies.
Maximum entry:
None.
Set textbook:
F. Italiano and I. Marchegiani Jones, Crescendo! A Thematic Approach to Intermediate
Italian Language and Culture (New York: Harcourt College, 1995).
Further reading:
S. Adorni and K. Primorac, English Grammar for Students of Italian (London: Arnold,
1995).
D. De Rôme, Soluzioni! (London: Arnold, 2003).
M. Fernandez-Toro and F. Jones, DIY Techniques for Language Learners (London:
Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, 2001).
Suggested dictionaries:
Dizionario inglese-italiano, italiano-inglese (Turin: Paravia and Oxford University Press,
2001).
T. De Mauro, Dizionario della lingua italiana (Turin: Paravia, 2000).
Pathway
ITAL30200 Italian Language (3) and final-year content course units.
32
ITAL20210
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (2B): TANDEM
Credits 20
Level 2
Pre-requisite
ITAL10210.
Taught during
Both semesters.
Timetable
Grammar class Thursday at 15.00; other times to be arranged
Description
This is a reciprocal language-learning course unit, in which students of Italian are paired
with Italian students to work on a series of weekly language-learning tasks. Through
regular contact with a native speaker of Italian, it aims to develop linguistic knowledge
and skills, and to improve knowledge of Italian culture. You will meet your partner,
normally for a minimum of two hours per week, to complete a set of language tasks
provided for you. Some of these tasks are compulsory, and some may be negotiated with
your partner and with your course tutor, with whom you will also meet in a group for one
hour a week, at a time to be agreed. The tasks you complete form the basis of a dossier of
work that is submitted for assessment. You may of course meet your Tandem partner
where and when you like to complete them. Workshops are also provided during the
semester, as well as virtual seminars through WebCT.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will have
 consolidated their existing strengths in terms of linguistic knowledge
(pronunciation, grammar and lexis) and linguistic skills (reading, writing
listening, speaking);
 improved their linguistic knowledge and skills in those areas which they have
identified as being in particular need of improvement;
 learnt to work constructively with a partner;
 learnt to take responsibility for their own learning of Italian;
 learnt to make greater use of the resources of the Language Centre, the Internet
and WebCT;
 gained a greater understanding of Italian culture.
Transferable skills
In addition to the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory, students will
develop the ability to use information and communications technology.
Teaching and learning methods:
Two weekly sessions with a partner, under the general supervision of a course tutor,
supplemented by a weekly hour of formal instruction, group workshops, and virtual
seminars through WebCT.
33
Assessment:
Dossier (50%); written test (20%); oral task and oral exam (20%); peer assessment (10%)
The dossier consists of tasks, completed evaluation sheets, and contributions to WebCT
discussions. There are two oral tests: the first recorded in one of the study sessions of
Semester 1, the second a face-to-face presentation at the end of Semester 2. The written
test is based on one of the themes discussed.
Deadline for assessed coursework
The dossier, assessed oral task, evaluation forms and contributions to WebCT discussion
are to be submitted by the end of week 12 in each semester to Andrés Lozoya (room
SG14, Humanities Lime Grove).
Convenor
Maria Kluczek (e-mail: maria.kluczek@manchester.ac.uk).
Course tutor
Elena Polisca.
Maximum entry
None.
Set textbook
A. Bianchi and C. Boscolo, Practising Italian Grammar: A
Workbook (London: Arnold, 2004).
Further reading
S. Adorni and K. Primorac, English Grammar for Students of
Italian (London: Arnold, 1999).
M. Maiden and C. Robustelli, A Reference Grammar of Modern
Italian (London: Arnold, 2000).
Suggested dictionaries:
Dizionario inglese-italiano, italiano-inglese (Turin: Paravia and Oxford University Press,
2001).
T. De Mauro, Dizionario della lingua italiana (Turin: Paravia, 2000).
Pathway
ITAL30200 Italian Language (3) and final-year content course units.
34
ITAL20390
STUDY PROJECT
Credits 20
Level 2
Pre-requisite:
ITAL10200 or ITAL10210 (This course unit is not open to students registered for the
Single Honours degree in Italian Studies).
Taught during
Timetable
Both semesters.
Monday at 12.00
Description:
Students undertake a study project on an approved aspect of modern Italian literature,
linguistics, cinema, history or society. The aim of this course unit is to promote
independent learning through the identification of a suitable topic, the execution of a
programme of research and the completion of a substantial written project, the work
being done individually by the student with a certain amount of group supervision.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the project students will:




have learnt how to take responsibility for their own learning;
have developed basic research skills;
have acquired the ability to think independently;
have demonstrated a knowledge and understanding of the chosen topic.
Transferable skills:
Please see page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching and learning methods
A minimum of 8 contact hours. Three introductory seminars at the beginning of Semester
1 will introduce students to basic research skills. Students will then discuss their choice
of topic with a tutor and have a supervisor assigned to them. Two sessions of individual
supervision follow. In the second half of semester 1, group meetings will be arranged in
which students will present their topics individually to the other students and to their
supervisor (observe that each group will consist of a maximum of 5 students). Students
will then draw up a detailed plan of the project for approval by their supervisor, who may
be consulted as required thereafter.
Assessment
A 6,000-word written project (100%).
Deadline for assessed coursework
The project is to be submitted by the Thursday of week 9 of Semester 2.
Convenor
TBC
35
Taught by
Members of staff in Italian Studies.
Maximum entry
Pathway
20.
ITAL30000 Dissertation.
36
ITAL20341
THE STRUCTURES OF MODERN ITALIAN
Credits 20
Level 2
Pre-requisite
ITAL10200 or ITAL10210 (This course unit is compulsory for students registered for the
Single Honours degree in Italian Studies).
Taught during
Semester 1.
Timetable
A weekly 1-hour lecture on Tuesdays at 12, immediately followed
by a 1-hour tutorial.
Description
Where do the words of Italian come from? Why are there two perfective auxiliaries in
Italian (avere ‘have’ and essere ‘be’) and only one in English? What is the subjunctive
and how do Italian speakers use it? These and other such questions are addressed in this
course unit. Specifically, we shall consider a number of issues in Italian phraseology and
grammar which are traditionally perceived as difficult by the language learner, and we
shall learn to reflect on these issues with the help of the theoretical insights of current
research into Italian linguistics. The principal aims of the course are:
 to stimulate your interest in the way the Italian language works;
 to introduce you to linguistic analysis as an intellectual discipline parallel to
literary and historical analysis, though different in kind;
 to strengthen your command of Italian as a means of written and oral
communication.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to
 use their enhanced understanding of Italian grammar to communicate effectively;
 appreciate the rationale of a number of differences between the grammar of Italian
and the grammar of English;
 reflect independently on issues of phraseology, morphology and syntax.
Transferable skills
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching and learning methods
The lectures will introduce the students to the topics. The tutorials will consist of
practical activities, which will foster the students’ understanding of the theoretical
notions introduced in the lectures.
37
Assessment:
A 1¼-hour unseen written examination (40%), a 2,000-word essay (35%), a 20-minute
oral presentation (25%).
Deadline for assessed coursework:
The presentation will take place during tutorial time, starting in week 7; the essay is to be
handed in by the Thursday of week 9.
Convenor
Delia Bentley.
Taught by
Delia Bentley and Francesco Ciconte.
Maximum entry
20.
Set textbook
None.
Recommended reading:
A. L. Lepschy and G. Lepschy, The Italian Language Today (London: Routledge, 1988).
M. Maiden and C. Robustelli, A Reference Grammar of Modern Italian (London: Arnold,
2000).
L. Renzi, G. Salvi, A. Cardinaletti (eds), Grande grammatica italiana di consultazione, 3
vols (Bologna: il Mulino, 1988-1995).
A. Sobrero (ed.), Introduzione all’italiano contemporaneo. Le strutture. (Rome and Bari:
Laterza, 1993).
Pathway:
ITAL20352 Italian Sociolinguistics; ITAL30241 Italian Stylistics.
38
ITAL20101
ITALIAN NARRATIVE THEORY (CALVINO):
HOW TO READ A NOVEL
Credits 20
Level 2
Pre-requisite :
None (open to all suitably qualified students, but preference will be given to students who
are taking an additional course unit in Italian).
Taught during:
Semester 1.
Timetable:
A weekly two-hour lecture on Wednesdays at 10.00.
Description
This course unit analyses different articulations of textual structure as developed in the
Italian novel during the late twentieth century. Specifically, the unit will focus on the
example set by Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore by Italo Calvino and examples
from key literary text from the 18th century to the 20th century. Given its meta-narrative
nature, Calvino’s novel is an ideal work for undertaking a detailed narratological study of
the ways in which a novel can be constructed. In addition, narratological concepts (such
as those of narrative voice, narratee, real and implied author and reader) will be
introduced and applied to the close analysis of the narrative technique and formal
structure of not only Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore but also of other significant
Italian texts. References will be made particularly to recent critical approaches to
narrative theory. The unit aims to provide students with:



a detailed knowledge of key concepts of narratology;
an insight into the textual structures of the selected text;
an awareness of some of the recent literary and critical debates in relation to the
chosen texts.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will have gained:



the ability to analyse selected portions of the texts as well as to identify and
discuss different forms of creative writing;
a critical awareness of narrative theory;
the skills necessary to communicate ideas and sustain an argument, using relevant
critical material, in discussion, essays, and seminars.
Transferable skills
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of
the Directory.
39
Teaching & learning methods
A weekly 2-hour lecture.
Assessment:
A 20-minute group presentation (25%); a 1,000-word written textual analysis (15%); 1¾hour unseen written examination (60%).
Deadline for coursework: The group presentations will take place during tutorial hours,
beginning in week 3; the textual analysis will be handed in by the Thursday of week 8.
Convenor
Francesca Billiani
Taught by
Francesca Billiani
Maximum entry
20
Set textbook:
I. Calvino, Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore (Milan: Mondadori, 1979) (The text can
be read in translation by students who are not learning Italian as part of their degree
programme). Selection of textual examples provided during the course.
Further reading:
G. Genette, Figures III (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1972) [Narrative Discourse: An Essay
in Method (Oxford: Basil Blackwell,1980)]
S. Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics (London: Methuen, 1983)
C. Segre, Avviamento all’analisi del testo letterario (Turin: Einaudi, 1985)
Pathway
ITAL30102 The Gothic and Fantastic in the Late Nineteenth-Century Italian Novel.
ITAL30342 Postmodernism and the Italian Novel (1970-present).
40
ITAL20221
INFERNO:
AN INTRODUCTION TO DANTE STUDIES
Credits 20
Level 2
Pre-requisite
None (Open to all suitably qualified students, but preference will be given to students
who are taking an additional course unit in Italian)
Taught during
Semester 1.
Timetable
Two hours a week, Mondays at 14.00 and either Tuesdays at 16.00
or Thursdays at 14.00.
Description:
The Divina commedia by Dante Alighieri is one of the masterpieces of European and
world literature. Set in 1300, the poem describes its protagonist’s journey through the
realms of the afterlife, culminating in a vision of God in Heaven. The journey through
Hell, Purgatory, and the heavens to Paradise is punctuated by encounters with wellknown individuals, many of them historical figures of the recent past, that give the poet
the opportunity to develop a devastating critique of contemporary society, politics, and
morality. The Commedia is also a fascinating self-reflective and meta-literary journey
that reveals the making of an artistic genius. This course unit aims to introduce students
to the study of Dante through detailed consideration of the first cantica of his poem,
Inferno. Often considered to be the most accessible part of the Commedia, this cantica
explores the superficial attractiveness and real destructiveness of sin in a series of vivid
and memorable encounters. The course unit is designed to foster an awareness of the
historical, cultural, and literary context in which the Commedia was created.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to demonstrate:




an understanding of the moral, theological, and political tenets of the author;
knowledge of the content, structure, and poetic techniques of the Inferno;
a competence in textual analysis and the ability to write a literary commentary;
the ability to think independently and to apply literary and critical concepts.
Transferable skills:
Please see the transferable skills listed on p. 4 of the Directory.
Teaching and learning methods
A weekly lecture devoted largely to historical and conceptual issues and a weekly
seminar, which will focus on the text of the poem.
41
Assessment
A 1,500-word commentary (25%); a 2,000-word essay (35%); a 1¼-hour unseen written
examination (40%).
Deadlines for assessed coursework
The commentary is to be submitted by the Thursday of Week 8 and the essay by the
Thursday of Week 12.
Convenor
Spencer Pearce.
Taught by
Spencer Pearce.
Maximum entry
20.
Set textbook:
Dante’s Inferno: the Italian text of the poem, either alone or with facing English
translation. The editions with the most ample commentaries are (in Italian): Dante
Alighieri, Commedia: Inferno, ed. Anna Maria Chiavacci Leonardi (Milan:
Mondadori, 1991); and (in English): Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy: Inferno,
translated with a commentary by Charles Singleton, 2 vols (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1970). More economical is The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri:
Inferno, edited and translated with notes by Robert M. Durling and Ronald L.
Martinez (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).
Further reading:
W. Anderson, Dante the Maker (London: Hutchinson, 1983).
C. Davies, Dante’s Italy and Other Essays (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1984).
J. Ferrante, The Political Vision of the Divine Comedy (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1984).
R. Jacoff (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Dante (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1993).
A. Jannucci (ed.), Dante: Contemporary Perspectives (Toronto: Toronto University
Press, 1997).
G. Mazzotta, Dante, Poet of the Desert: History and Allegory in the Divine Comedy
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979).
Pathway
ITAL30222 Dante: Purgatorio, Paradiso; MA course unit EL9711 Dante: Morality,
Politics, Justice
42
ITAL20412
Society, Perception and Self in Renaissance Italy
Credits: 20
Level: 2
Co-requisite:
ITAL20200 / ITAL20210 or equivalent competence in Italian.
Taught during:
Semester 2.
Timetable:
Tuesday at 12.00 and Thursday at 14.00.
Description:
The set texts are two classics of the Italian Renaissance period; Castiglione’s Libro del
Cortegiano and Niccolò Machiavelli’s Il Principe. Although dealing with two different
genres of writing, the direct address of an advice book to princes and the handbook to
courtiers written as dialogue, certain common themes run between the works reflecting
the preoccupations of Renaissance civic life in communal and courtly context. This unit
will seek to examine the texts as both products and readings of the cultures out of which
they rose, from their rhetorical framework to their consideration of the relation between
ethics and action. In the process, issues relating to the construction and presentation of
the self, the virtuous use of dissimulation, and the cultural norms underpinning concepts
of decorum, the place of women within society, and the role of books within the process
of gift exchange will be examined.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to demonstrate:
 an understanding of the dynamic between representation and power as reflected in the
writing of Machiavelli and Castiglione.
 an ability to analyse the formal properties of the ‘mirror of princes’ and Renaissance
dialogue as Renaissance literary genres.
 an ability to juxtapose the primary texts with secondary literary critical writings
 an understanding of the interrelation between the political and textual forms in
Renaissance Italy.
Transferable skills: Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
Assessment:
A combination of lectures and ACW seminars over
11 weeks within 2 contact hours per week.
A 3,000-word essay (50%), a 20-minute presentation (25%) and a
1,500-word commentary (25%).
Deadlines for assessed coursework:
The commentary is to be submitted by 16:00 on the Thursday of week 8 and the essay by
16:00 on the last Thursday of the semester. Presentations to commence week 5.
Convenor:
Prof. Stephen Milner
Taught by:
Prof. Stephen Milner
43
Max. entry:
20
Set texts:
Niccolò Machiavelli, Il principe
Baldessare Castiglione, Il Cortegiano.
Further reading
Banning, R. W. & D. Rosard, Castiglione: The Ideal and the Real in Renaissance Culture
(Yale, 1983)
Cox, V. The Renaissance Dialogue, Castiglione to Galileo (Cambridge, 1992) pp. 22-61
Cox, V. ‘Machiavelli and the Rhetorica ad Herennium: Deliberative Rhetoric in The
Prince’, Sixteenth Century Journal, 28 (1997), pp. 1109-41
Finucci, V., The Lady Vanishes: Subjectivity and Representation in Ariosto and
Castiglione (Princeton, 1994 )
Hale, J. R. Machiavelli and Renaissance Italy (Harmondsworth, 1961)
Rebhorn, W., Courtly Performances: Masking and Festivity in Castiglione's Book of the
Courtier (Detroit, 1978)
Skinner, Q., Machiavelli (Oxford, 1981)
Tinkler, J. F. ‘Praise and Advice: Rhetorical Approaches in More’s Utopia and
Machiavelli’s Prince’, Sixteenth Century Journal 19 (1988), 187-207
Woodhouse, J. R., Baldessar Castiglione: A Reassessment of the Courtier (Edinburgh,
1978)
Pathway:
Final-year content course units.
44
ITAL20512
ITALIAN NEOREALISMS
Pre-requisite:
ITAL10200 or ITAL10210.
Taught during:
Semester 2.
Timetable:
Tuesday at 16.00 and Thursday at 11.00.
Credits: 20
Level: 2
Description:
This unit aims to introduce students to the Italian Neorealist cinema of the immediate
post-war period through to 1950 by setting the films in their social and political contexts
and reflecting upon the impact of war on filmic production within the peninsula. In
addition to exploring the problematic category of ‘realism’ itself, the unit will also
analyze the production values of the genre, its depiction of the city and the everyday, and
the critical writing produced by its practitioners. It will also seek to discuss the critical
reception and subsequent ‘fortuna’ of Neorealism within European and World cinema.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will have developed:





a sound knowledge of the films studied and familiarity with aspects of the history
of Italian cinema;
the ability to apply learning about the films’ production and reception, the
directors and the stars to their interpretation of the film;
an understanding of how films studied may be related to one another, both in
intertextual terms, and more usually ideologically, historically, technically or
thematically;
a fundamental grasp of the textual and contextual analysis of films;
the ability to articulate all of the above primarily in written form, but also orally.
Transferable skills: Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
Two contact hours per week. A combination of lectures and screenings followed by
student-led assessed seminars.
Language of Teaching:
English. All films are subtitled, but students studying Italian are expected to study films
in the original version.
Assessment:
A 3,000-word essay (50%); a 20-minute presentation (25%), and a 1,500-word sequence
analysis (25%).
45
Deadlines for assessed coursework:
The sequence analysis is to be submitted by the Thursday of week 8, the essay is to be
submitted by the Thursday of week 12, and presentations will commence in week 5.
Convenor:
Dr. Lara Pucci
Taught by:
Staff of Italian
Max. entry:
20
Set films:
Roma città aperta, dir. Roberto Rossellini 1945. Excelsa films.
Paisà, dir. Roberto Rossellini 1946. O.F.I., Foreign Film Prod. Inc.
Ladri di Biciclette, Vittorio De Sica 1948. P.D.S. (Produziona De Sica).
Riso Amaro, Giuseppe De Santis 1948. Lux (Carlo Ponti).
Umberto D, Vittorio De Sica 1951. Rizzoli-Amato.
Recommended Reading:
Armes, Roy, Patterns of Realism: A Study of Italian Neo-realism Cinema (London, The
Tantivy Press, 1971)
Liehm, Mira, Passion and Defiance: Film in Italy from 1942 to the Present (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1984)
Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey, James Hay and Gianni Volpi, eds., The Companion to Italian
Cinema (London: Cassell/BFI Publishing, 1996).
Overbey, David ed., Springtime in Italy: A Reader on Neo-Realism (Hamden, CN:
Archon Books, 1978).
Shiel, Mark, Italian Neorealism: Rebuilding the Cinematic City (London: Wallflower,
2006).
46
ITAL 20612
Love Poetry For Beginners
Dante, Petrarch and the Medieval Italian Lyric
20 credits
level 2
Pre-requisite
ITAL10210 or ITAL10200
Taught during
Semester 2
Timetable
Two hours a week. Tuesday 11:00 and Thursday 12:00
Description
This course will provide an introduction to key concepts and forms of medieval Italian
lyric production and to the works of iconic Italian authors such as Dante, Petrarch, and
Boccaccio. Taking Dante’s early poetic manifesto, the Vita Nuova, as our primary text,
we will situate it within vernacular poetic traditions, looking back first to the poets of the
Stilnovo and then forward to Petrarch. Throughout the course we will consider how the
poets define themselves in relation to their contemporaries and predecessors, and their
deliberate attempts to formulate a new vernacular canon.
Learning outcomes
Students who satisfactorily complete the course will be able to:


demonstrate an understanding of the genre of Italian vernacular lyric and its
modification through the Trecento.
appreciate how poets used the lyric form to engage with contemporary social and
cultural issues relating to love, community and intersubjectivity within late
medieval Italy.
Transferable skills
Please see the transferable skills listed on p. 4 of the Directory.
Teaching and learning methods
Two hours a week combining 5 initial lectures followed by seminars and assessed
coursework presentations.
Assessment
An oral presentation (25%); a 1,500-word commentary (25%); a 3,000-word essay (50%)
Deadline for assessed coursework
The commentary is to be submitted by the Thursday of Week 7 and the essay by the
Thursday of Week 13. The presentations will begin in week 6.
Convenor
Guyda Armstrong
47
Taught by
Guyda Armstrong
Maximum entry
20
Set textbooks
Dante Alighieri, Vita nuova, Italian text with facing English translation by Dino S.
Cervigni and Edward Vasta (Notre Dame: The University of Notre Dame Press, 1995)
ISBN: 978-0268019266 (£13.49 in April 2007).
Further reading
To follow
Pathway: ITAL30251, ITAL30432, ITAL30222.
48
CARS20001
CAREER MANAGEMENT SKILLS
Pre-requisite
None
Credits 20
Level 2
Please register for this course unit at the Careers Service (Crawford House, Precinct
Centre, Oxford Road) and inform the Italian Studies Undergraduate Support Officer that
you have registered.
Taught during
Semester 1 or semester 2.
Timetable
A weekly 2-hour session on Thursdays between 10.00 and 12.00.
Description
This course unit will help students to identify and develop the key personal skills that all
graduates need in order to manage their careers successfully. It will examine the career
choices available to arts graduates and prepare students for the transition from university
to work. A wide range of local and national graduate recruiters are involved in the
delivery of some of the sessions. Students also undertake a team-based project with a
community organization or local employer. The aims of the course unit are:




to introduce students to the changing demands of a changing work environment;
to enable them to identify and practise key career management skills;
to give them the skills and knowledge to succeed in the recruitment process;
to enable them to understand the skills that they are already developing through
their degree programmes.
The unit will cover the following three broad areas:



theory (the nature of career management skills, the reasons why they are
important, the way in which work is changing, the implications for graduates, lifelong learning and continuous skills development);
career management skills (focusing on the key skills: self-analysis, selfpromotion, negotiating, networking, managing time and priorities, decisionmaking, action-planning, spoken and written communication, team-working);
the transition to work (the practical skills and experience needed to make a
successful transition: CVs, applications, interviews, psychometric tests, selection
centres).
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will have
 learnt about and practised key career management skills;
 analysed their skills and abilities and developed strategies for improving them;
49





improved their group-work skills by working continuously in small groups;
improved their presentation skills by planning and delivering a formal
presentation;
learnt a model of career choice that they can use throughout their lives;
looked at the range of career areas open to arts graduates;
developed an effective CV and practised interviews.
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching and learning combine
 weekly two-hour compulsory taught sessions, comprising formal input and group
exercises, case studies and simulation, with extensive use of employers in the
design and delivery of some sessions;
 a group project with a local community organization or small employer.
Assessment
Assessment is entirely by coursework and comprises the following items: an individual
report (25%); a CV and covering letter (20%); a team report (35%); a group presentation
(20%). The first two items are individual assessments, the last two are team assessments.
Convenor
Chris Hughes (e-mail: chris.hughes@man.ac.uk)
Taught by
Chris Hughes and a range of employers from the public, private and voluntary sectors
Maximum entry
40 per semester
50
course code
ULTD20021
course title
Introduction to TEFL Part 1
credits: 10
level: 2
Pre-requisite:
IELTS 8.0 (or equivalent) for those who do not have English as a
first language.
Please note that priority will be given to 2nd year SLLC students
going abroad as English Language Assistants.
Taught during:
Semester 1
Timetable:
Lectures: Thursday 3.00-4.00 one every two weeks
Workshops: Friday 11.00-1.00 one every two weeks
Lectures will be in weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.
Workshop groups A1, A2, A3 etc will have classes in weeks 1, 3, 5,
7, 9…; Workshop groups B1, B2, B3 etc will have classes in weeks
2, 4, 6, 8, 10…
Description:
Together with ULTD20022, this course unit aims to provide a basic
preparation in classroom language teaching. Taken by itself, it
provides the background to this preparation in the form of language
awareness and classroom management. It is designed primarily for
those about to embark on their Year Abroad as English Language
Assistants, but is also suitable for anyone considering a career in
teaching English as a foreign language or voluntary EFL teaching
work overseas.
Learning outcomes:
On successful completion of this course unit, students will have:







an understanding of selected features of the English language;
an understanding of selected features of English phonology;
an initial understanding of second language acquisition;
the ability to recognise learner differences/needs;
information about good classroom management;
a practical understanding of the process of writing essays;
experience of observing EFL classes.
Transferable skills:
On successful completion of the course unit, students will have
developed further their ability to:

assess their own learning needs and identify the resources
necessary to meet these;
 contribute to a collaborative learning environment;
 write effective essays according to standard academic conventions;
51

operate within constraints of time and resources.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
1-hour fortnightly lecture; 2-hour fortnightly workshop.
Maximum workshop group size: 15.
Participants will also be required to undertake a total of 1.5 hours'
classroom observation (within EFL Programmes at the University of
Manchester).
Language of Teaching: English
Assessment:
One 1,500 word reflective essay on the classroom observation (50%)
One 1-hour language awareness test/exam (40%)
Contribution to collaborative working environment in workshops
(10%)
Deadlines for assessed coursework:
To be established
Exceptions to word processed assignments:
None
Convenor:
Rob Drummond
Taught by: Rob Drummond and four workshop tutors.
Max. entry:
100
Set texts:
Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, 3rd
edn. (Harlow: Longman, 2001)
Recommended Texts: Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching (Cambridge: CUP
1996)
Pathway:
Leads on to ULTD20022 Introduction to TEFL Part 2.
52
course code
ULTD20022
course title
Introduction to TEFL Part 2
credits: 10
level: 2
Pre-requisite:
IELTS 8.0 (or equivalent) for those who do not have English as a
first language. Students must have completed ULTD20021
Introduction to TEFL Part 1 in semester 1.
Please note that priority will be given to 2nd year SLLC students
going abroad as English Language Assistants.
Taught during:
Semester 2
Timetable:
Lectures: Thursday 3.00-4.00 one every two weeks
Workshops: Friday 11.00-1.00 one every two weeks
Lectures will be in weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.
Workshop groups A1, A2, A3 etc will have classes in weeks 1, 3, 5,
7, 9…; Workshop groups B1, B2, B3 etc will have classes in weeks
2, 4, 6, 8, 10…
Description:
This course unit builds on the background knowledge gained in
ULTD20021 to provide further basic preparation in classroom
language teaching. It is designed primarily for those about to embark
on their Year Abroad as English Language Assistants, but is also
suitable for anyone considering a career in teaching English as a
foreign language or voluntary EFL teaching work overseas.
Learning outcomes:
On successful completion of this course unit, students will have:






an understanding of different language teaching methodologies;
the ability to select and exploit materials in the classroom;
information on how to teach the different language skills;
the ability to plan a lesson;
a practical understanding of the process of writing essays;
experience of peer teaching.
Transferable skills:
On successful completion of the course unit, students will have
developed further their ability to:

assess their own learning needs and identify the resources
necessary to meet these;
 contribute to a collaborative learning environment;
 establish a framework for peer observation;
 give feedback on the performance of others;
53


write effective essays according to standard academic conventions;
operate within constraints of time and resources.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
1-hour fortnightly lecture; 2-hour fortnightly workshop
Maximum workshop group size: 15
Language of Teaching: English
Assessment:
One 1,500 word essay on methodology (50%)
One session of peer teaching (40%)
Contribution to collaborative working environment in workshops
(10%)
Deadlines for assessed coursework:
To be established
Exceptions to word processed assignments:
None
Convenor:
Rob Drummond
Taught by: Rob Drummond and four workshop tutors.
Max. entry:
100.
Set texts:
Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, 3rd
edn. (Harlow: Longman, 2001).
Recommended Texts: Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching (Cambridge: CUP
1996).
Pathway:
54
CREDITS: 20
LALC10001X
INTRODUCTION TO WORLD CINEMA 1
LEVEL: 1
Prerequisite: None
Taught during: Semester 1
Timetable: Lectures Friday 12-1
Screenings Friday 2-5
Seminars Tuesday 12-1, 1-2, 3-4pm / Wednesday 10-11, 11-12, 1-2pm, W4.05
Description: This course unit will provide students with an introduction to the language of film
and to key aesthetic movements and concepts in cinema from its early days to
the 1950s with an initial focus on Europe. Lectures and seminar sessions will
lay the foundations for the technical analysis of classic films. They will then
proceed to explore the importance of montage, Surrealism and Expressionism
within the particular national contexts in which they arose, as well as the
prevailing impact of these movements on film makers worldwide. Integrated
Web CT materials support the learning experience and offer students guidance
on cross-disciplinary learning.
Learning outcomes:
On successful completion of this course unit, students will:
a.
Be able to apply basic analytical skills to a range of cinema production;
b.
have a fundamental grasp of the textual and contextual analysis of films;
c.
have a critical understanding of the aesthetic, historical and ideological dimensions
of European Cinema;
d.
have begun to form strategies for working in a cross-disciplinary manner
Transferable skills:
On successful completion of the course unit, students will have developed:
a) their ability to work independently;
b) their ability to argue critically and coherently;
55
c) their ability to present information in a convincing and accessible manner
d) their intercultural understanding in European contexts
Teaching and learning methods: 1-hour weekly lecture, 1-hour weekly seminar, 1 weekly
screening generally of 3 hours, for which preparatory reading is necessary.
Language of Teaching: English (all films are subtitled, although students studying modern
languages are expected to study films in the original as appropriate).
Assessment: 1 acw essay of 2,000 words (50%).
Deadline: Friday, Week 11.
1 hour 30 minute exam requiring two questions to be answered (50%). Students will not be
permitted to answer questions relating principally to material treated in the
coursework essays.
Convenor: Dr Nuria Triana Toribio
Taught by: Dr Nuria Triana Toribio, Dr Lynne Attwood, Dr Cathy Gelbin, Dr Joseph
McGonagle/Prof Chris Perriam; [+ Screen Studies GTA, not yet known]
Maximum entry: 100.
Set films: October. Dir. Sergei Eisenstein. Sovkino (USSR). 1928.
Ivan the Terrible I. Dir. Sergei Eisenstein. Alma Ata Studio (USSR). 1944.
Ivan the Terrible II. Dir. Sergei Eisenstein. Mosfilm (USSR). 1945.
Un Chien Andalou. Dir. Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. (France). 1929.
L'Age d'Or. Dir. Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. Vicomte de Noailles (France).
1930.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Dir. Robert Wiene. UFA (Germany). 1919.
Nosferatu. Dir. Friedrich Murnau. UFA (Germany). 1922.
The Third Man. Dir. Carol Reed (UK). 1949.
Recommended texts:
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art, 5th edn (New York: McGraw-Hill,
1997)
56
Pam Cook and Mieke Bernink, eds., The Cinema Book, 2nd edn (London: BFI, 1999)
Susan Hayward, Key Concepts in Cinema Studies (London: Routledge, 1996)
James Monaco, How to Read a Film (New York: OUP, 1977)
Amy Villarejo, Film Studies; The Basics (London: Routledge, 2007)
BA Level 3:
FC3410 From Novel to Film;
GM3432 Ost-West-Geschichten
RU3320 Soviet Cinema and Society;
SP3260 Spanish Drama and Film.
MA:
EL6300: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary French Cinema;
EL6721: Issues in French Film History I: The Fiftees;
El6981: Representing the Holocaust;
EL8040 Soviet Cinema and Society
57
CREDITS: 20
LALC10002X
INTRODUCTION TO WORLD CINEMA 2
LEVEL: 1
Prerequisite: None
Taught during: Semester 2
Timetable: Lectures Friday 12-1
Screenings Friday 2-5
Seminars Tuesday 12-1, 1-2, 3-4pm/Wednesday 10-11, 11-12, 1-2pm, W4.05
Description: This course unit will provide students with an introduction to key aesthetic
movements and concepts in world cinema from the 1940s to the present across a
range of cinemas. Lectures and seminar sessions will explore the importance of
Neo-Realism and New Wave Cinema in Europe and beyond. It will explore
“new” cinema movements in Latin America, North Africa and other countries and
areas whose languages and cultures are studied in the School. Integrated Web CT
materials support the learning experience and offer students guidance on crossdisciplinary learning.
Learning outcomes:
On successful completion of this course unit, students will:
a.
Apply basic analytical skills to a range of world cinema production;
b.
have a fundamental grasp on in the textual and contextual analysis of films;
c.
have a critical understanding of the aesthetic, historical and ideological dimensions
of World Cinema;
d.
developed informed strategies for working in a cross-disciplinary manner
Transferable skills:
On successful completion of the course unit, students will have developed further:
a) their ability to work independently;
b) their ability to argue critically and coherently;
c) their ability to present information in a convincing and accessible manner.
58
d) and their intercultural understanding in global contexts
Teaching and learning methods: 1-hour weekly lecture, 1-hour weekly seminar, 1 weekly
screening generally of 3 hours, for which preparatory reading is necessary.
Language of Teaching: English (all films are subtitled, although students studying modern
languages are expected to study films in the original as appropriate).
Assessment: 1 acw essay of 2,000 words (50%).
Deadline: Friday, Week 11.
1 hour 30 minute exam requiring two questions to be answered (50%). Students will not be
permitted to answer questions relating principally to material treated in the
coursework essays.
Convenor: Prof Chris Perriam
Taught by: Prof Chris Perriam, Prof Hoda Elsadda, Prof Margaret Littler, Prof Stephen Milner, Dr
Joseph McGonagle/Dr Darren Waldron; [+ Screen Studies GTA, not yet known]
Maximum entry: 100.
Set films:
Roma città aperta/Rome, Open City. Dir. Roberto Rossellini. Excelsia film (Italy)
1945
Ladri di Biciclette/Bicycle Thieves. Dir. Vittorio De Sica. De Sica Productions
(Italy). 1948
Les Quatre Cents Coups/The 400 Blows. Dir. François Truffaut. Les Films du
Carosse (France). 1959
Á bout de souffle/Breathless. Dir. Jean-Luc Godard. Rome-Paris Films (France).
1960
Short Sharp Shock. Dir. Fatih Akin (Germany) 1998
Y tu mamá también/And Your Mother Too. Dir. Alfonso Cuarón (Mexico) 2001
Divine Intervention. Dir. Elia Suleiman (Morocco/France) 2002.
Recommended texts:
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art, 5th edn (New York: McGraw-Hill,
1997)
59
Pam Cook and Mieke Bernink, eds., The Cinema Book, 2nd edn (London: BFI, 1999)
J Dudley Andrew, The Major Film Theories (Oxford: OUP, 1976)
Susan Hayward, Key Concepts in Cinema Studies (London: Routledge, 1996)
James Monaco, How to Read a Film (New York: OUP, 1977)
BA Level 3:
FC3410 From Novel to Film;
GM3432 Ost-West-Geschichten ;
RU3320 Soviet Cinema and Society;
SP3260 Spanish Drama and Film.
MA:
EL6300: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary French Cinema;
EL6721: Issues in French Film History I: The Fiftees;
El6981: Representing the Holocaust;
EL8040 Soviet Cinema and Society
60
LALC20002
TRENDS IN EUROPEAN AND POSTCOLONIAL CINEMA
Credits 20
Level 2
Prerequisite
LALC10001 Introduction to European Cinema
Taught during Semester 2
Timetable
Lecture: Fridays 12-1, Film Screenings: Fridays 2-5pm. Tutorials t.b.a.
(please contact Bernadette Cunnane, Room S3.5 for further information
about timetable and rooms in September)
Description:
Since its invention, cinema has represented the constant transformation of European
languages and cultures, as well as of the identities of European men and women, due to
major social, economic, and technological changes continuing to this day. Meanwhile,
these languages, cultures, and identities, as well the national cinemas that represent them
are not neatly contained by the political boundaries of continental Europe, having been
forged in the context of histories of nationalism, ideological struggle, modernisation, the
Holocaust, postmodernism, gender and sexual revolutions, global competition with
Hollywood, regionalism, colonialism, and migration. This course will provide students
with the opportunity to study European and European-language Cinema in the context of
these phenomena. Participants are expected to read preparatory texts for each session.
Learning outcomes: On successful completion of this course unit, students will
 be acquainted with major works of European and European-language
Cinema since the New Wave cinemas studied in the Level 1 course,
`Introduction to European Cinema’
 have a fundamental grasp of the textual and contextual analysis of post
New Wave cinema
 have a critical understanding of the aesthetic, historical, and ideological
dimensions of European and European-language Cinema
Transferable skills: On successful completion of the course unit, students will have
developed further their ability to
 work independently
 argue critically and coherently
 present information in a convincing and accessible manner.
Teaching and learning methods:1 lecture of 1 hour weekly, 1 seminar of 1 hour
weekly, 1 screening of generally 3 hours weekly, for which preparatory
reading is necessary
Language of Teaching: English (all films are subtitled) but students studying modern
languages are expected to study films in the original language, as
appropriate.
61
Assessment:
1 assessed coursework essay of 2,500 words (40%) and a 2-hour
examination at the end of the semester requiring two questions to be
answered (60%).
Deadline for assessed coursework
The essay is to be submitted by the Friday of Week 12.
Convenor:
Dr. C. Gelbin. Cathy.Gelbin@manchester.ac.uk
Taught by:
Dr Lynne Attwood; Dr Cathy Gelbin; Dr David Law; Dr John
Perivolaris, Dr Darren Waldron
Maximum entry: 100
Set films:
El día de la Bestia [The Day of the Beast]. Dir. Alex de la Iglesia. (Spain). 1995. Circus.
Dir. Grigorii Aleksandrov. (USSR). 1936.
Det Sjunde Inseglet [The Seventh Seal]. Dir. Ingmar Bergmann. (Sweden). 1957.
En construcción [Under Construction]. Dir. José Luis Guerin. (Spain). 2002.
To Vlemma tou Odyssea [Ulysses’ Gaze]. Dir. Theo Angelopoulos. (Greece/France).
1995.
Tretya meshchanskaya [Bed and Sofa]. Dir. Abram Room. (USSR). 1927
Krylya [Wings]. Dir. Larisa Shepit'ko. (USSR). 1966.
Gazon maudit. Dir. Josiane Ba lasko. (France). 1995.
Tacones lejanos [High Heels]. Dir. Pedro Almodóvar. (Spain). 1991
Shoah. Dir. Claude Lanzmann. (France). 1985.
La Haine [Hate]. Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz. (France). 1995.
Salut cousin [Hey Cousin]. Dir. Merzak Allouache (France). 1996
Pathway:
BA Second Year:
FC2141: Themes and Genres in French Film;
GM2351 Gender, Sexuality, Race;
BA Final Year:
GM3752 Jud Süß;
RU3320 Soviet Cinema and Society;
MA: MA in Modern European Cinema.
62
LALC20302
Introduction to Translation
credits: 10
level: 2
Pre-requisite:
This course is open to second-year post-A Level students in the
School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures.
Taught during:
Semester 2
Timetable:
General Lecture: Tuesday, 2-3 pm (weekly)
Language-specific tutorials (fortnightly)
Language-specific tutorial groups to be arranged: students should
consult the language discipline noticeboards on Floor 3 of
Humanities Lime Grove.
Provisional Lecture Timetable
W1
Introduction to Translation Studies (I)
Prof Mona Baker
W2
Translation Strategies and Techniques (I)
Dr Luis Pérez-González
W3
Introduction to Translation Studies (II)
Prof Mona Baker
W4
Translation Strategies and Techniques (II)
Dr Luis Pérez-González
W5
Genres and Text-Types
Dr James St. André
W6
Culture-specific Reference
Dr James St. André
W7
Wordplay, Puns and Metaphors (I)
Dr Siobhan Brownlie
W8
Wordplay, Puns and Metaphors (II)
Dr Siobhan Brownlie
W9
Dialect and Register (I)
Prof Martin Durrell
W10
Dialect and Register (II)
Prof Martin Durrell
W11
Translation and Modernization: The case of the Arab
world.
Dr Philip Sadgrove
Description:
This unit offers an introduction to the study and practice of translation as a professional
activity. It addresses issues of language and culture as they impinge
on the process of translation and familiarises students with a variety
of strategies for dealing with mismatches between source and target
languages and cultures. Topics covered include textual and
contextual meaning; genres and text types; dialect and register in
63
translation; translating culture-specific references; wordplay,
metaphor and puns. A range of different text types will be used, and
could typically include administrative texts (from the EU, UN, etc.),
commercial and business documents, literary texts, and semitechnical material.
Learning outcomes: On successful completion of this course unit,
students will demonstrate:






sensitivity to language structure, language function, and the
intricacies of intercultural communication;
sufficient understanding of core linguistic and cultural concepts
to be able to recognise potential problems in translation and
think of creative solutions to these problems;
improved translation skills related to specific language pairs;
a basic level of familiarity with professional translation
practice;
an ability to evaluate the work of other translators on an
informed basis;
an ability to argue knowledgeably for or against specific
translation choices.
Transferable skills: On successful completion of the course unit,
students will have developed further their ability to:




work independently;
think and argue critically and coherently;
present information in a convincing and accessible manner;
write clearly and effectively at a high level of intellectual
competence in English.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
1-hour weekly lecture, 1-hour fortnightly seminar.
Languages of Teaching: English (lectures) and the relevant foreign
language to each specific combination (language-specific seminars).
Assessment:
One 2-hour exam consisting of an analysis of translation issues
relating to texts taken from each of the main languages taught in
SLLC, as appropriate.
Languages of Assessment: English and the relevant foreign language
to each specific combination.
Convenor:
Secretary:
Dr. Siobhan Brownlie
Bernadette Cunnane
Taught by:
Lectures
Prof. Mona Baker
64
Dr Siobhan Brownlie
Prof Martin Durrell
Dr Luis Pérez-González
Dr Philip Sadgrove
Dr James St. André
+ Tutorials
Max. entry:
30
Set texts:


Mona Baker, In Other Words. A Coursebook on Translation
(London: Routledge, 1992).
Peter Fawcett, Translation and Language: Linguistic Theories
Explained (Manchester: St Jerome Publishing, 1997).
Recommended Texts:





Dirk Delabastita (ed.), Wordplay and Translation, special issue
of The Translator, 2:2 (1996).
Dirk Delabastita, (ed.), Traductio. Essays on Punning and
Translation (Namur: Presses Universitaires de Namur and
Manchester: St Jerome Publishing, 1997).
Anthony Duff, Translation (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1990).
André Lefevere, Translating Literature: Practice and Theory
in a Comparative Literature Context (New York: the Modern
Language Association of America, 1992).
Katharina Reiss, Translation Criticism - The Potentials and
Limitations: Categories and Criteria for Translation Quality
Assessment, trans. Erroll F. Rhodes (New York: American
Bible Society and Manchester: St Jerome Publishing, 2000)
Italian

Sándor Hervey, Ian Higgins, Stella Cragie and Patrizia Gambarotta, Thinking
Italian Translation. A Course in Translation Method: Italian to English (London
and New York: Routledge, 2000).

Tim Parks, Translating Style (London and Washington: Cassell, 1998).

Mary Louise Wardle, Avviamento alla traduzione. Inglese-italiano/italiano-inglese
(Napoli: Liguori, 1996).
Pathway:
LALC30011; MA in Translation Studies
65
STRUCTURE OF DEGREE PROGRAMMES: FINAL YEAR
In each year of study Honours students normally take course units with a total credit
rating of 120. Students registered for degree programmes with an Italian component take
the following units in their final year.
1.
Single Honours in Italian Studies
Italian course units totalling 100 credits, namely ITAL30200 and ITAL30210 plus
course units in Italian to the value of 60 credits. The remaining 20 credits are
made up either from course units in Italian or from ones outside Italian as listed in
the Humanities Faculty Course Unit database.
2.
Joint Honours programmes with Italian as a named Honours subject
2.1
English literature or English Language and Italian; History and Italian;
Modern Languages (including combinations with Latin, a Middle-Eastern
language and Linguistics)
Italian course units totalling a minimum of 40 credits and a maximum of 80
credits, namely ITAL30200 plus course units to a minimum value of 20 credits
and a maximum value of 60 credits.
2.2
History of Art and Italian; European Studies and Italian
Italian course units totalling 60 credits, namely ITAL30200 plus course units to a
value of 40 credits.
2.3
Italian and Business & Management
Italian course units totalling a minimum of 60 credits and a maximum of 80
credits, namely ITAL30200, ITAL30210 plus course units to a minimum value of
20 credits and a maximum value of 40 credits.
2.4
Biological Sciences with Italian; Mathematics with Italian
Italian course units totalling 40 credits, namely ITAL30200 plus course units to a
value of 20 credits.
2.5
Master of Modern Languages
The final part of this degree programme comprises two years of study: Year 3 and
Year 4.
If Italian is nominated as the first language, students take 60 credits in Italian in
Year 3, namely ITAL30200 and course units to a value of 40 credits, plus M-level
66
components and 20 credits (non language) in Language 2 (see MML Guide to
Undergraduate Programmes).
If Italian is nominated as the second language, students take course units to a
value of 20 credits in Italian in Year 3. (Students who have transferred from Joint
Honours in Modern Languages and who were beginners in their first year must
acquire these credits by taking ITAL20210.)
In Year 4 they take Italian course units totalling 60 credits, namely ITAL30200
and course units to the value of 40 credits, plus the M-level components (see
MML Guide to Undergraduate Programmes).
3
Honours in Combined Studies
The permitted number of course units in Italian is prescribed by the Board of
Combined Studies. All students take ITAL30200. Further Italian course units
may be chosen from the range of those available in the final year.
67
SYNOPSIS OF FINAL-YEAR COURSE UNITS IN ITALIAN STUDIES
YEAR 4 STUDY PROGRAMME
Semester 1
Semester 2
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (ITAL30200)
(core)
20 credits
Italian for Business Purposes (ITAL30210)
20 credits
Dissertation (ITAL30000)
20 credits
Boccaccio’s ‘Decameron’
Postmodernism and Italian Novel
(ITAL30251 - 20)
(ITAL30342 - 20)
Italian Stylistics (ITAL30241 Fascist Italy
20)
(ITAL30321 - 20)
Florentine Renaissance Culture
(ITAL30261 - 20)
Italian Gothic and Fantastic
(ITAL30421 - 20)
Topics in Translation Studies
(LALC 30011 -10 credits)
Beyond the Text: The Italian Book
and its Body (ITAL30432 -20)
NB: Please ensure you select the requisite number of course units for your particular
degree programme as outlined in the ‘Structure of Degree programmes’ guidelines above.
******
FINAL-YEAR COURSE UNITS
ITAL30200
ITALIAN LANGUAGE (3)
Pre-requisite
ITAL 20200 or ITAL 20210.
Taught during
Both semesters.
Timetable
Please see the noticeboard outside W.3.13
68
Credits 20
Level 3
Description
For students who have normally spent a substantial period of residence in Italy, this
course unit seeks, through an integrated programme of advanced language work
involving composition, translation, oral practice and the study of key grammatical
elements and structures, to achieve the following aims:



to deepen and refine grammatical knowledge of Italian;
to develop the student’s capacity for self-expression in Italian;
to provide an introduction to professional skills in translating from Italian into
English.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will have demonstrated an ability

to translate accurately into Italian passages of an appropriate level of difficulty,
involving English usage of various kinds;

to express themselves fully and coherently in writing on substantial topics of
current concern;

to prepare and deliver in Italian an oral presentation on such a topic;

to reflect on the activity of translating and apply in their own translation work the
principles involved.
Transferable skills
In addition to the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory, students will
develop the ability to use information and communications technology.
Teaching and learning methods
Two weekly classes of written Italian and one weekly oral class (Written classes
comprise advanced grammar work and translation from and into Italian; oral classes
comprise the presentation and discussion of topics).
Language of teaching
Italian
Assessment
This is currently subject to review. Candidates will be advised at start of academic year.
Convenor
Stephen Milner and Elena Polisca.
Taught by
Members of staff in Italian Studies.
Maximum entry:
None.
Set textbook:
None.
Recommended reading:
69
S. Hervey, I. Higgins, S. Craigie and G. Gambarotta, Thinking Italian Translation: A
Course in Translation Method, Italian to English (London: Routledge, 2000).
A. L. and G. Lepschy, The Italian Language Today (London: Routledge, 1994).
M. Maiden and C. Robustelli, A Reference Grammar of Modern Italian (London: Arnold,
2000).
A. Proudfoot and F. Cardo, Modern Italian Grammar: a Practical Guide (London:
Routledge, 1997).
L. Renzi and G. Salvi (eds), Grande grammatica italiana di consultazione (Bologna: Il
Mulino, 1988).
Suggested dictionaries
Dizionario inglese-italiano, italiano-inglese (Turin: Paravia and Oxford University
Press, 2001).
T. De Mauro, Dizionario della lingua italiana (Turin: Paravia, 2000).
Pathway
The MA in Italian Studies.
******
ITAL30210
ITALIAN FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES
Level 3
Credits 20
Pre-requisite
ITAL20200 or ITAL20210 (This course unit is compulsory for students registered for the
following degree programmes: Single Honours in Italian Studies; A Modern Language
and Business and Management).
Taught during
Both semesters.
Timetable
A weekly hour on Mondays at 12.
Description
The aims of this course unit are:



to introduce students to the study of the language, registers and conventions used
in the world of Italian business;
to introduce them to the concepts and the lexis of Italian commerce, industry,
commercial law, finance and taxation;
to prepare them for the world of work in an Italian environment.
The unit focuses on the following topics:
 job advertisements, applications,
correspondence;
70
CVs,
interviews
and
commercial


company organization, company finance and legal aspects of industry and
commerce;
banking, investments and taxation.
The emphasis is on vocabulary, registers and conventions used in the world of business,
but not in common everyday use.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able, in an Italian context,
 to use the language spoken in the world of commerce, industry, commercial law,
finance and taxation;
 to understand job advertisements, write applications, CVs and commercial letters;
 to demonstrate a basic understanding of the recruitment and selection process and
carry out job interviews (as interviewer and interviewee);
 to demonstrate a basic understanding of how companies are organized and
financed and understand the language of business reports, accounts and financial
papers;
 to demonstrate a basic understanding of the legal terms used in the law of contract
and, in particular, the legal process associated with the conveyancing of land and
property;
 to understand the variety of banking and investment facilities that exist,
demonstrate a basic understanding of the taxation system and fill in personal
taxation forms.
Transferable skills:
In addition to the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory, students will
develop the ability to use information and communications technology.
Teaching and learning methods
A weekly lecture throughout the year (Students will be required to undertake preliminary
lexical research through the completion of worksheets in their own time).
Language of teaching
Italian.
Assessment
Coursework (40%) (comprising an assessed role-play (15%), an individual presentation
(25%)); a 1¾-hour unseen written examination (60%).
Deadlines for assessed coursework
Portfolios are to be submitted by the Thursday of week 8 in Semester 2. Role-plays and
individual presentations are carried out on specific agreed dates. Students must attend and
deliver their role-plays and presentations on the agreed dates.
Language of assessment
Italian.
Convenor
Taught by
Liliana Foligno Smith.
Liliana Foligno Smith.
71
Maximum entry
Set textbook
Pathway
25.
Materials will be provided by the teacher.
The MA in Italian Studies.
72
ITAL30000
DISSERTATION
Credits 20
Level 3
Note: This unit is being revised. Accordingly, its format and the number of credits it
is worth might change. Please ask the Italian Studies Undergraduate Support
Officer for an update on this.
Pre-requisite
ITAL20200 or ITAL20210.
Taught during
Both semesters.
Timetable
To be decided by the student and the supervisor.
Description
Many of our degree programmes allow final-year students to write, if they wish, a
dissertation in place of one of their optional taught course units. For some degree
programmes a dissertation is compulsory. (Consult the regulations of degree programmes
contained in the Programme Handbook of the School of Languages, Linguistics and
Cultures to see if a dissertation is optional or compulsory in your particular programme.)
The dissertation is a substantial piece of individual research conducted by the student,
under the guidance and supervision of a member of staff, on a subject approved
beforehand by the Academic Committee. If you wish or are required to write a
dissertation, you should make formal application to do so at the same time as you choose
your final-year options, stating the subject on which you propose to write. You should
consult your personal tutor before making the application. If your application is
approved, a member of staff will be assigned to you as your supervisor. You will discuss
the topic with the supervisor, agree a programme of research and a dissertation plan, and
submit a draft of the introduction and of the first chapter to the supervisor for comment
and approval. Students who undertake dissertations must be able to show that they have
made substantial progress on them by the start of the final year of study, if they are not to
be required to take a taught option instead. This restriction is in your own interest,
because otherwise your overall performance could be adversely affected.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the dissertation students will be able
 to work and think independently with minimal supervision;
 to conduct research using a wide range of relevant materials;
 to present the results of their research in a coherent and accessible form.
Transferable skills
Please see page 4 of the Directory.
73
Teaching and learning methods
Occasional tutorials (The nature of the supervision provided is contained in the
description above).
Assessment
A dissertation of between 8,000 and 10,000 words (100%).
Deadline for assessed coursework
The dissertation is to be submitted by the first Friday in May. If you do not hand it in by
then, you will have failed to fulfil the requirements of your degree programme.
Convenor
Spencer Pearce.
Supervised by
A member of staff, as appropriate.
Maximum entry
None.
Set textbook
None.
Pathway
The MA in Italian Studies.
74
ITAL30241
ITALIAN STYLISTICS
Credits 20
Level 3
Pre-requisite
ITAL20200 or ITAL20210.
Taught during
Semester 1.
Timetable
A weekly 1-hour lecture on Thursdays at 14.00, immediately
followed by a 1-hour tutorial.
Description
This course unit deals with the concept of style and its applications to writing and
speaking Italian. Emphasis is given to the written domain, in particular to the style of
various kinds of narrative, journalistic prose, scientific prose, and official documents. In
studying a number of types of text, we shall ascertain how stylistic variation ensures that
writing is appealing and effective, and that the communicative function of individual
texts is satisfied. The principal aims of the course are:



to provide you with an overview of stylistic variation in written Italian;
to enhance your ability to write and translate effectively;
to strengthen your command of Italian as a means of communication.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to:



appreciate the concepts of style and stylistic variation;
relate specific issues of lexical, phraseological, morphological, and syntactic
variation to the general topic of style;
differentiate and analyse a number of types of text.
Transferable skills
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching and learning methods:
The weekly lectures provide the theoretical knowledge required to differentiate, analyse
and compose various types of text. The tutorials consist of practical activities of text
analysis and composition.
Assessment
A 2-hour unseen written examination (75%). A 10-minute oral presentation (10%) and a
1,000-word written textual analysis (15%).
75
Deadline for assessed coursework:
The presentations will take place during tutorial time, starting in week 5; the textual
analysis is to be handed in on the Thursday of week 7.
Convenor
Delia Bentley.
Taught by
Delia Bentley and Francesco Ciconte.
Maximum entry
20.
Set textbooks
None.
Recommended reading
Cecilia Andorno. Linguistica testuale. (Roma, Carocci, 2003).
Massimo Birattari. Italiano: Lo stile. (Milano, Ponte alle Grazie, 2000).
Gabriele Pallotti. Scrivere per comunicare. (Milano, Bompiani, 1999).
Further materials and bibliographical references will be provided in the classes.
Pathway
The MA in Italian Studies.
76
ITAL30251
Boccaccio’s Decameron: Narrative Voices and Trecento Credits: 20
Readers
Level: 3
Co-requisite: ITAL30200 or equivalent competence in Italian.
Taught during:
Semester one.
Timetable:
Monday at 14.00 and Tuesday at 12.00
Description
Boccaccio, Petrarch and Dante constitute what are often referred to as the Tre corone of
Italian Medieval literature. Of Boccaccio’s works, the Decameron is probably the most
famous. The aim of this unit is to study the Decameron together with a selection of his
writings on literary composition and the function of story telling. The Decameron itself is
a series of one hundred short stories told over ten days and is set against the backdrop of
plague-ridden Florence. It chronicles the escape of the brigata, the ten interlocutors, into
the surrounding countryside to recount stories to each other, a process which results in a
vivid portrait of the Florentine and Italian world of the Trecento. Scurrilous, amusing,
provocative and filled with innuendo, this text is far more than a mere collection of tales.
In seeking to locate these stories within the social and political culture of late medieval
Italy and Florence, a series of key questions arise concerning the nature of the text and
the reliability of the authorial voice. Within a socio-political culture that was extremely
sensitive to verbal and general linguistic performance, the text itself needs to be assessed
in the same way as it itself assesses contemporary practices. How impartial and
trustworthy is the author himself? How does he defend fictional storytelling in the
volgare against his critics? What morality does he espouse through the medium of
amoral language? What political vision does he espouse or is the text merely a critique of
those who seek to police language and thereby social behaviour? What tips does he offer
for those driven by natural desire to transgress the unwritten rules of social propriety?
What judgement does he impose upon those who live in denial and constrain those
around them? Within a civically conscious communal polity like Trecento Florence is he
espousing a radical form of natural justice that subverts the prevailing political ideology
and cultural practices that are held to bind people together in community?
Through considering the cornice, or framework, of the novel we will aim to examine
how Boccaccio structures the narrative, how he addresses various audiences, and how, in
the stories themselves, he provides a critique of the hypocrisy of certain social classes
and the shortcomings of certain political forms, whilst also revealing the ambiguity and
partiality of his own socio-political viewpoint. This will also involve an evaluation of the
claim that Boccaccio was a proto-feminist in his championing of an autonomous realm of
female agency.
Unifying literary, political and gender issues, Boccaccio’s text remains keenly
contested and ever provocative, addressing issues still very current in literary and cultural
theory.
77
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course unit students will be able to demonstrate:
 an understanding of the four medieval senses of literary composition and meaning
 an ability to analyse Boccaccio’s text in terms of contemporary literary narrative
conventions
 an ability to juxtapose the primary text with secondary literary critical writings
 an understanding of the dynamic interface between textual production and social
relations in medieval Italy
Transferable skills:
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
A combination of lectures and student-led seminars.
Programme set out in course booklet.
Assessment: A 1,500-word commentary from the Decameron (25%), a 20-minute
assessed presentation (25%), and a 3,000 word essay (50%).
Deadlines for assessed coursework:
The commentary is to be submitted by 16:00 on the Thursday of week 8 and the essay by
16:00 on the last Thursday of the semester. Presentations will commence in week 5.
Convenor:
Prof. Stephen Milner.
Taught by:
Prof. Stephen Milner.
Max. entry:
20
Set texts:
Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron, ed. Cesare Segre (Milan: Mursia, 1974).
Recommended Texts:
Davenport, Tony, Medieval Narrative: an introduction (Oxford: OUP, 2004)
Forni, P. M., Adventures in Speech: Rhetoric and Narration in Boccaccio’s Decameron
(Philadelphia: U. of Pennsylvania Press, 1996)
Migiel, M., A Rhetoric of the ‘Decameron’ (Toronto: U. of Toronto Press, 2004)
Minnis, A. J., Medieval Theory of Authorship (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1984)
Wallace, David, Boccaccio: Decameron (Cambridge: CUP, 1991)
Pathway:
The MA in Italian Studies.
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ITAL30261
FLORENTINE CULTURE
IN THE AGE OF LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT
Credits 20
Level 3
Pre-requisite
ITAL20200 or ITAL20210
Taught during
Semester 1
Timetable
Two hours a week, on Mondays at 10.00 and Thursdays at 11.00
Description
This course unit considers notable aspects of the culture of the city of Florence in the
latter half of the fifteenth century. The focus of interest will be the ways in which the
philosophical, literary, and artistic currents in that culture come together in the
community of scholars and artists associated with the Medici family: with Cosimo and
Piero, but in particular with Lorenzo de’ Medici, de facto ruler of Florence from 1469
until his death in 1492. These creative individuals include Angelo Poliziano, Marsilio
Ficino, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Filippo Brunelleschi, Michelozzo, Donatello, and
Sandro Botticelli.
Learning outcomes
Students who satisfactorily complete the course will be able to demonstrate an
understanding of the texture of Florentine culture in the late Quattrocento; familiarity
with basic aspects of the Neoplatonic philosophy of Ficino and Giovanni Pico; an
appreciation of the vernacular poetry of Poliziano and Lorenzo; an understanding of the
nature of sculpture as exemplified in the work of Donatello; and awareness of the artistic
developments represented by the religious and secular paintings of Botticelli.
Transferable skills
Please see the transferable skills listed on p. 4 of the Directory.
Teaching and learning methods
Two groups of five lectures, each followed by a series of two practical workshops (on
such things as the analysis of texts and works of art, and the logic of argument) and three
seminars devoted to students’ oral presentations, and a concluding discussion session.
Assessment
An oral presentation (25%); a 1,500-word commentary (25%); a 3,000-word essay (50%)
Deadline for assessed coursework
The commentary is to be submitted by the Thursday of Week 7 and the essay by the
Thursday of Week 13. The presentations will begin in week 4.
79
Convenor
Spencer Pearce
Taught by
Spencer Pearce
Maximum entry
25
Set textbooks
Marsilio Ficino, Commentarium in Platonis Convivium de amore (‘Commentary on
Plato’s Symposium on Love’); an annotated English translation of selected chapters is
included in the course booklet
Lorenzo de’ Medici, Canti carnascialeschi (selections), Ambra; the texts, with
annotations, are included in the course booklet
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Oratio de hominis dignitate (‘Oration on the Dignity of
Man’); the opening paragraphs of the translation printed in Ernst Cassirer, Paul Oskar
Kristeller, and John Herman Randall, eds, The Renaissance Philosophy of Man
(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1948), pp. 223-254, are reproduced in the
course booklet; a copy of the full text can be found in the Faculty Resource Centre
Angelo Poliziano, Stanze cominciate per la giostra di Giuliano de’ Medici. An
inexpensive annotated edition is Angelo Poliziano, Stanze, Fabula di Orfeo, ed.
Stefano Carrai (Milan: Mursia, 1988); the text of the poem is freely available at
www.bibliotecaitaliana.it
Further reading
M. Allen and V. Rees (ed.), Marsilio Ficino: His Theology, His Philosophy, His Legacy
(Leiden: Brill, 2002)
C. Dempsey, The Portrayal of Love: Botticelli’s Primavera and Humanist Culture at the
Time of Lorenzo the Magnificent (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992)
J. Kraye (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Humanism (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1996)
M. Mallett and N. Mann (ed.), Lorenzo the Magnificent: Culture and Politics (London:
The Warburg Institute, 1996)
L. Secchi Tarugi (ed.), Poliziano nel suo tempo (Florence: Franco Cesati, 1996).
B. Toscani (ed.), Lorenzo de’ Medici: New Perspectives (New York: Peter Lang, 1993)
Pathway:
MA programmes in Italian Studies and European Languages and Cultures.
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ITAL30421
THE GOTHIC AND FANTASTIC IN THE LATE
NINETEENTH- AND TWENTHIETH-CENTURY
ITALIAN NOVEL
Prequisite
ITAL20200 or ITAL20210
Taught During
Semester 1
Timetable
Tuesday at 10.00 and 11:00
Credits 20
Level 3
Description
This course unit explores modes of representation of the Gothic and Fantastic genres in
Italian prose fiction during the late nineteenth and twentieth century, focusing on selected
works by I. U. Tarchetti, A. Boito, C. Boito, A. M. Ortese and D. Buzzati. Although
centred mainly on the analysis of literary texts, appropriate references will be made to
forms of intertextual borrowings from visual arts, music, and cinema. Specifically, the
unit will look primarily at issues such as forms and structures of the Gothic and Fantastic
in Italy; the relationship between the Italian and European tradition; questions of
intertextuality and rewriting texts across cultural boundaries; expressions of national
identity; borrowings and adaptations across media. Finally, texts will also be read in
relation to the political, literary, and social discourses of the day. The unit aims to provide
students with
 a detailed knowledge of the selected texts in relation to forms and structures of the
Gothic and Fantastic genres;
 an understanding of the main literary, political, and social discourses embedded in
the texts analysed;
 an insight into late nineteenth-century Italian prose writing;
 an awareness of some of the recent literary and critical debates in relation to the
chosen texts.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will have gained
 the ability to analyse selected portions of the texts, as well as to identify and
discuss their different discourses;
 an awareness of the socio-political and cultural debates related to the selected
texts;
 an understanding of late nineteenth-century Italian prose writing;
 the skills necessary to communicate ideas and sustain an argument, using relevant
critical material, in discussion, essays, and seminars.
Transferable skills
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of
the Directory.
Teaching & learning methods
A weekly two-hour lecture.
81
Assessment
A 2,000-word essay (35%); a 20-minute group presentation (25%); a 1¼-hour unseen
written examination (40%).
Deadline for assessed coursework: The essay is to be submitted by the Thursday of week
9, the presentations will take place during tutorial time (starting in week 3).
Convenor
Francesca Billiani
Taught by
Francesca Billiani
Maximum Entry
20
Set Textbooks
A. Boito, “L’alfier nero”, in G. Finzi (ed.), Racconti neri della acapigliatura (Milan:
Mondadori, 1988)
C. Boito, Senso, (Milan: Rizzoli, 1999)
D. Buzzati, Il deserto dei tartari (Milan: Rizzoli,1940)
A. M. Ortese, L’Iguana (Milan: Adelphi, 1986)
A. M. Ortese, Il cardillo addolorato (Milan: Adelphi, 1993)
I. U. Tarchetti, “Le leggende del castello nero”, “Un osso di morto”, “Uno spirito in un
lampone”, in G. Finzi (ed.), Racconti neri della scapigliatura (Milan: Mondadori, 1988)
I. U. Tarchetti, Fosca, (Milan: Mondadori, 1988)
Further reading
F. Botting, Gothic, (London: Routledge, 1996)
E. K. Ferguson, The Contested Castle: Gothic Novels and the Subversion of Domestic
Ideology (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989)
R. Jackson, Fantasy: the Literature of Subversion (London: Routledge, 1988)
T. Todorov, The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, trans. Richard
Howard (Ithaca N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1975)
Pathway
The MA in Italian Studies.
82
ITAL30432
Beyond the Text: The Book and its Body
20 credits
level 2
Pre-requisite
ITAL20200 or ITAL20210
Taught during
Semester 2
Timetable
Two hours a week. Tuesday 12:00 and Thursday 11:00
Description
This course will provide an introduction to the discipline of book history via a study of
some of the incarnations of the seminal Italian book, Dante’s Divine Comedy. Rather than
focusing on the authored text, however, we will investigate instead the material form of
the book, through manuscript, print and digital media. In this way, we can analyse both
the relationship between the text and its material form and wider issues around the
production, dissemination and reception of the book-object in various reading
communities. The course will use, where appropriate, primary material held in the John
Rylands Library (e.g., manuscripts, incunabula, early print books, etc).
Learning outcomes
Students who satisfactorily complete the course will be able to:


demonstrate an understanding of the interrelationship between changing media
and the material history of textual transmission from medieval manuscript to
modern day hypertext.
appreciate the key stages in the history of the book and the importance of
dissemination media in conditioning the literary and cultural reception of Dante’s
work.
Transferable skills
Please see the transferable skills listed on p. 4 of the Directory.
Teaching and learning methods
Two hours a week combining 5 initial lectures followed by seminars and assessed
coursework presentations.
Assessment
An oral presentation (25%); a 1,500-word commentary (25%); a 3,000-word essay
(50%).
Deadline for assessed coursework
83
The commentary is to be submitted by the Thursday of Week 7 and the essay by the
Thursday of Week 13. The presentations will begin in week 6.
Convenor
Guyda Armstrong
Taught by
Guyda Armstrong
Maximum entry
20
Set textbooks
TBC
Further reading
To follow
Pathway: The MA in Italian Studies.
84
ITAL30321
FASCIST ITALY
credits: 20
level: 3
Pre-requisite:
ITAL20200, ITAL20210 or equivalent competence in Italian.
Taught during:
Semester 2
Timetable: Wednesday 11:00 and Thursday 2:00
Description:
The first half of the course will provide a broad chronological account of the nature of
Fascist Italy. Beginning with lectures on the early career of Mussolini and the origins of
Fascism, it will trace the rise of the Fascists as a political force, before turning to their
seizure and consolidation of power. It will then examine both foreign and domestic policy
in the 1920s and 1930s, before tracing the collapse of Mussolini’s regime during the
Second World War. In the latter part of the semester, the same period will be approached
thematically, looking at issues such as race, gender, religion, the visual arts, sport and
popular culture. The course will attempt to address a central paradox in Fascist Italy, by
asking how a state that aspired to totalitarianism could permit both such cultural diversity
and so many competing challenges for the allegiance of Italians.
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course students will have developed:
● a knowledge and understanding of the key forces in shaping the nature of Italy’s
Fascist regime;
● an awareness of the debates surrounding Fascism as a political ideology in its Italian
formulation;
● an understanding of the nature and impact of Fascist policies both domestically and in
the international arena;
● an awareness of key historiographical debates surrounding Fascist Italy.
Transferable skills:
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of the Directory.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
Two contact hours per week divided between lectures, seminars and ACW presentations.
Assessment: TBC (One 3,000 word essay; one ACW presentation and one
commentary/review).
Deadlines for assessed coursework: The Thursday of week 12.
85
Convenor:
Lara Pucci.
Taught by:
Lara Pucci.
Max. entry:
20.
Set texts:
TBC.
Recommended Texts:
R.J.B. Bosworth, Mussolini’s Italy. Life under the Dictatorship. (London, 2005).
Pathway:
The MA in Italian Studies.
86
ITAL30342
POSTMODERNISM AND THE ITALIAN NOVEL
(1970-PRESENT)
Pre-requisite
ITAL20200 or ITAL20210.
Taught During
Semester 2.
Timetable
A two-hour lecture on Tuesdays at 15.00
Credits 20
Level 3
Description
This course unit examines developments in the Italian novel from the 1970s to the
present, focusing on selected works by Italo Calvino, Andrea Camilleri, Umberto Eco,
Daniele Del Giudice, and Antonio Tabucchi. The focus of the course will be on how
textual structures and categories based on genres are reworked according to the poetics of
postmodern discourse. Specifically, definitions of postmodernism will be explored as
articulated by different literary genres and textual structures. The aim of the course unit is
to analyse recurrent discursive practices such as the extensive use of inter-textual
allusion, meta-narrative structures, and parody. In this context, particular attention will be
paid to the detective story and to fantastic and historical meta-fiction. Texts will also be
read in relation to the political, literary and social discourses of the day. At the end of the
course, students will be able to discuss the impact of the debate about postmodernism on
the Italian novel. Concepts of narratology will be introduced for the analysis of narrative
technique, and use will be made of recent critical approaches to narrative theory. This
course aims to provide students with:



a detailed knowledge of major novels by key Italian authors of the twentieth
century;
an insight into the latest developments of novel writing;
an awareness of some of the recent literary, critical, and cultural debates in
relation to the selected texts.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will have demonstrated
 the ability to analyse the selected texts in detail;
 an understanding of contemporary Italian writing;
 a critical awareness of the notion of postmodernism and of narrative theory;
 the ability to communicate ideas and sustain an argument, using relevant critical
material, in discussion, essays, and seminars.
Transferable skills
Please see the transferable skills listed on page 4 of
the Directory.
87
Teaching and learning methods A two-hour weekly lecture and a fortnightly seminar.
Assessment
A 2,000-word essay (35%); a 20-minute group presentation (25%); a 1¼-hour unseen
written examination (40%)
Deadline for coursework
The group presentation will take place during tutorial hours
(starting in week 3), the essay is to be submitted by the Thursday of week 9.
Convenor
Francesca Billiani
Taught by
Francesca Billiani
Maximum entry
20
Set texts
Italo Calvino, Le città invisibili (Turin: Einaudi, 1972)
Italo Calvino, Il castello dei destini incrociati (Turin: Einaudi, 1973)
Andrea Camilleri, Il birraio di Preston (Palermo: Sellerio, 1995)
Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa (Milan: Bompiani, 1980)
Daniele Del Giudice, Lo stadio di Wimbledon (Turin: Einaudi, 1983)
Antonio Tabucchi, Requiem (Milan: Feltrinelli, 1986)
Antonio Tabucchi, Il filo dell’orizzonte (Milan: Feltrinelli, 1992)
Further reading
Linda Hutcheon, A Poetics of Postmodernism. History, Theory, and Fiction (London:
Routledge, 1988)
Pathway
EL7011/7022 Critical Theory.
88
LALC30011
Topics in Translation Studies
credits: 10
level: 3
Pre-requisite:
This course is open to final-year post A-Level students in the School
of Languages Linguistics and Cultures who did SL2303 in their
second year.
Taught during:
Semester 1
Timetable:
General Lecture: Tuesday, 2-3pm (weekly)
Language-specific seminars (fortnightly)
Language-specific seminar groups to be arranged: students should
consult the language discipline noticeboards on Floor 3 of
Humanities Lime Grove.
Provisional Lecture Timetable
W1
Translation Studies: Course Overview
Professor Mona Baker
W2
Translation and Advertising (I)
Dr Luis Perez-Gonzalez
W3
Translation and Advertising (II)
Dr Luis Perez-Gonzalez
W4
Translation and Cinema (I)
Dr Nuria Triana-Toribio
W5
Translation and Cinema (II)
Dr Nuria Triana-Toribio
W6
READING WEEK
No lecture
W7
Translation and Computers (I): Localization Issues
Dr Maeve Olohan
W8
Translation and Computers (II): Localization Issues
Dr Maeve Olohan
W9
Translation and Intertextuality (I)
Dr Siobhan Brownlie
W10
Translation and Intertextuality (II)
Dr Siobhan Brownlie
W11
Translation and Religion (I)
Dr Alan Williams (School of Arts, Histories and Cultures)
W12
Translation and Religion (II)
Dr Alan Williams
Description:
This course has been designed to supplement the SL2302 unit, thus
offering the students the opportunity to pursue their study and
practice of translation as a professional activity across a wide range
of media and genres. Students will be conceptually equipped to
translate texts which are sensitive because of artistic, commercial or
religious reasons, and become familiar with the strategies required to
deal with linguistic and cultural transference in these fields. Topics
89
covered include the translation of promotional texts, screen
translation (cinema and computers, with emphasis on the localization
of software and website contents), translation of religious texts and
the role of intertextuality in translation. Language-specific seminars
will involve the analysis, discussion and translation of material
relevant to the topics listed above.
Learning outcomes: On successful completion of this course unit,
students will have:






shown sufficient understanding of the linguistic and cultural
factors which have a bearing on written communication across
sensitive media and genres;
enhanced their capacity to identify difficulties involved in the
translation of such linguistic and cultural issues, as well their
competence to come up with solutions for such intricacies;
improved translation skills related to specific language pairs;
deepened their understanding of professional translation
practice;
demonstrated an ability to evaluate the work of other
translators on an informed basis;
demonstrated an ability to argue knowledgeably for or against
specific translation choices.
Transferable skills: On successful completion of the course unit,
students will have developed further their ability to:




work independently;
think and argue critically and coherently;
present information in a convincing and accessible manner;
write clearly and effectively at a high level of intellectual
competence in English.
Teaching & Learning Methods:
1-hour weekly lecture, 1-hour fortnightly seminar.
Languages of Teaching: English (lectures) and the relevant foreign
language to each specific combination (language-specific seminars).
Assessment:
One 2-hour exam consisting of an analysis of translation issues
relating to texts taken from each of the main languages taught in
SLLC, as appropriate.
Languages of Assessment: English and the relevant foreign language
to each specific combination.
Convenor:
TBA
Taught by:
Lectures
90
Professor Mona Baker.
Dr Siobhan Brownlie
Dr Maeve Olohan
Dr Luis Pérez-González
Dr Nuria Triana Toribio
Dr Alan Williams, School of Arts, Histories and Cultures
Seminars
French
Dr Siobhan Brownlie
German
Angelika Krawanja
Italian
Spencer Pearce
Spanish
Tba
Max. entry:
30, each language
Recommended Texts:
Translation and Advertising

Beverly Adab & Cristina Valdés (eds), Key Debates in the
Translation of Advertising Material, special issue of The
Translator, 10:2 (2004).

Guy Cook, The Discourse of Advertising (London: Routledge,
1992).

Michael Cronin, Translation and Globalization (London &
New York: Routlege, 2003).

Angela Goddard, The Language of Advertising: Written Texts
(London & New York: Routledge, 2002).

Gunther Kress & Theo van Leeuwen, Reading Images: The
Grammar of Visual Design (London & New York: Routledge,
1996).
Translation and Cinema

Josephine Dries, Dubbing and Subtitling. Guidelines for
Production and Distribution (Düsseldorf: The European
Institute for the Media, 1995).

István Fodor, Film Dubbing: Phonetic, Semiotic, Aesthetic and
Psychological Aspects (Hamburg: Helmut Buske, 1976).

Yves Gambier (ed.), Screen Translation, special issue of The
Translator, 9: 2 (2003).

Yves Gambier & H. Gottlieb (eds), (Multi)Media Translation,
Concepts, Practices and Research (Amsterdam &
Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing, 2001).
91



Jan Ivarsson, Subtitling for the Media. A Handbook of an Art.
Stockholm: TransEdit, 1992).
Fotios Karamitrouglou, Towards a Methodology for the
Investigation of Norms in Audiovisual Translation (Amsterdam
& Atlanta: Rodopi, 2000).
C. Whitman, Through the Dubbing Glass (Frankfurt: Peter
Lang, 1992).
Translation and Computers

Frank Austermühl, Electronic Tools for Translators
(Manchester: St Jerome, 2001).

Bert Esselink, A Practical Guide to Localization (Amsterdam:
John Benjamins Publishing, 2000).

Minako O’Hagan, Translation-mediated Communication in a
Digital World (Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2002).
Translation and Religion

Alan Williams, ‘New Approaches to the Problem of
Translation in the Study of Religion’, in Peter Antes, Armin W.
Geertz, Randi R. Warne (eds), New Approaches to the Study of
Religion, Volume 2: Textual, Comparative, Sociological and
Cognitive Approaches (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2004), pp.
13-44.

Timothy Wilt, Bible Translation Frames of Reference (St
Jerome Publishing: Manchester, 2003).
Pathway:
MA in Translation Studies
92