Francesca Melandri: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2023 |
| Name | Ms Francesca Melandri |
| Address | Charlotte Meisner Clausiusstr. 59, RZ H 12 Literatur- u. Kulturwiss., Kilche 8092 Zürich SWITZERLAND |
| Department | Humanities, Social and Political Sciences |
| Relationship | Visiting Professor |
| Number | Title | ECTS | Hours | Lecturers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 851-0358-00L | If History Has the Keys to My House  | 3 credits | 2V | F. Melandri | |
| Abstract | In this course we will explore the relationship between literary ideation - in its expression through language and narrative of affective, intimate and relational experiences, that is, of human experience-and the historical and political reality of the societies in which each of us is given to live. | ||||
| Learning objective | Participants will be guided to develop the research and work plan for a personal writing project (full drafting of which is not included in the course and is optional). | ||||
| Content | In this course we will explore the relationship between literary ideation - in its expression through language and narrative of affective, intimate and relational experiences, that is, of human experience-and the historical and political reality of the societies in which each of us is given to live. Frontal contextual lectures on specific themes of Italian history-from the relationship between linguistic minorities and the central state, to the terrorism of the years of lead, to colonialism and migration-will provide the basis for the description of the working methodology behind Francesca Melandri's literary production: research, interviews, study of texts and in archives, elaboration of characters, creation of plots, use of language, and so on. These will be alternated with lectures that will take the form of a group workshop, where students will be guided to organize the work plan for a project of their own that stems from the question: in what way - spectacular or stealthy - did the great History enter our homes? Participants will be guided to develop the research and work plan for this personal writing project (full drafting of which is not included in the course and is optional). It may be non-fiction, memoiristic or narrative, and will aim to explore aspects of the history and politics of one's own community, in whatever sense one understands - country, city, neighborhood, social group, or other - through the lens of private life and affect. In the final paper, not only the questions underlying the future research should be defined, but also the work plan necessary to produce it: bibliography, study materials, descriptions of the necessary site visits, planning of interviews with witnesses, interlocutors and experts; dramaturgical elaboration (in the case of a narrative paper) ... The topic of each project will be freely chosen by each participant, and the progress of the work plan will be discussed together in class. Special emphasis, in choosing these topics, will be given to exploring the blind zones in narratives, both private and collective: in omissions, implicit, ellipses. We will be guided by the knowledge that the most powerful traces left by History in human beings and communities are found in their silences. | ||||