Reading and composition course based on works by Italians and foreigners about Italy and its culture and by Italians about their distinctive experiences of other cultures as tourists and emigrants. Works studied will be primarily chosen from among fiction and non fiction narratives, both originally in English and translated into it. R5A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition Requirement and R5B satisfies the second half.

In this course, we will hone our critical thinking and analytical writing skills by engaging with texts that narrowly escaped the pen of the censor and the bonfire of the zealot. If regimes of censorship have routinely blanketed the full gamut of semiotic communication in Italy, from the fanatical surveillance of the authorities of the Counter-Reformation to those in power during Italy’s twenty years of Fascism (c. 1922-1943), the print book—particularly those books containing world-changing ideas and newfangled fictions—holds pride of place in disrupting and evading this cyclical phenomenon. Bans on books promulgating new ideas have endured for centuries, however, with some lists of banned titles stretching to absurd lengths: the 1948 Index Librorum Prohibitorum or “Index of Forbidden Books” contains more than 4000 titles prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church. It is thus unsurprising that many of the most celebrated literary objects of Italian origin, such as Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata, are themselves the products of extremely censorious editorial histories. Other famous fictions, like Ariosto's Orlando furioso, or even Rossellini's Roma città aperta, drew the ire of censors outside Italy. As we read from these and many other formerly forbidden classics, we will explore why they were pulled from shelves, expurgated, or became the subject of heated controversies that unmistakably resemble those over free speech and ‘cancel culture’ today. In order to assist our thinking about these banned objects, we will also incorporate the work of historians (Palmer, Pirillo, Fragnito, Marcus, Celati, et al.) whose scholarship exposes the arbitrariness underlying many acts of print censorship, as well as its futility, the failure of censors to do away with pleasant fictions or to restrict the flow of information. And as we read from works of art that defied decorum and escaped the bonfire, we will ask why it is that many other texts were not so fortunate, and what it is about literature that makes the censor howl. This course is designed to prepare students for close reading and analytical writing at a college level. Assignments include two longer expository essays, smaller weekly reflective compositions, and a handful of group projects and writing workshops. For students’ convenience, all English translations of primary texts will be provided as digital scans on the bCourse. Physical editions, audiobooks, and accessible formats will be suggested on the syllabus.

Requisites

• Previously passed an R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Previously passed an articulated R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Score a 4 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature. Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition. Score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in English.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills