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.

Here at UC Berkeley, home to a myriad of cultures and languages, many of us are accustomed to “switching” languages in our everyday lives, whether in speaking or in writing. In this class, by critically reflecting on our own experiences as speakers and writers who often intermix languages (dialects, accents, black languages, among others), we will ask and discuss what is the relationship between us and our own language or languages and how it shapes our identity. As this self-reflection will accompany us throughout the semester, we will examine a variety of texts by writers who took the radical choice of crossing linguistic and cultural constraints and moving across languages within the Italian context, a practice which in some cases reveals an embracing of Italian language and Italianness and, in others, a renunciation. A wide range of texts are included, including literary works (e.g., Amara Lakhous, Jhumpa Lahiri, Francesca Marciano, Igiaba Scego), movies (e.g., Shun Li and the Poet, Bicycles thieves), songs (e.g., hip hop by Afroitaliani), advertisements, and the Italian language textbooks used in Italy’s former colony Somalia. How do we define all of these varieties of writers and their texts? Stephen G. Kellman, in his book Switching Languages defines them translingual and “prodigies of the world literature” for their ability to transcend cultural boundaries and express themselves in verbal systems other than their own. By definition, trans-lingual writers–as borne out by the prefix trans–move in and out of languages by writing their work in more than one language, or in a language other than their ‘native’ tongue. During the semester, we will address the following questions, but not limited to them: why do translingual writers decide to embark on such a difficult task of writing in a language different from their ‘native’ one? What effect does switching languages have on their identity? What is the result for us readers? Also, what role do they play in shifting and reshaping a country's national identity? By proposing readings which show Italy to be a multilingual and multicultural space in constant transformation, we will challenge the stereotypical notions of Italian identity as one only characterized by monolingualism, whiteness, and Christianity. Through the lens of Italian translingualism, we will challenge the notion that Italian identity is restricted to the national site of “Italy” and reimagine Italy as a transnational space that extends beyond its geopolitical borders. This course will mainly focus on exploring forms of contemporary translingualism, including literature of migration and postcolonial writing, among others, but it will also examine a few excerpts from Italian authors who belong to the Italian literary canon. A particular example is that of Dante, the poet in the XIII century who is officially known as the 'father of Italian literature' who wrote in vernacular Florentine, a work, The Divine Comedy, that contains many elements of translingualism. As we look at some 'traditional' pieces of Italian literature, we will re-discover Italy as a geographical space that has always been a hub for cultural and linguistic encounters and mixing, not only recently. Ultimately, the analysis of Italian translingualism will enable students to reflect on other cases of translingualism throughout the world, including the United States and countries related to the diverse family backgrounds of our class members. The semester will be filled with a variety of short assignments and response papers, but you will receive a letter grade based on the two projects and portfolio, which consists of revising and improving some pages you wrote during the semester. Students should purchase the following two primary texts: Jhumpa Lahiri, In Other Words, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016 Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio (trans. Ann Goldstein), New York: Europa Edition (BILINGUAL EDITION), 2021 Other readings, films, songs and other course material will be provided by the instructor. Among these: Excerpts from Amelia Rosselli. Diary in Three Tongues; Igiaba Scego. My Home Is Where I Am; Helga Schneider. The Bonfire Of Berlin; Francesca Marciano. The Other Language. Also included may be selections of writing by Ali Mumin Ahad, Stephen G. Kellman, Gloria Anzaldúa, Camilla Hawthorne, among others. Film: Boots Riley. Sorry to Bother you; Pooly Steely. Let me go; Andrea Segre. Shun Li and The Poet. Vittorio De Sica. Bicycle Thieves.

Requisites

• Satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing Requirement.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills