Unit information: Primo Levi in 2009/10

Unit name	Primo Levi
Unit code	ITAL29006
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Professor. Duncan
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Italian
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

Primo Levi is probably the best-known and most-widely read Italian writer of the twentieth-century. Outside of Italy, Levi is seen as perhaps the major voice in Holocaust writing. He was the author of a rich body of work that was indelibly marked by his experience of Auschwitz, but also by his professional expertise as a scientist and by the secular Piedmontese Jewish tradition in which he grew up. This unit will offer students an introduction to Levi's work focussing on his major thematic and ethical concerns and examining how he deals with them in different literary genres. The question of Levi's reception is an integral element of the unit.

Aims:

• To introduce students to a significant body of knowledge of a complexity appropriate to second year level. The content matter will normally include one or more of the following: literature; social, cultural or political history; linguistics; cultural studies; film, television or other media.

• To facilitate students engagement with a body of literature, including secondary literature, texts, including in non-print media, primary sources and ideas as a basis for their own analysis and development. Normally many or most of these sources will be in a language other than English and will enhance the development of their linguistic skills.

• To develop further skills of synthesis, analysis and independent research, building on the skills acquired in units at level C.

• Some options may prepare students for the experience of the Year Abroad.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful students will:

• be knowledgeable about a significant cultural, historical or linguistic subject related to the language they are studying;

• be skilled in the selection and synthesis of relevant material;

• be able to evaluate and analyse relevant material from a significant body of source materials, usually in a foreign language, at a high level;

• be able to respond to questions or problems by presenting their independent judgements in an appropriate style and at an high level of complexity;

• be able to transfer these skills to other working environments, including study at a foreign university and on work placements during the year abroad.

Teaching Information

1 x 2 hour weekly.

Assessment Information

2,500 word essay (75%), 15 minute oral presentation (25%).

Reading and References

Set texts (for purchase):

• Primo Levi:

Se questo � un uomo (1947) Il sistema periodico (1975)

Students will also be required to read a selection of short stories, poetry, and interviews available in the Department.

Set film texts (available in the Library):

• F. Rosi, La tregua (1997)

• D. Ferrario, La strada di Levi (2006)

Introductory bibliography:

• Marco Belpoliti (ed.) Primo Levi: conversazioni e interviste (Turin: 1997)

• Robert Gordon, Primo Levis Ordinary Virtues (Oxford: 2006)

		The Cambridge Companion to Primo Levi (Cambridge: 2007)