“Esilio e cittadinanza FRIT M450, Fall 2012; TR 2:30–3:45pm; Instructor: H. Wayne Storey

The notion of identity cuts across “categories of belonging”, among others: family, place, class, profession, linguistic association. Separation from those sources of identity and new loyalties cause humankind to reevaluate the very foundations of their own development as well as the moral and political nature of their collective education and experience. One of the core motifs of Italian literature reflects the very real experience of losing one’s homeland and/or citizenship, often causing some of Italy’s greatest literary soul-searching through exile, invasion and reconstruction. From Dante Alighieri to Roberto Saviano, questions of belonging have been addressed ultimately as inner-journeys of dangerous truths and our willingness to speak them. This course examines four periods of “crisis in belonging” in selected works primarily of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), Veronica Franco (1546–1591), Ugo Foscolo (1778–1827), Roberto Saviano (b. 1979).