Italian Literary Masterpieces: a study on great authors of Sicily

 

The courses offered focus on the Italian history and fine literature viewed through masterpieces translated into English, beginning with great books about Sicily by renowned authors as Giseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Leonardo Sciascia, Giovanni Verga and Giovanni Pirandello.

 

The upcoming Winter Session – running from October 22nd  to December 13th – is titled “Sicily in Translation”, with the world celebrated work The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi  di Lampedusa at the core of the activity and in-depth examination.

 

The novel, that chronicles the happenings in Sicilian society during the Risorgimento,  published in 1958 by Feltrinelli became the top-selling novel in Italian history and is considered one of the most important novels in modern Italian literature.

In 2012, The Observer named it as one of “The 10 best historical novels”. The novel was also made into an award-winning 1963 film of the same name, directed by Luchino Visconti and starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon.

 

This session is dived in eight weekly parts, each one will explore a different side of the Salina family, and the aristocratic life of Sicily during the late 19th century:

 

Part 1 – May 1860 – A historic view of  Italian unification, Meet Don Fabrizio, Prince of Salina.

Part 2 – August 1860 – The Salina family moves to their summer residence.

Arrival of nephew Tancredi, an officer in Garibaldi’s army.

Part 3 – October 1860 – The new politics and class upheaval. Tancredi falls in love.

Part 4 – November 1860 – Aristocratic tradition and the new reality

Part 5 – February 1861 – Religion and the new reality

Part 6 – November 1862 – The Grand Ball

Part 7 – July 1883 – Don Fabrizio, Prince of  Salina, becomes ill

Part 8 – May 1910 – Remembering the past and looking towards the future

 

The following Spring Session, Sicily and the Tragedy of Poverty, will take place on January 7 till the end February, 2013, focusing on two of the most important Sicilian authors ever: Giovanni Verga and Luigi Pirandello.

 

Verga was an Italian realist (Verismo) writer, best known for his depictions of life in Sicily, and especially for the short story  – and later play – Cavalleria Rusticana and the novel I Malavoglia (The House by the Medlar Tree).

 

While Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his “bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage”. Pirandello’s works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written in Sicilian. Pirandello’s tragic farces are often seen as forerunners for Theatre of the Absurd.

 

The Spring Session II scheduled on the months of March and April, 2013, will highlight  the most controversial and largely depicted aspect of the famous island: “Sicily and the Mafia”

Leonardo Sciascia, Sicilian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright and politician will be the protagonist of this session. Some of his works have been made into films, including Open Doors (1990) and Il giorno della civetta (1968).

 

The Museo ItaloAmericano is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to Italian and Italian-American art and culture. Established in 1978, the Museo Italo Americano is a non-profit institution governed by a Board of Directors.

The mission of the Museo ItaloAmericano is twofold: to research, collect, and display works of Italian and Italian-American artists, and to promote educational programs for the appreciation of Italian art and culture, thereby preserving the heritage of Italian-Americans for future generations.

 

The course Italian Literary Masterpieces in Translation will be taught in English on Tuesdays from 1:00 – 3:00 pm. For more information visit http://museoitaloamericano.org/

October 22-December 13, 2012

8 week session

Members    $ 175             

Non-Members    $  225

Museo Italo Americano

Fort Mason Center, Bldg C

San Francisco, CA  94123

415 673-2200

Information provided by Museo Italo Americano of San Francisco