Introductory description

Should we judge books by their covers? The module aims to explore this question considering what books, in their material and digital forms, can reveal of history, society and the publishing field. Looking at Italian works and translations of American classics published in Italy from the second half of the Nineteenth century to the 2000s, this module will focus on the central role of book covers, illustrations, series etc - the so called paratext - as a place of direct contact between readers and publishers. Here, marketing strategies as well as the social, historical and political context play a key role in mediating literary texts.

Students will develop a detailed knowledge of the history of publishing in Italy in this time frame, and will be encouraged to reflect on the role of key historical moments and authors in shaping the Italian publishing field. The analysis of the texts and the awareness of the dynamics of the publishing field will allow the students to design their final project where they will themselves become publishers of a new book edition.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1 Introduction to history of the book, history of publishing and sociology of the publishing field.
Week 2: From post-unitarian Italy to the 1930s: La capanna dello zio Tom, representing race for different audiences
Week 3: Illustrating gender under the Fascist regime: Piccole Donne from drawings to photographs
Week 4: Post-war Italy. Inside a publishing house: Einaudi
Week 5: Primo Levi and Italo Calvino: prefaces
Week 6: Reading week
Week 7: Transnational writers: marketing from the 1990s to nowadays
Week 8: Elena Ferrante: a worldwide publishing phenomenon from paper to screen
Week 9: Practical session on publishing software. How to write a book introduction/preface
Week 10: Final session. Retracing all the steps to create a new edition

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Level 6: The ability to critically analyse and evaluate texts in the target language by applying key theoretical concepts in relation to the history of publishing, the publishing field and the paratext
• Level 6: To demonstrate a sophisticated and systematic understanding of the history of publishing in Italy from the 1850s to the 2000s and reflect on the role of the visual and written paratext in this time frame
• Level 6: Build on the research and written skills and present ideas in a variety of forms to specialist and non-specialist audiences
• Level 6: To demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of the history of publishing in Italy from the 1850s to the 2000s and reflect on the role of the visual and written paratext in this time frame
• Level 6: Apply and extend their knowledge to create their own book edition
• Level 6: Demonstrate research skills and digital literacy skills in both English and the target language
• Level 6: Demonstrate relevant IT skills
• Level 6: Carry on independent research to create their own book edition
• Level 5: The ability to critically analyse texts in the target language by applying key theoretical concepts in relation to the history of publishing, the publishing field and the paratext
• Level 5: Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of key features of understanding of the history of publishing in Italy from the 1850s to the 2000s and reflect on the role of the visual and written paratext in this time frame
• Level 5: Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of the history of publishing in Italy from the 1850s to the 2000s and reflect on the role of the visual and written paratext in this time frame
• Level 5: Build on the research and written skills and present ideas in a variety of forms to specialist and non-specialist audiences
• Level 5: Apply and extend their knowledge to create their own book edition
• Level 5: Demonstrate research skills and digital literacy skills in both English and the target language
• Level 5: Demonstrate relevant IT skills
• Level 5: Carry on independent research to create their own book edition

Indicative reading list

Batchelor, Kathryn, Translation and paratexts (Boca Raton: Routledge, 2018)
Birke, Dorothee, and Birte Christ, Paratext and Digitized Narrative: Mapping the Field, Narrative 21, no. 1 (2013): 65-87
Bonciarelli, Sarah, ‘Page Composing and Lettering Games: Experimentation in Italy in the 1930s’, Authorship, 2.1 (2012)
Bonsaver, Guido, Censorship and Literature in Fascist Italy (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007)
Bourdieu, Pierre, In Other Words: Essays Towards a Reflexive Sociology (Cambridge: Polity, 1990)
Bourdieu Pierre, The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993)
Chartier, Roger, Forms and Meanings : Texts, Performances, and Audiences from Codex to Computer (Philadeplhia, University of Pensilvanya Press, 2010)
Dagnino, Arianna, Transcultural Writers and Novels in the Age of Global mobility (Purdue University Press, 2015)
Dunnett, Jane, The ‘Mito Americano’ and Italian Literary Culture Under Fascism (Rome: Aracne, 2015)
Ferretti Giancarlo, Storia dell'editoria letteraria in Italia : 1945-2003 (Turin, Einaudi, 2004)
Forgacs, David, and Gundle, Stephen, Mass Culture and Italian Society from Fascism to the Cold War (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2007)
Gerard Genette, Paratexts: thresholds of interpretation (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997)
Gordon, Robert, Which Holocaust? Primo Levi and the field of Holocaust memory in Post-War Italy, Italian Studies, 61.1, 85-113
Hallamore Caesar, Ann, Romani, Gabriella, and Burns Jennifer, The printed media in fin-de-siècle Italy : publishers, writers, and readers (London: Legenda, 2011)
Mangoni, Luisa, Pensare i libri: la casa editrice Einaudi dagli anni Trenta agli anni Sessanta, Turin: Bollati Boringhieri, 1999)
Mauceri Maria Cristina, Editoria e scrittori transculturali in Italia, Mondi Migranti, 3, 254-54, 2017
Nottola Francesca, The Einaudi Publishing House and Fascist Policy on Translations, in Rundle C., Sturge K. (eds) Translation Under Fascism (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2010)
Pugliese S.G., Trauma/Transgression/Testimony, in: Pugliese S.G. (eds) The Legacy of Primo Levi. Italian and Italian American Studies. (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2005)
Rundle, Christopher, Publishing Translations in Fascist Italy (Bern: Peter Lang, 2010)
Soddu, Paoloa, ed., Giulio Einaudi nell’editoria di cultura del Novecento italiano (Florence: Olschki, 2015)
Thoburn, Nicholas, Anti-book. On the art and politics. On the art and politics of radical publishing (Minneapolis, University Of Minnesota Press, 2016)
Troiano, Sergio, Calvino editore. Riflessione sui paratesti calviniani, Incontri: Rivista Europea di Studi Italiani, 30.1, 34-45 (2015)
Sapiro, Gisèle, ‘The Literary Field between the State and the Market’, Poetics, 31 (2003), 441–64
Wolf, Michaela, and Fukari, Alexandra, eds, Constructing a Sociology of Translation
(Amsterdam; Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins, 2007)

International

All modules delivered in SMLC are necessarily international. Students engage with themes and ideas from a culture other than that of the UK and employ their linguistic skills in the analysis of primary materials from a non-Anglophone context. Students will also be encouraged to draw on the experiences of visiting exchange students in the classroom and will frequently engage with theoretical and critical frameworks from across the world.

Subject specific skills

This module will develop students’ linguistic skills through engaging with primary materials in the target language. It will build students’ capacity to engage with aspects of Italian culture through analysis of this primary material and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students’ awareness of Within and beyond books: theory, history and practice will be enhanced through lectures and seminars which engage in scholarship in the field.

Transferable skills

All SMLC culture modules demand critical and analytical engagement with artefacts from target-language cultures. In the course of independent study, class work and assessment students will develop the following skills: written and oral communication, creative and critical thinking, problem solving and analysis, time management and organisation, independent research in both English and their target language(s), intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between languages and cultures, ICT literacy in both English and the target language(s), personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.