Italian Masters Program

The Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese offers a course of studies leading to the M.A. degree in Italian Literature. For many of our students it is the first stage in the preparation for a doctorate. Students holding the M.A. in Italian from the University of Virginia have a very high probability of acceptance into the best Ph.D. programs anywhere. The Italian program has specific strengths in textual criticism, Dante studies, the literature of the Renaissance and the Baroque age, 19th century authors, and contemporary, modern, and avant-garde poetry and prose. A very distinctive feature of the program is its emphasis on interdisciplinary and cultural studies, including artistic and literary interrelations, historical studies, film and women’s studies, and the use of technology in the humanities.

Applicants to the Master’s Program in Italian must have a B.A. in Italian from an accredited institution (in Italian Language, Literature, or “Studies”) or its equivalent; equivalence is evaluated by the graduate faculty in Italian. The B.A. curriculum must be similar in content to the degree offered by the University of Virginia. Applications must be accompanied by two academic letters of reference, by the results of the GRE and (for non-native speakers of English) the TOEFL tests, and by a sample of the applicant’s writing in Italian. Fluency in both English and Italian is an overriding requirement; scholarly promise is the highest consideration in the admission process. To apply to the Master’s Program in Italian, complete an on-line UVA Graduate Application . Applications for admission are normally due by December 1); decisions on admission and financial support are usually made by the end of March.

Graduate Admissions

For more information, visit our Graduate Admissions page or contact the director of graduate studies, Professor Enrico Cesaretti .

Requirements for the M.A. Degree:

Conditions for granting the M.A. degree in Italian Literature include:

• A total of 30 hours or ten courses completed within two years or four academic semesters (an extension for a fifth semester can be granted for a valid reason). These courses must include SPAN 821, a pedagogy course, at least two period courses, at least two seminars, and no more than two 500-level courses. Only courses passed with a B or better count as part of this requirement.

• A grade of “Pass” or “High Pass” on the Master’s Examination (“Low Pass” and “Failure” require partial repetition of the exam). The Master’s examination consists of a written and an oral part. Candidates will prepare for it using the Program’s Reading List, which covers major works from all periods of Italian literature. There will be two three-hour written exams (on different days); one with a choice of questions on literature written before 1600, and the other from after 1600. In the one-hour oral exam, candidates will be questioned on areas they have not discussed in the written exams. All three portions of the exam will be separately evaluated and may be repeated once.

• A Master’s Thesis accepted by two graduate faculty members. The topic of the Master’s Thesis shall be agreed upon by the author and the director. The thesis can be an acceptably revised class paper. Its length and nature must be accepted by the two readers.

Teaching Assistantships

Teaching experience is an important part of the training offered by the M.A. program. Virtually all entering graduate students are granted financial support in the form of Teaching Assistantships. Teaching Assistants currently receive from $17,300 to $17,600 as a nine-month stipend. Financial support is normally renewable. Students who are awarded Assistantships do not pay any tuition, and receive health insurance. In addition, graduate students are usually employed in Summer School Italian courses and the Summer Foreign Language Institute in Charlottesville. Students enrolled in the program are also eligible to compete for the Italian House directorship.

Teaching Assistants teach six class hours of Italian per week: five hours of supervised elementary language instruction, and one devoted to office hours. The Teaching Assistants work closely with the Coordinator, Prof. Emily Scida, who also teaches the required Pedagogy course. Texts, methods, exercises, assignments, and tests are standardized in all courses (1TAL 101, 102, 201, and 202) taught by the Teaching Assistants. The Department offers an orientation session during the week before the beginning of classes in September: all new Teaching Assistants are required to attend.

h2.Reading List – Revised Spring 2009

In order to successfully pass the masters exams, the candidate will be expected to demonstrate not only familiarity with the works themselves and their authors, but also a general acquaintance with the major movements and developments in Italian literature, culture, and history, especially as they pertain to the works on the list. We therefore strongly recommend that the candidate consult an authoritative history of Italian literature, such as the Cambridge History of Italian Literature, ed. Brand and Pertile (1999), or Storia della letteratura italiana by Giulio Ferroni, 4 vols., (Milano: Einaudi, 1991).

All texts on the list should be read in Italian. Unless specified as “sel.,” (selections), a work must be read in its entirety. When selections are indicated, those given in any good multi-volume anthology should suffice. See professors for suggestions on reliable anthologies.

We invite all the candidates to consult the faculty any time they have questions about any aspect of this list—e.g. the choice of selections or editions—or about the M.A. exams.

1200-1300

San Francesco d’Assisi – “Cantico di frate Sole”
Jacopone da Todi- sel.
Guido Guinizelli – sel.
Guido Cavalcanti – sel.
Dante – Vita Nuova, Commedia
Petrarca – Canzoniere (at least 50 poems)
Boccaccio – Decameron – Cornice, and at least 3 stories from each of the ten days
1400
Pico della Mirandola – De hominis dignitate (Dignità dell’uomo) – sel.
Ficino – Theologia platonica – sel.
Valla – Elegantiae linguae latinae – sel.
Alberti, Della famiglia – sel.
Pulci – Morgante – Canto I, octaves 20-48; Canto XVIII, 112-182; Canto XXVII, 50-70
Lorenzo de’ Medici –
——- Rime, sel.
——- La Nencia da Barberino (Volpi mss.)
——- Comento ad alcuni sonetti d’amore, sel.
——- Corinto
——- Canzoni a ballo, sel.
——- Canti carnascialeschi, sel. including “La canzona di Bacco”
Poliziano – Stanze per la giostra

1500

Vasari – Le vite dei più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architetti
Machiavelli – Principe, Mandragola
Castiglione – Il Cortegiano, Books I and IV
Ariosto – Orlando Furioso
Tasso – Gerusalemme Liberata – selected cantos, including I (Proemio); II (Olindo e Sofronia); III (Clorinda e Tancredi); IV (Armida); VI (Argante e Tancredi, la fuga di Erminia); XVI (il giardino incantato); XVIII (la presa di Gerusalemme).
Selected rime of Michelangelo, Della Casa, Stampa, and Colonna

1600

Marino – Adone, Cantos I, 1-58; III, 156-161; V, 1-7, 112-151; VI, 1-76, 79-98; VIII in its entirety; X, 168-184; XVIII in its entirety; XIX, 307-404.
I poeti barocchi / marinisti: selections from Stigliani, Achillini, Ciro di Pers
Galileo – Il Saggiatore, sel.; Il Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo, sel.
Campanella – La città del sole

1700

Goldoni – Two plays from following list:
——- La locandiera
——- La famiglia dell’antiquario
——- La bottega del caffè
——- Il teatro comico
——- I rusteghi
——- Il sior Todero Brontolon
Alfieri – Vita, sel.; either Saul or Mirra
Parini- Il giorno, the following selections (may be found in Marti-Varanini anthology)
——-“Il Mattino” vv. 33-157 “Il risveglio del Giovin Signore” vv. 1054-1083 “L’impuro sangue”
——-“Il Mezzogiorno” vv. 250-328 “La favola del Piacere” vv. 448-556 “La vergine cuccia”
——-‘Il Vespro” vv. 457-510 “La nobil coppia al corso”
——-“La Notte” vv. 1-60 “Notte antica e notte moderna”
Beccaria – Dei delitti e delle pene

1800-1900

Foscolo – Sepolcri; Jacopo Ortis
Leopardi – Idilli; La ginestra; dalle Operette morali: “Dialogo della Natura e di un Islandese,” “Il Copernico,” “Storia del genere umano”
Manzoni – Promessi sposi
Verga – I Malavoglia; selected novelle, including Rosso malpelo, La lupa, L’amante di Gramigna, Cavalleria rusticana, Storie del castello di Trezza
Pascoli – selected poetry including at least the following: from Myricae, “Arano,” “Novembre,” “Lavandare,” ‘Temporale,” “L’assiuolo,” “Il lampo;” from Poemetti, “Digitale purpurea,” “La siepe;” from Canti di Castelvecchio, “Il gelsomino notturno,” “Casa mia.”

D’Annunzio – Il piacere; selected poetry, including at least the following from Le Laudi (Alcyone): “La sera fiesolana,” “La pioggia nel pineto,” “Meriggio,” “Versilia,” “I pastori.”
Marinetti – Da: Teoria e invenzione futurista (tutti i manifesti discussi in classe); Re Baldoria; Mafarka il futurista; La cucina futurista.
Palazzeschi – Il codice di Perelà; : Riflessi; La piramide;; selected poetry.
Pirandello – Il Fu Mattia Pascal; da Novelle per un anno: “La giara,” “Mal di Luna,” “L’altro figlio”
Bontempelli – Gente nel tempo
Masino – Nascita e morte della massaia
Svevo – Senilità; La coscienza di Zeno
Vittorini – Conversazione in Sicilia
Calvino – Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore; and at least one from: Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno, Le città invisibili.
Gadda – Quer pasticciaccio brutto de Via Merulana
Vassalli – La chimera
Tomasi di Lampedusa – Il Gattopardo
Selected poetry of Gozzano, Ungaretti, Montale, Campana (see the selections in P.V. Mengaldo’s Poesia italiana del Novecento)

TWO novels chosen from the following:

Moravia – Il conformista; Gli indifferenti
Deledda – Canne al vento
Berto Il cielo è rosso
Aleramo – Una vita
Ginzburg – Cinque romanzi brevi
Bassani – Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini
Sciascia – A ciascuno il suo
Eco – Il nome della rosa
Tozzi – Il Podere
Morante – La Storia Palazzeschi – L’interrogatorio della contessa Maria