ÃÜÌÒÊÓÆµ

skip to content

Post A-Level Course

Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics

 

Summer Preparation: Italian Post A-Level

Your summer preparation must focus on both the study of language and the study of literature, culture and history.

Preparation for language work

A comprehensive description of preparatory work and resources can be found on theÌý'Italian in Year 1 -ÌýPost A-Level (Option B)' page.

Preparation for the study of literature, culture and history, for paper ‘Texts and Contexts’:

A. General introductory and background material

For general background on Italian literature, culture, language and history, see:

  • The ÃÜÌÒÊÓÆµ History of Italian Literature, ed. Peter Brand and Lino Pertile (ÃÜÌÒÊÓÆµ: ÃÜÌÒÊÓÆµ University Press, 1996; 2nd rev. edn 1999)
  • Oxford Short History of Italy, general editor John Davis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 7 vols, 2000-2004)
  • Italian Cultural Studies: An Introduction, ed. by David Forgacs and Robert Lumley (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996)

B. Set texts for the first-year course ‘Texts and Contexts’ (IT1)

These are the topics that you will study during your first year. Before arriving in ÃÜÌÒÊÓÆµ, you can best prepare for this course by getting to know some or all of the core texts:

  • Giotto, (early 14th century)
  • Dante Alighieri, Commedia (early 14th century; selected canti only: Inferno 5, 33, PurgartorioÌý28, Paradiso 33)
  • Fellini, La dolce vita
  • Shirin Ramzanali Fazel, Lontano da Mogadiscio (1994 and later editions)
  • Linguistics. *Course material will be provided in lectures

For each of the first four texts students will be provided with a course handbook (handbooks contain contextual material, further reading and suggestions for supervision work).