2021/2022

2021/2022

DM270

M-STO/08 (LIBRARY MANAGEMENT)

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES

MODERN PHILOLOGY

PERCORSO COMUNE

1°

2nd semester (28/02/2022 - 24/05/2022)

6

36 lesson hours

Italian

ORAL TEST

COSTA PAOLO (titolare) - 6 ECTS

A basic knowledge of the fundamental concepts related to digital and online publishing (hypertexts, web documents, e-books, e-readers, multimedia content) is helpful. However, during the lessons these concepts will be taken over and deepened, also for the benefit of those who are less familiar with them. The course also assumes some knowledge of the history of the Italian literature. We suggest, in particular, the preliminary reading of the following works by Italo Calvino: L'avventura di un lettore, Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore, Lezioni americane.

The course aims at providing students with the critical tools required to recognize and deepen the challenges of the current publishing ecosystem.
At the end of the course, students will be able to summarize the key forces driving the history of book and reading practices, highlighting the link between technological evolution, societal changes and reading.
Student will be also able to describe factors that influence experiential and cognitive aspects of reading on digital devices, referring to Italian and international case studies (communities of readers, social cataloging / social reading portals, mobile apps).

By the end of this course, students will understand:

- the history of books and reading, from clay tablets to digital ecosystem, through the invention of codex, printing with movable metal type and modern publishing industry;
- the discussion about the nature of literary reading and the role of the reader;
- Genette’s concepts of paratestuality, intertextuality and hypertextuality;
- experiential and cognitive problems related to the replacement of linear texts on paper by computer screen;
- the idea of reading as social experience and the different types of social reading platforms.

The course is structured with front-end lectures, including breaks for discussion and group activities that requires the students to engage with the topics. Online tools (Wattpad and Betwyll) will be used as well.

Paolo Costa Diluvio Digitale. Storia e destini della lettura (Milano, Egea, 2020)

The final examination consists of an interview (in Italian). During the interview the student shall also prove his/her understanding of subjects discussed during the course.
The following text is suitable for exam preparation: Paolo Costa, Diluvio Digitale. Storia e destini della lettura (Milano, Egea, 2020). Foreign students can take exam in English.