ITALST 263Contagion, Disease, and Illness in Italian Literature and Film

This course will focus on representations of contagion and illness in Italian literature and film. Covering such topics as the portrayal of the Bubonic Plague in 14th-century novelle, Renaissance descriptions of syphilis, Verist and Neo-realist stories about contagion and poverty, and the projection of social malaise in art films, students will assess the ways in which disease is depicted in primary texts. Students will gain familiarity with contemporary contagion theories, as well as historicization and cultural criticism of literary and cinematic accounts of disease. In this course students will consider the psycho-social impact of contagion and disease from multiple perspectives - near and far, past, and present.