Musicology

The course aims to reconsider the representation of the mythical figure of Salome in European theater, music and dance between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as a symbol of a crisis and a critical reaction; the aim of the paper will therefore be to reconstruct the social and cultural meanings of this perturbing 'new woman' at a time when idealistic or positivistic certainties gave way before irrationalisms, Nietzschean existentialisms, negations of civilization in opposite futurist or precivilized directions. The heterogeneous and contradictory climate in which the twentieth century is being prepared is extremely fragmented; it is a field of confrontation from which emerges Karl Jaspers' new concept of 'truth outside logical certainty'. In this context, the overcoming of naturalistic aesthetics matures: new poetics, new aesthetics, new dramaturgies mark one of the great 'crises' of modern man. European modernist thought, in rethinking the relationship between true and false, good and evil, progress and regression, also initiates a rethinking of the 'male' and 'female' polarities and of their mutual relations. The new myth of Salome is situated in this relativization of all values. The new image of women that has been emerging since as early as the second half of the nineteenth century (abetted by new medical-scientific acquisitions and the first achievements of depth psychology), is one of the symptoms of man's sense of fear, disorientation and dismay in the faced of subversions of his own world. Within this framework emerges the femme fatale, who has nourished the artistic (and literature) between the two centuries. And it is in this context that the project intends to place the new myth of Salome (and the related Salomania), understood not only in its art-historical significance, but also as a document for cultural history.

As the course is aimed at master's degree students, at least a basic knowledge of the history of theater and performance in the West from the 18th century to the present is required.

1. Oscar Wilde, Salomè, a cura di G. Servadio, Feltrinelli, Milano 2. Sonia Bellavia, Ilaria Lepore (a cura di), Intorno a Salome. Arti performative e letteratura in Europa (1850-1950), Carocci, Roma 2024 3. Mario Praz [1930], La carne, la morte e il diavolo, Sansoni, Firenze 1986 4. Maurizio Grande [1994], Dodici donne. Figure del destino nella letteratura drammatica, Bulzoni, Roma 2010

Classes will be held biweekly, with meetings lasting two hours each

Attending students are given the opportunity to take the exam through an in-depth study of one of the topics covered during the course, or related to them, from their own specific interests and skills. In this case, the exam will take the form of an oral exposition lasting about 30 minutes, supported if necessary by audio-video material. This will be followed by questions (always related to the topic presented) to be answered by students, showing that they have mastered the subject. Those who do not wish to use this mode of examination may take a question on the texts indicated in the examination program.

The lectures will be conducted with the help of audiovisual material, which will be analyzed and commented on during the classroom meetings. Since this is an advanced course, the active participation of students is expected, which will make an essential contribution to building the physiognomy of the course.