Historical Studies

The Excluded. Marginality, Otherness, and Social Inferiority in the Work of Women Writers from the Nineteenth Century to Today The course explores literary representations and the destinies of characters situated at the margins of the social spectrum, examining forms of exclusion linked to race, gender, and class. Ourika by Claire de Duras, the first French literary text to portray a Black female protagonist, addresses the condition of racial otherness in post-Revolutionary France. Colette’s La Vagabonde depicts a woman’s pursuit of autonomy within the context of the Belle Époque. Annie Ernaux’s Une femme offers an autosociobiographical reflection on class inequality and on the family tensions generated by social mobility in the second half of the twentieth century. Finally, Maylis de Kerangal’s Corniche Kennedy shifts the focus to contemporary suburban youth and the new forms of urban marginality. The course thus proposes a diachronic journey that brings different historical periods into dialogue, showing how exclusion is a persistent theme continually reshaped through the perspectives of women writers.

There is no prerequisite

Reading the works in Italian translation is permitted for students who are not specialists in French. - Claire de Duras, Ourika, 1824 (edizione francese consigliata : Œuvres romanesques, Folio Gallimard, 2023 ; edizione italiana : Ourika, a cura di B. Craveri, Adelphi, 2009). - Colette, La Vagabonde, 1910 (edizione francese Le livre de Poche ; edizione italiana : La Vagabonda, L’Orma, 2025, trad. di C. Diez). - Annie Ernaux, Une femme, 1988 (edizione francese Folio Gallimard ; edizione italiana : Una donna, L’Orma, 2017, trad. di L. Flabbi). - Maylis de Kerangal, Corniche Kennedy, 2008 (edizione francese Folio Gallimard ; edizione italiana : Corniche Kennedy, Feltrinelli, 2020, trad. di M. Baiocchi). A critical bibliography will be provided at the beginning of the course on the e-learning page of the course. - Honoré de Balzac, La Fille aux yeux d’or, 1834 (testo on line sul sito ebalzac : https://www.ebalzac.com/edition/39c-fille-yeux-or/furne-corrige; edizione francese consigliata : Le Livre de poche, a cura di Ch. Massol, 2019 o altra tascabile ; edizione italiana : La ragazza dagli occhi d’oro, trad. di P. Masino, Einaudi, 1977) - Émile Zola, Au bonheur des dames, 1883 (edizione francese Folio Gallimard ; edizione italiana : Il Paradiso delle signore, Oscar Mondadori, 2017, trad. di A. Buccarelli) - Annie Ernaux, Les Années, 2008 (edizione francese Folio Gallimard ; edizione italiana : Gli anni, L’Orma, 2015, trad. di L. Flabbi). Una bibliografia critica sarà fornita all'inizio del corso sotto forma di fotocopie o dispense on line

Not referred

Oral research dossier within the course (voluntary). Oral exams during institutional appeals, lasting about half an hour for each candidate, with open questions related to the topics of the course and the works in the program.

Lectures and telematic supports. Students will be asked to participate actively, to propose presentations, reports or term papers.

The Excluded. Marginality, Otherness, and Social Inferiority in the Work of Women Writers from the Nineteenth Century to Today The course explores literary representations and the destinies of characters situated at the margins of the social spectrum, examining forms of exclusion linked to race, gender, and class. Ourika by Claire de Duras, the first French literary text to portray a Black female protagonist, addresses the condition of racial otherness in post-Revolutionary France. Colette’s La Vagabonde depicts a woman’s pursuit of autonomy within the context of the Belle Époque. Annie Ernaux’s Une femme offers an autosociobiographical reflection on class inequality and on the family tensions generated by social mobility in the second half of the twentieth century. Finally, Maylis de Kerangal’s Corniche Kennedy shifts the focus to contemporary suburban youth and the new forms of urban marginality. The course thus proposes a diachronic journey that brings different historical periods into dialogue, showing how exclusion is a persistent theme continually reshaped through the perspectives of women writers.

There is no prerequisite

Reading the works in Italian translation is permitted for students who are not specialists in French. - Claire de Duras, Ourika, 1824 (edizione francese consigliata : Œuvres romanesques, Folio Gallimard, 2023 ; edizione italiana : Ourika, a cura di B. Craveri, Adelphi, 2009). - Colette, La Vagabonde, 1910 (edizione francese Le livre de Poche ; edizione italiana : La Vagabonda, L’Orma, 2025, trad. di C. Diez). - Annie Ernaux, Une femme, 1988 (edizione francese Folio Gallimard ; edizione italiana : Una donna, L’Orma, 2017, trad. di L. Flabbi). - Maylis de Kerangal, Corniche Kennedy, 2008 (edizione francese Folio Gallimard ; edizione italiana : Corniche Kennedy, Feltrinelli, 2020, trad. di M. Baiocchi). A critical bibliography will be provided at the beginning of the course on the e-learning page of the course. - Honoré de Balzac, La Fille aux yeux d’or, 1834 (testo on line sul sito ebalzac : https://www.ebalzac.com/edition/39c-fille-yeux-or/furne-corrige; edizione francese consigliata : Le Livre de poche, a cura di Ch. Massol, 2019 o altra tascabile ; edizione italiana : La ragazza dagli occhi d’oro, trad. di P. Masino, Einaudi, 1977) - Émile Zola, Au bonheur des dames, 1883 (edizione francese Folio Gallimard ; edizione italiana : Il Paradiso delle signore, Oscar Mondadori, 2017, trad. di A. Buccarelli) - Annie Ernaux, Les Années, 2008 (edizione francese Folio Gallimard ; edizione italiana : Gli anni, L’Orma, 2015, trad. di L. Flabbi). Una bibliografia critica sarà fornita all'inizio del corso sotto forma di fotocopie o dispense on line

Not referred

Oral research dossier within the course (voluntary). Oral exams during institutional appeals, lasting about half an hour for each candidate, with open questions related to the topics of the course and the works in the program.

Lectures and telematic supports. Students will be asked to participate actively, to propose presentations, reports or term papers.