Study Group Details
695: Italian Jewish Writing
Wednesday11:45 - 1:15
Starting March 03
Online
This study group will focus primarily on the work of Italian Jewish writers of the 20th century, especially the fascist and post-war periods. We'll read substantially in the works of Carlo Levi, Primo Levi, Natalia Ginzburg, and Giorgio Bassani, but also will improvise into poetry and recent fiction as the interests of the group may lead us. This will be largely a discussion class (as much as Zoom permits) framed by brief lectures offering historical and cultural context.
This study group is a repeat with revisions
Class Type: Lecture and Discussion
Class Format: TBA
Hours of Reading: 2-3 hrs/week
Study Group Leader(s):
Judith Plotz
Judith Plotz has taught a range of courses at OLLI, including courses in Kipling, Postcolonial Writing, Metaphysical Fiction, Canadian Writing, and 20th-century Italian Fiction. She is a professor emerita at George Washington University, where she taught 19th-century literature for 50 years.
Reading List
The Novel of Ferrara (one volume, 2018) (Giorgio Bassani) | 2018: W.W. Norton | ISBN: 978-0393358605 | Required
The Little Virtues (Natalia Ginzburg) | ISBN: 1628728256 | Required
Family Lexicon (Natalia Ginzburg) | 2017: NYRB Classics | ISBN: 978-1590178386 | Required
Christ Stopped at Eboli (Carlo Levi) | 2006: FSG Adult | ISBN: 978-0374530099 | Required
The Periodic Table (Primo Levi) | 1984: Schocken | ISBN: 978-0805210415 | Required
The Jewish Husband (Lia Levi) | 2009: Europa Editions | ISBN: 978-1933372938 | Required