Italian literature and cinema in Sicily

At the end of the 19th century, a new art form emerged: cinema. Novelists and intellectuals were alarmed by the threat to their cultural primacy and often looked down on cinema with suspicion. Secretly, however, many were more than happy to sell the rights to their works to this rising industry.

At the same time, Sicily became a key player in Italian literature once again, through authors like Giovanni Verga, Luigi Capuana, Federico De Roberto, and Luigi Pirandello, all of whom embody the complex and evolving relationship between literature and film.

The course “Literature and Cinema in Sicily”, curated by Stefano Sciotto for Babilonia, consists of ten two-hour sessions, each dedicated to a major Sicilian author of national importance and their connection to cinema. Each session includes a biographical overview of the author and a presentation of their literary work.
Their relationship with cinema is explored from two perspectives:

• Some authors were directly involved in film, writing scripts and screenplays;
• Others, as passionate film enthusiasts, wrote essays or critiques about specific movies or cinema in general.
  In all cases, the course also examines cinematic adaptations of their literary works.

The course provides a cultural and historical framework by linking literary and cinematic analysis with key moments in Italian history, from the Risorgimento to the First Republic.

The three core themes of the seminar are:

Literature, Cinema, and History.

Course Modules

1. Giovanni Verga and the Origins of Cinema
2. Federico De Roberto and “The Viceroys”
3. Luigi Pirandello and the “San Cinematografo”
4. Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and “The Leopard”
5. Vitaliano Brancati: Love, Satire, and Censorship
6. Elio Vittorini, Cinema Essayist
7. Gesualdo Bufalino, the Cinephile
8. Leonardo Sciascia: Mafia, Politics, and Crime
9. Giuseppe Fava: Mafia and Journalism
10. Vincenzo Rabito: The Diary of a Semi-Illiterate Man