University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 15

ECTS credits : 7

Level : SCQF level 9

Semester: 1

Planned timetable: To be arranged.

Primo Levi is probably the best-known and most-widely read Italian writer of the twentieth-century. Outside of Italy, Levi is seen as perhaps the major voice in Holocaust writing. He was the author of a rich body of work that was indelibly marked by his experience of Auschwitz, but also by his professional expertise as a scientist and by the secular Piedmontese Jewish tradition in which he grew up. This module will offer students an introduction to Levi's work focussing on his major thematic and ethical concerns and examining how he deals with them in different literary genres. The unit will look both at Levi's critical reception, but also at the response of one Italian film-maker to Levi's La tregua (1963) in which he recounts his journey back to Italy on his release from the concentration camp. The unit will give students a comprehensive introduction to the work of this major writer and the variety of genres in which he wrote. It will situate his work in the context of Holocaust memorial culture in Italy and elsewhere.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisite(s): Permission of the Italian Honours Adviser

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 1 seminar and 1 surgery hour.

Scheduled learning hours: 16

Guided independent study hours: 134

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: Coursework = 100%

As defined by QAA
Written examinations : 0%
Practical examinations : 0%
Coursework: 100%

Re-assessment: Coursework = 100%

Personnel