Notes & reviews dante Alighieri

It has often been said that Italian influence on German life and letters is both widespread and profound. Comparatively speaking, the impact of German culture on Italy’s development may seem less obvious, but is nonetheless important in the context of Europe’s present day realities. Both types of influence will undoubtedly be investigated more extensively thanks to the efforts of a new program in German-Italian Studies at the University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn). Students enrolled in this program study the interrelationship between these two relatively young European nations and their respective cultural identities. Since its founding in 1995, in an effort to raise consciousness, the department of German-Italian Studies has published annual volumes of proceedings. The most recent volume is the subject of this review.

In his brief preface, co-editor Prof. Willi Jung hints at the important status that German-Italian Studies has recently attained. He calls attention to a ground-breaking colloquium entitled “German Poetry in Italy—Italian Poetry in Germany” (“Deutsche Lyrik in Italien—Italienische Lyrik in Deutschland”), organized on October 26, 2001 to commemorate the five-year anniversary of the program. Leading the reader into the heart of this collection is a research article by Prof. Willi Hirdt, “Zur Modernität Boccaccios,” on Boccaccio’s modernity and its influence on both G. E. Lessing (Nathan der Weise) and Thomas Mann (Mario und der Zauberer). The article’s aim is to show once again the impact of Boccaccio’s legacy on European culture across spatial and chronological boundaries. Here the author emphasizes how Lessing’s universal tolerance and Mann’s investigation of the human psyche owe to the Italian Medieval master.

Following Hirdt’s discussion is an excerpt from an article by Professor Elio Providenti, dated December 1991 and published in 1995 in Nuova Antologia and treating Pirandello’s relationship to Jenny Schultz Lander, whom he met in Germany. The article is in Italian, making for a nice balance with Hirdt’s essay in German. Yet these studies in comparative literature may seem misplaced together with what follows: an assessment of the teaching of Italian in German schools by Professor Jung; a detailed German-Italian Studies program description; an account of an exchange trip to Florence by students in the program; and finally, a piece featuring in the table of contents as “Une [sic!] sguardo dietro le quinte,” in which elements of a theatre project in Bonn are highlighted.

Despite the absence of a unified critical focus, the volume is purposeful and illustrative, describing a university program’s path from inception to its most recent milestones. The program was born of an agreement signed in 1994 after extensive planning by the Presidents of the University of Bonn, Professor Dr. Max G. Huber, and the University of Florence, Professor Paolo Blasi. Helping matters along was its status as a pilot project of the “Kohl-Amato Initiative” of 1992, a broader agreement to strengthen research and educational ties between Germany and Italy. The University of Bonn now offers a double major in German and Italian, or a Laurea in Studi Italo-Tedeschi, and is designed for German and Italian students of German who are competent in the field of Italian studies, as well as for German and Italian Italianists who are knowledgeable of German culture (76). Students earn the degree by completing nine semesters before taking final exams and earning a total of 80 credit hours (“Semesterwochenstunden” or “SWS”). These are roughly equivalent to American credit hours, considering that most courses grant two “SWS.” In their 5^th and 6^th semesters (junior year), students are required to study in either Bonn or Florence, depending on their major, and participate in a three-month professional internship.

The few pages chronicling an interdisciplinary field trip to Central Italy organized by the German-Italian Studies program in collaboration with the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn (8/27 – 9/13/2001) contain commentary, a day-by-day itinerary, and six photographs of monuments and group members. The inclusion of a poem written by one of the group participants about her experience lends a personal touch to the volume. This ode, entitled “Offener Brief an Italien” (“Open Letter to Italy”), fittingly captures the openness with which one must confront both history and culture when visiting Italy’s ancient sites.

The mission of the program is in line with its international scope, stressing cross-cultural awareness (“Interkulturalität”) and introducing the new concept of “Europakompetenz,” which could be rendered as a highly desirable competence in European economic, social and political affairs. At the core of the curriculum are requirements (“Pflichtveranstaltungen”) in literature, philology, linguistics and teaching methodology, while the electives (“Wahlpflichtveranstaltungen”) include geography, ethnology (“Volkswirtschaft”), art history and translation. The program of study is presented by the co-editors in a thorough, comprehensive manner, which can make this publication appealing to students interested in teaching either Italian or German as a foreign language and who are open to a unique international experience.

Based on its description as presented here, the course of study would serve not only to build better career opportunities for students who are competent in the language and cultural relations of both nations, but would also foster a genuine learning community shared by both Italy and Germany. This is, at least, Professor Jung’s wish, made clear in his intervention about the teaching of Italian in German high schools and the preparation of teachers qualified to do so. A further goal is to develop curriculum frameworks for the teaching of Italian, which up to now do not exist in Germany, even though German high schools have been teaching Italian since 1981. The fact that only 20% of the freshmen presently enrolled in the program plan to make teaching their career choice (54) is potentially a cause for concern.

As for the learning objectives of the program, educators have long struggled to define and measure the concept of cultural competence, especially when it refers to the acquisition of knowledge or a set of skills that pertain to a foreign country. According to the mission of the program, the students pursuing a degree in German-Italian Studies should attain cultural competence by complementing the core curriculum. Yet the definition of the program structure as we read it in the mission statement (76) remains somewhat vague, and one wonders how the success of it can be quantified, considering that the program was developed as an unprecedented pilot project aimed to deepen the relationships between Italy and Germany.

Enrollment in the program is limited and subject to an entry test. No other information is provided about the selection criteria, the cost or the percentage of applicants who are accepted into the program. Based on this publication alone, it would be difficult to evaluate the consistency or success of the program because no statistical data are given as to how many students are presently enrolled, and more importantly, how many graduates there are and where they have gained employment. The class of 1995 should, in fact, have completed the degree at the time of the volume’s publication. Especially because it is the first program of its kind in Germany (54), it would be valuable to knowt the career path of the remaining 80% of enrolled students.

Essays on topics such as Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Somalia, by the director of the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University.