Your summer preparation must focus on both the study of language and the study of literature, culture and history.

Preparation for language work

A comprehensive description of preparatory work and resources can be found on the 'Italian in Year 1 - Post A-Level (Option B)' page.

Preparation for the study of literature, culture and history, for paper IT1: ‘Texts and Contexts’:

A. General introductory and background material

For general background on Italian literature, culture, language and history, see:

• The Cambridge History of Italian Literature, ed. Peter Brand and Lino Pertile (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996; 2nd rev. edn 1999)
• Oxford Short History of Italy, general editor John Davis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 7 vols, 2000-2004)
• Italian Cultural Studies: An Introduction, ed. by David Forgacs and Robert Lumley (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996)

B. Set texts for the first-year course ‘Texts and Contexts’ (IT1)

These are the topics that you will study during your first year. Before arriving in Cambridge, you can best prepare for this course by getting to know some or all of the core texts:

• Giotto, (early 14th century)
• Dante Alighieri, Commedia (early 14th century; selected canti only: Inferno 5, 33, Purgartorio 28, Paradiso 33)
• Fellini, La dolce vita
• Shirin Ramzanali Fazel, Lontano da Mogadiscio (1994 and later editions)
• Linguistics. *Course material will be provided in lectures

For each of the first four texts students will be provided with a course handbook (handbooks contain contextual material, further reading and suggestions for supervision work).