This is an invaluable text arguing for the study of literary texts as a vital component of L2 linguistic and cultural knowledge.This book proposes the study of literary texts as a vital component of L2 linguistic and cultural knowledge. The research, conducted with students of Italian in Australia, is situated in the wider L2 context, and compared to studies on students' perceptions of English and French literary texts in countries such as Canada, Italy, Australia, Germany and the Ukraine.The first part of the book takes the debate on the inclusion of literature in language education as a springboard for posing crucial questions about how students, and educators, view literature. The theoretical framework draws from educational, linguistic, philosophical and literary theories, and focuses on the role of awareness in learning and the role of the learner's experience. The second part of the book evaluates an innovative approach to teaching and learning L2 literature, and discusses the application of this to the language classroom.Containing a balance of theoretical and practical concerns, this book will be invaluable reading for researchers of applied linguistics and second language acquisition.

Marilu Oliva's oeuvre is an essential means of understanding Italy's complexities of today in relation to those of the past. Like many of her protagonists, La Guerrera and Martina, she is a flaneuse through space and time who dares to push boundaries - literary, genre, societal - in her books and by speaking out at conferences, festivals, book launches. We have tried to capture a glimpse of her multi-faceted work with our essays, in English and Italian written in-between Italy and Australia, including authors from different professions. The authors of the book, through the analyses of Oliva's oeuvre argue that mezcla is the key to build empathy rather than hatred, appreciation rather than fear of otherness, an exorcism of current xenophobia. include gender. and that tranculturalism and translingualism to help encourage a more inclusive society. In the Italian/world noir panorama there still are no texts set within the world of salsa, or that narrates the origins of salsa. Hence the uniqueness of the trilogy. Oliva is the first crime writer to foreground the strong synergy between Bologna and Cuba. Marilu Oliva with La Guerrera has revolutioned noir and gender in noir, as well as ensuring the continuation of the genre by changing its skin. A fast-emerging noir writer from Bologna, unpublished in English - pluricultural and plurilingual - Like Calvino, she is chameleonic and surprises readers with mixing different genres and styles in each publication. In this multi-perspective book readers discover world myths as interpreted by different cultures in various continents, the world of Latin American Gods, literature and music, while connecting with the greatest Western author, Dante through the unforgettable protagonist La Guerrera. The authors', from the antipodes to Europe, will accompany you in analytical journeys through all corners of the globe in their comparative readings of Oliva's works, which also focus on current worst crimes: migrations and violence against women, precariato. Yet, in this bleak global landscape, both Marilu Oliva strives for to provide her characters with possibilities and readers with slight relief. With their different theoretical approaches (gender-based, postcolonial, anthropological and literary) inclusive of translations into English from Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, the authors of the book give readers, Italian and non Italian especially, an opportunity to appreciate the works of this fast emerging Bologna author who writes about World literature, culture and myth.

This book proposes the study of literary texts as a vital component of L2 linguistic and cultural knowledge. The research, conducted with students of Italian in Australia, is situated in the wider L2 context, and compared to studies on students' perceptions of English and French literary texts in countries such as Canada, Italy, Australia, Germany and the Ukraine. The first part of the book takes the debate on the inclusion of literature in language education as a springboard for posing crucial questions about how students, and educators, view literature. The theoretical framework draws from educational, linguistic, philosophical and literary theories, and focuses on the role of awareness in learning and the role of the learner's experience. The second part of the book evaluates an innovative approach to teaching and learning L2 literature, and discusses the application of this to the language classroom. Containing a balance of theoretical and practical concerns, this book will be invaluable reading for researchers of applied linguistics and second language acquisition.>