Motivazione allo studio della letteratura e canzoni

In the Italian school system, literature and teaching of literature are facing difficulties. The crisis is the result of both the youth’s growing disinterest in the written word as a source of knowledge and the teaching methodologies that pay little attention to improving learners’ motivation. How to deal with this situation? One of the possible solutions could be the use of songs as a teaching aid. This essay deepens the relations between songs and literature. More precisely, it explores how songs can motivate students to engage with literature, drawing a connection between the literary text and the forms of aesthetic fruition that young students prefer. After illustrating the value of intrinsic motivation and the reasons why songs could work as ''bridges'', the paper presents different modalities of integrating songs with literary texts to motivate students (in upper secondary education) to study literature.