Teaching code

4S010582

Academic staff

Chiara Maria Concina, Edoardo Ferrarini

Coordinatore

Chiara Maria Concina

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-FIL-LET/09 - ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LINGUISTICS

Period

1 A, 1 B

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars

Learning objectives

Instruction in Literature and Civilization of the Middle Ages, through reading and analysing literary texts in Medieval Latin and in various romance languages, will allow students to acquire a basic knowledge in the areas of Philology, History, and Literary Studies. This knowledge will be taken into account within the wider framework of the other subjects that are taught in the training course of Cultural Heritage (Art History and History in particular). Close reading and interpretation of literary texts, as well as important elements of critical, historical and cultural judgement, will also be improved. By the end of the course, students should demonstrate an ability to handle independently the different levels of analysis that will be applied to the texts studied as part of the syllabus. Students should furthermore demonstrate an awareness of the terminology of the discipline and present their ideas in the appropriate linguistic style.

Prerequisites and basic notions

None.

Program

The course will be organized in two parts.
Part one: The Latin Middle Ages (18 hours, prof. E. Ferrarini) 1A) The Middle Ages: chronology and periodization; the genres of Medieval Latin literature. 1B) Satire, parody and 'goliardia' in Medieval Latin poetry. Reading in translation and commentary of the anonymous «Versus de Unibove» (11th century), a Mediaval Latin variant of a very widespread folk tale (the cunning peasant makes fun of the powerful), known in different languages and cultures.
Second part: The Romance Middle Ages (18 hours, prof. C. Concina)
2A) Introduction to philology as a scientific discipline.
2B) Satire and parody in medieval French literature: the "Romance of Renart the Fox";. Reading in translation and commentary of a series of selected passages taken from the “Romance of Renart the Fox”, consisting of a series of stories concerning the adventures of the cheating fox Renart, set on the background of a zoo-anthropomorphic society. This collection of texts contains on the one hand of a satire of the society of the time and on the other of a parody of the genres and conventions of high literature (such as the 'roman courtois' and the 'chansons de geste').
Reference texts and other teaching material:
1A) Notes from the lessons and materials that will be made available on moodle.
1B)
1. Jill Mann, «La poesia satirica e goliardica», in «Lo spazio letterario del Medioevo. 1, Il Medioevo latino», vol. I, tomo secondo: «La produzione del testo», Salerno, Roma 1993, pp. 73-109. (will be made available on moodle)
2. «La beffa di Unibos», a cura di Ferruccio Bertini e Francesco Mosetti Casaretto, Edizioni dell'Orso (Gli Orsatti. Testi dell'Altro Medioevo 9), Alessandria 2000.
2A) Notes from the lessons and materials that will be made available on moodle.
2B)
1. Massimo Bonafin, «Il racconto», in «Lo spazio letterario del Medioevo. 2. Il Medioevo volgare. 2 La circolazione del testo», Salerno, Roma, 2002, pp. 433-42 (it will be made available on moodle).
2. «Il romanzo di Renart la volpe», a cura di Massimo Bonafin, Edizioni dell’Orso (Gli Orsatti. Testi dell'Altro Medioevo 1), Alessandria 1999.
Warning: Students unable to attend classes regularly can integrate:
- what is foreseen in the first part, with the study of the volume by «Il testo dell’immagine. Fonti letterarie per lo studio dell’arte medievale», Le Monnier Università, Firenze 2021: capitoli 1-4 (pp. 1-133), plus a further three freely chosen chapters;
- what is foreseen in the second part, with:
1. 1. Alfredo Stussi, «Breve avviamento alla filologia italiana», il Mulino, Bologna 2002, cap. 1 (Manoscritti e stampe), cap. 3 (La trasmissione dei testi), cap. 4 (l’edizione critica).
2. Bonafin, Massimo, «Le maschere del trickster. Tristano e Renard », in «Masca, maschera, masque, mask. Testi e iconografia nelle culture medievali», a cura di Rosanna Brusegan, Margherita Lecco e Alessandro Zironi, «L’immagine riflessa», 9/1-2, 2000, pp. 181-196 (it will be made available on moodle).
However, non attending students are invited to contact the teachers in time to define the exam procedures.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

- frontal lessons (36 hours) (1) With regard to attending students, the teaching methods consist of frontal lessons dedicated to the thematic areas of the course. In the classroom, the active and participatory intervention of students will be encouraged, thus giving them the opportunity to verify the knowledge acquired from time to time. (2) The moodle platform is used for communication between teachers and students, to provide further support material and to report any opportunities related to the discipline (conferences, seminars, presentations, etc.). (3) non-attending students must contact the teachers from the start of the academic year). Any further updates will be made available to the student through the moodle platform. Furthermore, throughout the academic year, the individual reception service managed by the teachers is available, at the times indicated on the personal and constantly updated web pages.

Learning assessment procedures

For all students (attending or non-attending), the assessment of learning results includes an oral test.

Evaluation criteria

OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSESSMENT TEST • verify the analytical knowledge of the program topics; • verify the ability to comment on the texts dealt with during the course; • verify the ability to reflect and re-elaborate in relation to some problematic aspects.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The final grade will be expressed in thirtieths and will be given by the average of the marks of each of the two parties (prof. Ferrarini and prof. Concina), also expressed in thirtieths.

Exam language

italiano