Teaching code

4S003493

Teacher

Anna Cappellotto

Coordinator

Anna Cappellotto

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-FIL-LET/15 - GERMANIC PHILOLOGY

Period

I semestre (Lingue e letterature straniere) dal Sep 27, 2021 al Jan 8, 2022.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning outcomes

The course is an introduction to Germanic Philology and it aims at providing basic knowledge on multi-disciplinary topics such as codicology, paleography, textual criticism, cultural history, and historical linguistics characterizing the discipline (including basic knowledge for the digital treatment of texts and manuscripts). Expected Outcomes At the end of the course the student will have to prove: - to have acquired basic knowledge of methodologies and cultural contents which are necessary to analyse and interpret the literary traditions of Germanic areas; - to have acquired proficiency in the specialized vocabulary related to every field of the discipline; - to have acquired basic knowledge of the different specialized fields of Germanic Philology, mainly focussing on medieval history of books (also treated with the support of Digital Humanities tools and methodologies) according to the objective of the study programme.

Program

The course will offer the basics for the study of Germanic Philology in its multi- and interdisciplinary aspects of cultural, linguistic and historical-literary nature. It also will focus on issues concerning textual criticism and digital philology in the Germanic vernacular traditions.
The first module will trace the birth and development of the discipline up to the present day. The so-called ‘Germani’ will be described through the direct reading of the sources, in particular of some passages from Tacitus’ Germania, which will allow to reconstruct the social, political and cultural institutions of the Germanic peoples (family, assembly, military associations, role of women, religion, writing). The fundamental stages of their history, of conversion to Christianity and of the development of literacy will be retraced.
A second module will address essential issues concerning historical linguistics, framing Germanic first in its evolution from Indo-European as well as in its main features and also with regard to individual language families (with particular attention to West and North Germanic).
The third module will be devoted to the study of textual criticism within the Germanic vernacular traditions. Essential knowledge of book history, codicology and paleography will be imparted through the analysis of exemplary manuscripts building up the most significant cultural heritage of the Germanic traditions. The analysis will lead into the historical recovery of the text through the principles of textual criticism (in its evolution from the genealogical method, passing through the so-called New Philology up to the computational turn within philological studies).
In the last module the class will confront with scholarly editing practice by means of two emblematic case studies of Germanic heroic poetry: "Beowulf" (London, BL, Cotton Vitellius A.XV) and "Hildebrandslied" (Kassel, Universitätsbibl. / LMB, 2nd Ms. theol. 54). After the peculiar features of these two texts handed down in a single codex will be identified, their interesting editorial history, both traditional and digital, will be retraced. Two encoding attempts will be carried out according to XML/TEI standards (with a focus on the manuscript description and on the diplomatic and normalized transcription of selected excerpts).
The above mentioned readings will be accessible on the Moodle platform, whereas for the other exam texts indicated in the bibliography, please refer to the University Library Catalogue.
Teaching:
As established by the university for the A.Y. 2021/2022, the course may take place either on the Zoom institutional platform, in the form of frontal streaming lessons (possibly supplemented by some recorded lessons), or face-to-face according to the indications that will be provided in due time. Any changes will be announced before the start of the course by means of a notice on the instructor's personal page and on the Moodle platform, to which everyone is required to register. Any suspension of lessons or changes will be communicated in the same way.
The course materials for attending students consist of the teacher's lectures, slides and other materials that will be made available on Moodle. The program for non-attending students must be agreed in advance. For this reason, non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher via email (via an institutional address @ students.univr.it) for a possible online reception (or in presence, always health conditions permitting).

Bibliography

Examination Methods

There will be an oral exam on Zoom or in person (depending on the evolution of the pandemic) and in both cases it will follow the official schedule published by the University. For those attending there will be a pre-roll call to be agreed together.
The oral exam will assess both the level of acquired contents and the ability to critically address the topics covered during the course, and to create connections among them. Part of the evaluation will also concern the correct and consistent presentation of the acquired knowledge; another part will verify the competent and appropriate use of the philological micro-language. During the exam the assimilation of the primary sources can be tested by reading, translation, and comment of short excerpts selected from the texts studied during the course and provided by the instructor during the exam. The final result is expressed out of 30 and it is to be understood as an overall evaluation of the results achieved.
For non-attending students, the exam will be oral and will follow the indications above.