Comparative Romance Languages and Literatures
A.Y. 2021/2022
Learning objectives
The aim of the course is to enable master students deepen their training in Romance languages and literatures in medieval Europe, accessing from a comparative perspective their works, authors, contexts and genres through the most advanced tools of philology; it will thus give the opportunity to measure the broad horizon within which the literary tradition has to be framed.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course the participants will know extensively the production, circulation and reception dynamics of medieval literary works in Romance Europe; they will also master the most up-to-date methods of historical linguistics and textual criticism, applied to the manuscript and print tradition of texts.
Furthermore, the students will be able to translate or paraphrase accurately works written in different Romance languages, to relate them to each other and to analyze them autonomously, both from a linguistic and from a literary point of view, in light of the most recent developments of criticism; they will also be able to place them in the context in which they were created and to reconstruct their textual and paratextual history, with particular attention to codicological and decorative data.
In addition, students will sharpen their skill to evaluate scientific bibliography independently, observing the development of the critical discussion, and will enhance the ability to expose clearly and properly their knowledge
Furthermore, the students will be able to translate or paraphrase accurately works written in different Romance languages, to relate them to each other and to analyze them autonomously, both from a linguistic and from a literary point of view, in light of the most recent developments of criticism; they will also be able to place them in the context in which they were created and to reconstruct their textual and paratextual history, with particular attention to codicological and decorative data.
In addition, students will sharpen their skill to evaluate scientific bibliography independently, observing the development of the critical discussion, and will enhance the ability to expose clearly and properly their knowledge
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
More specific information on the delivery modes of training activities for academic year 2021/22 will be provided over the coming months, based on the evolution of the public health situation.
Course syllabus
Part A will explore the main paths of historical writing in vernacular prose and verse, at the crossroads between direct experience, partisan perspective and ideal representation. Part B will examine some pages of the most original works of the genre, from the «Estoires de Venise» by Martin da Canal to the «Vie de Saint Louis» by Jean de Joinville, to the «Cronica» by Dino Compagni and that by the Anonymous Roman: passages where the vividness of the descriptions and portraits is matched by the strength of small and large events, marked now by virtue, now by ferocity. Part C will focus on the use of sources, which belonged to the most disparate genres, in the construction of historical discourse, and on the dynamics of tradition and reworking of the texts that propagate it in the course of time.
Prerequisites for admission
The course presupposes the competences in comparative historical grammar of the Romance languages, in history of medieval Romance literatures and text criticism which are provided by the courses of Romance Philology (basic and advanced) of the three-year degree. Students of the degree programme European and extra European languages and literatures who intend to follow it can contact the teacher for some additional bibliography.
Teaching methods
The course adopts the following teaching methods: lectures; translation, commentary and critical discussion of texts; direct, even autonomous, examination of digital reproductions of documents by students, medieval manuscripts and prints, with their decorative apparatus, made available through the course website on the Ariel online educational platform (https://lsacchillnc.ariel.ctu.unimi.it); since both materials are complex subjects of study, written in different languages, attendance is strongly recommended.
Teaching Resources
Part A
Students will combine their notes with: Laura Minervini, «La storiografia», in C. Di Girolamo (a c. di), «La letteratura romanza medievale», Bologna, il Mulino, 1994, pp. 279-296; Ead., «La storiografia», in C. Di Girolamo, F. Brioschi (a c. di), Manuale di letteratura italiana, vol. I, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1993, pp. 765-787; Bernard Guenée, «Storia», in J. Le Goff, J.C. Schmitt, «Dizionario dell'Occidente medievale», pp. 1120-1133; further bibliography will be added later.
Part B
At the beginning of the unit students will be provided with a booklet with excerpts from the works to be translated and commented in class and further materials. Students will also prepare Alberto Limentani, «Canal, Martino», in «Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani,» 17 (1974), pp. 659-662, on line, av. at https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/martino-canal_(Dizionario-Biografico); Gustav Seibt, «La forma letteraria della Cronica», in Id., «Anonimo romano. Scrivere la storia alle soglie del Rinascimento», Roma, Viella, 2000; further bibliography will be added later.
Part C
Students will combine their notes with: Dominique Boutet, «La méthode historique de Joinville et la réécriture des Grandes chroniques de France», in Danielle Quéruel (éd. par), «Jean de Joinville: de la Champagne aux royaumes d'outre-mer», Langres-Saints-Geosmes, Guéniot, 1998, pp. 93-108; Maria Luisa Meneghetti, «Martin da Canal e la cultura veneziana del XIII secolo», in F. Brugnolo (a c. di), «Generi, testi, filologia. Atti del Convegno in memoria di Alberto Limentani a vent'anni dalla morte (Padova, 28-29 aprile 2006)», in «Medioevo romanzo», 30.1 (2006), pp. 111-129; Pierre Courroux (éd. par), «L'Écriture de l'histoire dans les chroniques françaises (XIe-XVe siècle)», Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2016, passim; further bibliography will be added later.
Students will combine their notes with: Laura Minervini, «La storiografia», in C. Di Girolamo (a c. di), «La letteratura romanza medievale», Bologna, il Mulino, 1994, pp. 279-296; Ead., «La storiografia», in C. Di Girolamo, F. Brioschi (a c. di), Manuale di letteratura italiana, vol. I, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1993, pp. 765-787; Bernard Guenée, «Storia», in J. Le Goff, J.C. Schmitt, «Dizionario dell'Occidente medievale», pp. 1120-1133; further bibliography will be added later.
Part B
At the beginning of the unit students will be provided with a booklet with excerpts from the works to be translated and commented in class and further materials. Students will also prepare Alberto Limentani, «Canal, Martino», in «Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani,» 17 (1974), pp. 659-662, on line, av. at https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/martino-canal_(Dizionario-Biografico); Gustav Seibt, «La forma letteraria della Cronica», in Id., «Anonimo romano. Scrivere la storia alle soglie del Rinascimento», Roma, Viella, 2000; further bibliography will be added later.
Part C
Students will combine their notes with: Dominique Boutet, «La méthode historique de Joinville et la réécriture des Grandes chroniques de France», in Danielle Quéruel (éd. par), «Jean de Joinville: de la Champagne aux royaumes d'outre-mer», Langres-Saints-Geosmes, Guéniot, 1998, pp. 93-108; Maria Luisa Meneghetti, «Martin da Canal e la cultura veneziana del XIII secolo», in F. Brugnolo (a c. di), «Generi, testi, filologia. Atti del Convegno in memoria di Alberto Limentani a vent'anni dalla morte (Padova, 28-29 aprile 2006)», in «Medioevo romanzo», 30.1 (2006), pp. 111-129; Pierre Courroux (éd. par), «L'Écriture de l'histoire dans les chroniques françaises (XIe-XVe siècle)», Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2016, passim; further bibliography will be added later.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam is individual, and includes questions asked by the teacher, interactions between the teacher and student, and the translation and commentary of one or more excerpts from the works read during the lectures. The interview has a variable duration depending on the number of parts taken by the student; it aims to verify the knowledge relating to the historical-cultural context, the history of the works and their manuscript and printed tradition, as well as the ability to translate (or paraphrase) and comment on the texts read, as well as the ability to expose, the precision in the use of specific terminology, the capacity for critical and personal reflection on the proposed themes. Marks are out of 30, and the student has the right to refuse the proposed mark (in this case it will be verbalized as «withdrawn»).
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the teacher early. The assessment procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be discussed with the teacher, in agreement with the competent Office.
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the teacher early. The assessment procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be discussed with the teacher, in agreement with the competent Office.
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/09 - ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/09 - ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/09 - ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
By appointment only, wednesday 10.00-13.00
Teams class "Ricevimento Luca Sacchi"