The Course “Philology 1” falls within the domain of the Basic learning activities labelled “Philology, General and Applied Linguistics” of the Degree Course in Languages and Cultural-Linguistic Mediation, specifically the activities aiming at providing adequate tools for the analysis of texts in the light of their transmission and cultural context.
The course aims to provide a clear and adequately detailed picture of the Romance / Germanic cultural milieu from a philological, historical and literary perspective, as well as of the processes through which the forms, genres and conventions of the literary tradition developed, focusing on the specific linguistic and literary character of the individual cultural areas. The course aims furthermore to provide an understanding of the principles of textual criticism.
Expected Learning Outcomes: the student will acquire a clear and adequately detailed picture of the Romance / Germanic cultural milieu from a philological, historical and literary perspective, as well as of the processes through which the forms, genres and conventions of the the literary tradition developed, focusing on the specific linguistic and literary character of the individual cultural areas. S/he will become familiar and understand the principles of textual criticism underlying a critical edition.
The course aims to provide a clear and adequately detailed picture of the Romance / Germanic cultural milieu from a philological, historical and literary perspective, as well as of the processes through which the forms, genres and conventions of the literary tradition developed, focusing on the specific linguistic and literary character of the individual cultural areas. The course aims furthermore to provide an understanding of the principles of textual criticism.
Expected Learning Outcomes: the student will acquire a clear and adequately detailed picture of the Romance / Germanic cultural milieu from a philological, historical and literary perspective, as well as of the processes through which the forms, genres and conventions of the the literary tradition developed, focusing on the specific linguistic and literary character of the individual cultural areas. S/he will become familiar and understand the principles of textual criticism underlying a critical edition.
Canali
teacher profile teaching materials
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The preliminary course provides a grounding in the Old English Language;
The lectures will:
a) illustrate some of the main phonological and morphological characteristics distinguishing Old English from the other Germanic languages;
b) focus on a prose text drawn from those available in 'A Guide to Old English': the text will be translated and analyzed from a linguistic as well as a cultural and literary perspective. Issues relating to its transmission will furthermore be considered.
In the academic year 2026-2027 the text that will be examined is:
Mitchell – Robinson, Guide to Old English, text no. 9 “Bede’s Account of the Poet Caedmon”
Notes:
- All the materials necessary to follow the course will be made available during the course;
- Students unable to attend/follow the course regularly are requested to contact the lecturer well in advance of the session in which they intend to take the exam, realistically at least six months in advance.
- Peter S. Baker, Introduction to Old English, Wiley Blackwell 2012
(N.B.: These texts are available as e-books via RomaTreDiscovery)
- Additional material provided by the lecturer.
All the materials necessary to follow the course will be made available during the course.
Programme
The course comprises a preliminary language course (12 hours) and a series of lectures (30 hours).**************************
The preliminary course provides a grounding in the Old English Language;
The lectures will:
a) illustrate some of the main phonological and morphological characteristics distinguishing Old English from the other Germanic languages;
b) focus on a prose text drawn from those available in 'A Guide to Old English': the text will be translated and analyzed from a linguistic as well as a cultural and literary perspective. Issues relating to its transmission will furthermore be considered.
In the academic year 2026-2027 the text that will be examined is:
Mitchell – Robinson, Guide to Old English, text no. 9 “Bede’s Account of the Poet Caedmon”
Notes:
- All the materials necessary to follow the course will be made available during the course;
- Students unable to attend/follow the course regularly are requested to contact the lecturer well in advance of the session in which they intend to take the exam, realistically at least six months in advance.
Core Documentation
- Bruce Mitchell – Fred C. Robinson, A guide to Old English, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2012- Peter S. Baker, Introduction to Old English, Wiley Blackwell 2012
(N.B.: These texts are available as e-books via RomaTreDiscovery)
- Additional material provided by the lecturer.
All the materials necessary to follow the course will be made available during the course.
Reference Bibliography
Cf. aboveAttendance
Attendance is not compulsory, but highly recommended. Students unable to attend/follow the course regularly are requested to contact the lecturer well in advance of the session in which they intend to take the exam, realistically at least six months in advance.Type of evaluation
The oral exam will to test: a) the knowledge acquired of the contents of the syllabus and of the issues examined during the course; b) the ability to apply critically the knowledge acquired during the course; c) the adequacy of the candidate's presentation skills,, and his/her mastery of the specialized vocabulary; d) the competence in the methods of enquiry of the discipline; e) the ability to investigate autonomously specific issues and to present the results of such investigations. The candidate will accordingly be asked to read and translate a few lines from the text analyzed during the course. Next, he/she will be asked to answer questions concerning Old English, the main developments from Indo-European to Old English, and the literary and historical background of the text analyzed during the course. Marks –from 18 to 30 cum laude – are classified as follows: 18-20: elementary knowledge of the topics included in the program and elementary argumentative and communicative skills; 21-23: satisfactory knowledge of the topics included in the program and satisfactory argumentative and communicative skills; 24-26: good knowledge of the topics included in the program and good argumentative and communicative skills; 27-29: very good knowledge of the topics included in the program and very good argumentative and communicative skills; 30 and 30 cum laude: excellent knowledge of the topics included in the program and excellent argumentative and communicative skills. teacher profile teaching materials
- Germanic culture: social structure, law, religion, poetry
- Phonological and morphological development from Indo-European to Common Germanic.
- Phonological and morphological development from Common Germanic to Old English.
- Linguistic analysis of Old English texts within their historical and cultural background
Using Old English as model for the purposes of illustration, its phonological, morphological and lexical aspects will be analysed and explained in order to facilitate the reconstruction of the Germanic language family.
N. Francovich, La filologia germanica, Carocci, Roma 2002
S. Leonardi – E. Morlicchio, La filologia germanica e le lingue moderne, il Mulino, Bologna 2009
M.G. Saibene – M. Buzzoni, Manuale di Linguistica germanica, Cisalpino, Milano 2006
One of the following texts:
Il Canzoniere eddico, a cura di P. Scardigli, Garzanti, Milano 2004;
I Nibelunghi, a cura di L. Mancinelli, Einaudi, Torino 1972;
Beowulf, a cura di L. Koch, Einaudi, Torino 1992
One of the following texts:
G. Mazzuoli Porru, Manuale di inglese antico, Giardini, Pisa 1992
R. Quirk – C. L. Wrenn, An Old English Grammar, Methuen, London 1973
Programme
- Classifications of Old Germanic Languages.- Germanic culture: social structure, law, religion, poetry
- Phonological and morphological development from Indo-European to Common Germanic.
- Phonological and morphological development from Common Germanic to Old English.
- Linguistic analysis of Old English texts within their historical and cultural background
Using Old English as model for the purposes of illustration, its phonological, morphological and lexical aspects will be analysed and explained in order to facilitate the reconstruction of the Germanic language family.
Core Documentation
One of the following texts:N. Francovich, La filologia germanica, Carocci, Roma 2002
S. Leonardi – E. Morlicchio, La filologia germanica e le lingue moderne, il Mulino, Bologna 2009
M.G. Saibene – M. Buzzoni, Manuale di Linguistica germanica, Cisalpino, Milano 2006
One of the following texts:
Il Canzoniere eddico, a cura di P. Scardigli, Garzanti, Milano 2004;
I Nibelunghi, a cura di L. Mancinelli, Einaudi, Torino 1972;
Beowulf, a cura di L. Koch, Einaudi, Torino 1992
One of the following texts:
G. Mazzuoli Porru, Manuale di inglese antico, Giardini, Pisa 1992
R. Quirk – C. L. Wrenn, An Old English Grammar, Methuen, London 1973
Reference Bibliography
Additional bibliographical material (critical editions, glossaries, critical essays etc.) will be provided during the courseAttendance
Students are invited to attend classes. Those who cannot attend them are requested to contact the teacher at the beginning of the courseType of evaluation
The oral examination aims to test: (a) the knowledge of the content of the texts given in the syllabus and of the problems discussed during the semester; (b) the ability to critically rework the acquired knowledge and place the texts in their historical, cultural and linguistic context; (c) the expressive skills and the acquisition of the use of a specialized vocabulary; (d) the acquisition of the discipline's own methods of inquiry; (e) the results of individual investigations. Marks –from 18 to 30 cum laude – are classified as follows: 18-20: elementary knowledge of the topics included in the program and elementary argumentative and communicative skills; 21-23: satisfactory knowledge of the topics included in the program and satisfactory argumentative and communicative skills; 24-26: good knowledge of the topics included in the program and good argumentative and communicative skills; 27-29: very good knowledge of the topics included in the program and very good argumentative and communicative skills; 30 and 30 cum laude: excellent knowledge of the topics included in the program and excellent argumentative and communicative skills.