The course aims to provide specific competences fori the study and analysis of literary texts of the Italian Middle Ages. Through an in-depth reading of a work, or group of works, students will acquire an interpretative attitude based on the interweaving of different fields of knowledge - literary-historical, linguistic-philological, doctrinal and artistic - particularly appropriate to grasp the complexity of medieval literary texts and their peculiarities.
teacher profile teaching materials
The course will take into account a foundational relationship in early Italian lyric: the one between Dante and his "first friend" Guido Cavalcanti. The brief collection of rhymes by Cavalcanti will be read in its entirety, alongside the most important and audacious work of the young Dante, his "Vita nova". Moreover, some passages from his "De vulgari eloquentia" and the "Commedia" will be read, where it is possible to trace echoes of the dialogue with his old friend. Specific attention will be devoted to the philosophical content and the intellectualistic character of their poetry, to their different ideas about love and intellectual happiness, and to the reception of their figures among readers.
2. Enrico Fenzi, La canzone d’amore di Guido Cavalcanti e i suoi antichi commenti, Milano, Ledizioni, 2015, pp. 1-174 [ristampa anastatica dell’edizione originale: Genova, Il melangolo, 1999];
3. **Giacomo da Pistoia, Questio de felicitate, in Irene Zavattero, La «Quaestio de felicitate» di Giacomo da Pistoia: un tentativo di interpretazione alla luce di una nuova lettura critica del testo in Le felicità nel Medioevo, in Le felicità nel Medioevo: atti del convegno della Società italiana per lo studio del pensiero medievale (S.I.S.P.M.), Milano, 12-13 settembre 2003, a c. di Maria Bettetini e Francesco D. Paparella, Louvain-la-Neuve, FIDEM, 2005, pp. 355-409;
4. Dante Alighieri, Vita nova, a cura di Stefano Carrai, 2009 (e successive ristampe);
5. **Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron VI, 9 (testo critico di M. Fiorilla);
6. **Italo Calvino, Leggerezza, in Id., Lezioni americane. Sei proposte per il prossimo millennio, Milano, Mondadori, 1993 [1988].
Texts with ** and others discussed during lectures will be made available online on Moodle, together with didactic materials. The volumes (or selected portions) in programme will be read in their entirety (introductions, essays and editorial notes included).
A critical bibliography will be given by the end of the course.
Students who did not attend lectures will complete their preparation by reading the first two chapters of Natascia Tonelli, Fisiologia della passione. Poesia d'amore e medicina da Cavalcanti a Boccaccio, Firenze, Sismel, 2015.
Programme
"Philosophers and poets, that is: on Cavalcanti and Dante"The course will take into account a foundational relationship in early Italian lyric: the one between Dante and his "first friend" Guido Cavalcanti. The brief collection of rhymes by Cavalcanti will be read in its entirety, alongside the most important and audacious work of the young Dante, his "Vita nova". Moreover, some passages from his "De vulgari eloquentia" and the "Commedia" will be read, where it is possible to trace echoes of the dialogue with his old friend. Specific attention will be devoted to the philosophical content and the intellectualistic character of their poetry, to their different ideas about love and intellectual happiness, and to the reception of their figures among readers.
Core Documentation
1. Guido Cavalcanti, Rime, a cura di Roberto Rea e Giorgio Inglese, Roma, Carocci editore, 2011 (e successive ristampe);2. Enrico Fenzi, La canzone d’amore di Guido Cavalcanti e i suoi antichi commenti, Milano, Ledizioni, 2015, pp. 1-174 [ristampa anastatica dell’edizione originale: Genova, Il melangolo, 1999];
3. **Giacomo da Pistoia, Questio de felicitate, in Irene Zavattero, La «Quaestio de felicitate» di Giacomo da Pistoia: un tentativo di interpretazione alla luce di una nuova lettura critica del testo in Le felicità nel Medioevo, in Le felicità nel Medioevo: atti del convegno della Società italiana per lo studio del pensiero medievale (S.I.S.P.M.), Milano, 12-13 settembre 2003, a c. di Maria Bettetini e Francesco D. Paparella, Louvain-la-Neuve, FIDEM, 2005, pp. 355-409;
4. Dante Alighieri, Vita nova, a cura di Stefano Carrai, 2009 (e successive ristampe);
5. **Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron VI, 9 (testo critico di M. Fiorilla);
6. **Italo Calvino, Leggerezza, in Id., Lezioni americane. Sei proposte per il prossimo millennio, Milano, Mondadori, 1993 [1988].
Texts with ** and others discussed during lectures will be made available online on Moodle, together with didactic materials. The volumes (or selected portions) in programme will be read in their entirety (introductions, essays and editorial notes included).
A critical bibliography will be given by the end of the course.
Students who did not attend lectures will complete their preparation by reading the first two chapters of Natascia Tonelli, Fisiologia della passione. Poesia d'amore e medicina da Cavalcanti a Boccaccio, Firenze, Sismel, 2015.
Type of evaluation
The exam consists in a colloquium of about 25-30 minutes on topics addressed in the course. The candidate's acquaintance and knowledge of the subject will be evaluated, together with their ability in reading and understanding texts, critical thinking and speaking skills. Students who want to write a paper on a topic connected to the course can get in touch with the teacher: this paper - which is not at all compulsory - will substitute for a substantial part of the colloquium.