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Germanic Philology
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the training course, students will have to demonstrate
the ability to read and analyse Germanic texts, to have acquired codic-paleographic knowledges and the ability to transcribe simple Germanic texts from manuscripts, knowledge of the main stages of the editor's work in the restitutio textus.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The educational path of the teaching intends to provide students with the knowledge and methodological tools necessary for the reading/translation/textual analysis of Germanic medieval and modern texts.
Furthermore, the student must demonstrate knowledge and ability to understand the problems related to the reconstruction of Germanic texts through comparison with previous editions or starting from the manuscript.
FURTHER EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
autonomy of judgement::
The student must demonstrate that he or she can independently choose the most suitable translation of a sentence/verse of a Germanic text or identify the most correct reading conveyed by the manuscripts.
Communication skills:
He/she must also demonstrate the ability to justify his/her decisions during textual analysis and reconstruction and subsequent in-depth analysis independently.
Learning ability:
At the end of the course, the student must demonstrate that he/she is able to recognize the main stages of the editor's work and to simulate some of them, from reading to transcription, from interpretation and analysis to at least an essential textual reconstruction. In this process, he/she will also demonstrate knowledge of ancient Germanic languages and literatures and of the main forms of writing in the Germanic world.
Course Prerequisites
Students must demonstrate that they have a good basic preparation on the main topics covered in Germanic Philology
course of the I level degree. Previous knowledge of the Germanic linguistic areas and their individual and common characteristics is essential, as is knowledge of ancient and medieval
Germanic literary documentation. Knowledge of textual criticism applicable to the Germanic documentary area is also useful.
Teaching Methods
The course is based on lectures and exercises in class, followed by written activities such as reports, essays and individual research carried out by the students towards the end of the course; also possible
teaching experiences in the field.
Before the end of the course, students present a report in front of the class on one of the topics covered in class, chosen by the student and explored individually. The report is then handed in and discussed again during the exam. The oral exam also includes the reading and analysis of a text commented on during the lessons.
Due to its seminar format, the close relationship with the contents and methods of the I level course, the course is aimed primarily at students who have already attended a first-level Germanic philology course or who have
acquired solid knowledge of linguistics - possibly Germanic - and textual analysis.
Attending and non-attending students are invited to contact the teacher to agree on a program suited to their study path.
Assessment Methods
The exam is divided into: oral and written report
The exam is held in Italian. The evaluation is expressed in thirtieths. Before the end of the course, students present a report in front of the class on one of the topics covered in class, chosen by the student and explored individually. The report is then handed in and discussed again during the exam. The oral exam, in addition to assessing the acquisition of methods and contents, also includes the reading and analysis of a text commented on during the lessons. Furthermore, the ability to read and analyse Germanic texts, the possession of codic-paleographic knowledge, the ability to transcribe Germanic texts from manuscript (in facsimile or digital copy), and the ability to recognize and retrace the main stages of the editor's work in the restitutio textus up to the critical edition will be assessed.
Texts
Reference Texts
S. Leonardi/E. Morlicchio, La filologia germanica e le lingue moderne, Il
Mulino, Bologna 2009
A. Zironi, Filologia Germanica, Lingua, storia, cultura, testi, Le Monnier
Univeristà, Firenze 2022
A. M. Luiselli Fadda, Tradizioni manoscritte e critica del testo nel
Medioevo germanico, Laterza, Bari 1994
L. Cesarini Martinelli, La filologia. Dagli antichi manoscritti ai libri
stampati, Editori Riuniti, Roma 1984
For the exercises, photocopies will be distributed or slides will be viewed of
parts of these texts (in addition to other manuscript material available online
or provided by the teacher):
J. Roberts, Guide to Scripts used in English Writings up to 1500, London
2005
H. Fischer, Schrifttafel zum althochdeutschen Lesebuch, Tübingen 1966
For non-attending students*, in addition, one of these texts:
A. C. Baugh-T.Cable, A History of the English Language, Abingdon 2002
H.-U. Schmidt, Einführung in die deutsche Sprachgeschichte, Stuttgart
2009
Regarding Swedish language; a selection of essays from:The Nordic Languages. An
International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages
Ed. by Oscar Bandle, De Gruyter Mouton 2002 o da Medieval
Scandinavia, An Encyclopedia, ed. by Philip Pulsiano, Peter Lang Verlag,
1993)
or: C. Benati, Storia delle lingue scandinave, Genova, ECIG, 2011.
*Non-attending students are advised to contact the teacher (cgiordano@unior.it) for an alternative program
Contents
TEXTS AND EDITIONS IN GERMANIC MEDIEVAL AND MODERN AREA
1. Introduction to textual criticism: restitutio textus and stemma codicum;
main characteristics of the manuscript tradition;
2. philology as an edition of texts: codex unicus and codices plurimi;
copying and dictation;
3. the Germanic manuscript tradition: recovery and in-depth analysis;
4. the diversity of documentation in the Germanic areas;
5. the main scripts of the Germanic area: Anglo-Saxon minuscule;
Carolingian minuscule;
6. reading and transcription of passages of Germanic texts from manuscripts;
7. description and identification of the main textual errors;
8. exercises on manuscripts of the Germanic area;
9. exercises and analysis of a transcribed text;
10. simulation of restitutio textus: critical edition, semi-critical edition;
11. student reports.
Course Language
Italian
More information
The course is based on lectures and exercises in class, followed by written activities such as reports, essays and individual research carried out by the students towards the end of the course; also possible
teaching experiences in the field. Before the end of the course, students present a report in front of the class on one of the topics covered in class, chosen by the student and explored individually. The report is then handed in and
discussed again during the exam. The oral exam also includes the reading and analysis of a text commented on during the lessons.
Due to its seminar format, the close relationship with the contents and methods of the course of the I level course, the course is aimed primarily at students who have already attended a first-level Germanic philology course or who have acquired solid knowledge of linguistics - possibly Germanic - and textual analysis. Attending and non-attending students are invited to contact the teacher to agree on a program suited to their study path.