90013 - Middle Ages and Medievalism: Historiography and Methodology (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will possess the methodological and critical tools to understand the relationships between medieval historiography as a discipline that proceeds from analysis of sources to interpreting the historical and cultural dynamics of the medieval period; this includes medievalism, viz. post-medieval representation of themes that later epochs felt to be medieval – hence a highly interdisciplinary area. Students will have gained a general view of the critical literature by reading and commenting on the texts; they will be able to recognise and use the main bibliographical resources; they will grasp the prevailing models for interpreting events, the connections among the various phases of the construction of historical memory, and the various cultural practices of the Middle Ages compared to a political-institutional evolution over time; they will be able, within a general framework, to place interactions between medieval and medievalism in their cultural, political and ideological dimension. They will possess a spirit of self-criticism and an ability to learn from mixing with other people as well as being able to choose the tools most suited to their own skills and purposes.

Course contents

The basic part of the course (20h.) will be focused on the definition of medievalism as an innovative and interdisciplinary field of research in its relations with medieval historiography in terms of methods and contents.

Part of the course (10 h.) will be focused on Arthur of Camelot between history and myth

 

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

ATTENDING STUDENTS

BASIC PART

• T. di Carpegna Falconieri, Cinque altri modi di sognare il medioevo. Addenda a un testo celebre, in «Bullettino dell’Istituto storico italiano per il medio evo», 122 (2020), pp. 407-433 (READING REQUIRED)
  
• U. Eco, Dieci modi di sognare il medioevo, in U. Eco, Sugli specchi e altri saggi, Milano 1985, pp. 78-89/U. Eco, Scritti sul pensiero medievale, Milano 2013, pp. 1093-1108 (READING REQUIRED)
• U. Longo, ‘Tra un manifesto e uno specchio’. Piccola storia del medievalismo tra diaframmi, maniere e pretesti, in «Bullettino dell’Istituto storico italiano per il medio evo», 122 (2020), pp. 383-405 (READING REQUIRED)
• D. Matthews, From Mediaeval to Mediaevalism: a New Semantic History, in «The Review of English Studies», New Series, Vol. 62, No. 257, pp. 695-715 (READING REQUIRED)
• F. Roversi Monaco, Medioevo 'medievale' fra stereotipi e storiografia, in corso di stampa, (READING REQUIRED)
• L. Workman, “Editorial Preface”, in Studies in Medievalism,I, 1979, pp. 1-3 (READING REQUIRED)
• K. Verduin, “The Founding and the Founder: Medievalism and the Legacy of Leslie J. Workman”, in Studies in Medievalism, 17 (2009) pp. 1-27 (READING REQUIRED)

FOCUS:

F. Marzella, Excalibur. La spada nella roccia tra mito e storia, Roma 2022 

 

STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO CONSULT THE SLIDES PUBLISHED ON VIRTUALE

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

BASIC PART

• T. di Carpegna Falconieri, “Medievalismi: il posto dell’Italia”, in Medievalismi Italiani (secoli XIX-XXI), a c. di Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri e Riccardo Facchini, Roma, Gangemi editore, pp. 9-28  (READING REQUIRED)
  
• T. di Carpegna Falconieri, Cinque altri modi di sognare il medioevo. Addenda a un testo celebre, in «Bullettino dell’Istituto storico italiano per il medio evo», 122 (2020), pp. 407-433 (READING REQUIRED)
  
• U. Eco, Dieci modi di sognare il medioevo, in U. Eco, Sugli specchi e altri saggi, Milano 1985, pp. 78-89/U. Eco, Scritti sul pensiero medievale, Milano 2013, pp. 1093-1108 (READING REQUIRED)
• U. Longo, ‘Tra un manifesto e uno specchio’. Piccola storia del medievalismo tra diaframmi, maniere e pretesti, in «Bullettino dell’Istituto storico italiano per il medio evo», 122 (2020), pp. 383-405 (READING REQUIRED)
• D. Matthews, From Mediaeval to Mediaevalism: a New Semantic History, in «The Review of English Studies», New Series, Vol. 62, No. 257, pp. 695-715 (READING REQUIRED)
• F. Roversi Monaco, Medioevo 'medievale' fra stereotipi e storiografia, in corso di stampa, (READING REQUIRED)
• L. Workman, “Editorial Preface”, in Studies in Medievalism,I, 1979, pp. 1-3 (READING REQUIRED)
• K. Verduin, “The Founding and the Founder: Medievalism and the Legacy of Leslie J. Workman”, in Studies in Medievalism,17 (2009) pp. 1-27 (READING REQUIRED)
• G. Sergi, L'idea di Medioevo fra storia e senso comune, Roma 2005 (READING REQUIRED)

FOCUS:

F. Marzella, Excalibur. La spada nella roccia tra mito e storia, Roma 2022 (READING REQUIRED)

STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO CONSULT THE SLIDES PUBLISHED ON VIRTUALE

 

Teaching methods

FRONTAL LECTURES

Assessment methods

NB Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

The final exam will be an oral one, with questions aimed to verify the student's knowledge of the themes discussing during frontal lectures (only for attending students) as well as those treated in the program's texts.

Non-attending students will have to take an oral final exam about the themes treated in the program's texts.

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the sources and material in the exam bibliography and his ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.
Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.
A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

We will use power point slides with images and maps. Various examples of historical sources will be used and discussed.

Office hours

See the website of Francesca Roversi Monaco