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00381 - Romance Philology

Academic Year 2025/2026

                
                        Docente:
                        Luciano Formisano
                    
                        Credits:
                        9
                    
                        SSD:
                        L-FIL-LET/09
                    
                        Language:
                        Italian
                    
                        Teaching Mode:
                        Traditional lectures
                        
                            Campus:
                            Bologna
                        
                            Corso:
                            First cycle degree programme (L) in
                            Foreign Languages and Literature (cod. 0979)

                                    Course Timetable
                                
from Feb 09, 2026 to Apr 29, 2026

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will acquire knowledge of the romance languages and literatures of the Middle Ages and their formation, with particular regard to French and Occitan. The student will acquire the skills for adopting the instruments of textual criticism, in order to be aware of the transformations of texts and languages through the centuries.

Course contents

I. Linguistics

1. From Latin to the Romance languages (phonetics, morphosyntax, lexicon)

2.The Romance languages across space and time

3. Characteristics of Gallo-Romance, with particular reference to Old French and Old Occitan

II. Textual Criticism

1. The concept of textual tradition

2. The manuscript

3. Elements of textual editing

III. Literary History

1. Origins of Romance literatures

2. Comparative history of the literatures of langue d’oc and langue d’oïl: genres and texts (hagiography, epic, lyric, romance, tale, allegorical-didactic literature)

3. Elements of metrics

Readings/Bibliography

P.G. Beltrami, La filologia romanza, Bologna, il Mulino 2017, particularly Part 2 (Dal latino alle lingue romanze) and Part 3 (Le letterature del Medioevo romanzo), and the Appendix.

P. Gresti, Antologia delle letterature romanze del Medioevo, Bologna, Pàtron, 2011². Students are required to read the French and Occitan texts included in the anthology in their Italian translation, along with the corresponding introductory notes: Part A (Agiografia), p. 37-68; B (Epica), p. 81-130; C (Lirica), p. 151-243; D (Romanzo), p. 257-318; E (Racconto), p. 329-381; F (Letteratura allegorico-didattica), p. 401-426.

Teaching methods

Lectures.

Assessment methods

Oral examination.

Teaching tools

Some study materials (maps, reproductions of manuscripts, editions of texts) will be uploaded to the Virtual platform.

Students with Specific Learning disorders or temporary/permanent disabilities are encouraged to promptly contact the University support office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it) and the instructor to jointly identify the most effective strategies for attending lectures and/or preparing for the exam.

Office hours

See the website of Luciano Formisano