90137 - History of Culture and Latin Text of Middle Ages (1)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students gain a basic understanding of the philological method as applied to the tradition of medieval texts (how to study the manuscript tradition of a medieval Latin text, how a critical edition is produced, how to read a critical edition) and are able to apply this knowledge to the history of culture and literary criticism. Students are acquainted with the working conditions of medieval authors and they are introduced to the different concrete forms of medieval textual production in relation to the diversity of the reading public. Students are able to reconstruct critically a brief text transmitted by a simple manuscript tradition.

Course contents

1. The course illustrates the specific conditions of the Latin culture of the Middle Ages (notion of text, modality of elaboration of the text, modality of diffusion of the work) and the methods to study this specificity, also considering the authors of reference. The teacher will present the themes and problems foreseen by the program, discussing with the students the critical aspects of the method and the authors of reference in the history of the Middle Latin culture.

 

2. Specific methodologies for the description of Latin authors, texts and manuscripts of the Middle Ages will be illustrated, as tools for understanding the dynamics posed by Latin texts of the Middle Ages.

Teaching tools

1. General part

Only one book from the following

C. Leonardi, Medioevo latino. La cultura dell'europa cristiana, Firenze, SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo 2004 (Il millennio medievale)

C. Leonardi (cur.) Letteratura latina medievale (secoli VI-XV). Un manuale, Firenze, SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo 2002 (Il millennio medievale)

G. Vinay, Alto Medioevo latino, Napoli, Liguori ed. 2003 (II edizione)

F. Santi, L'età metaforica. Fugure di Dio e letteratura latina medievale da Gregorio Magno a Dante, Spoleto, Fondazione Cisam 2011 (Uomini e mondi medievali)

2. Latin texts

Only one text from the following

Gregorius Magnus, Dialogi (ed. A. de Vogüé-B. Calati, Roma 2000)

Petrus Abaelardus-Heloissa Epistolario (ed. I. Pagani-G.Orlandi, Torino 2015)

Linguistic, literary and attributive examination of the chosen work.

Office hours

See the website of Francesco Santi