B4930 - Migrations and Ethnogenesis in Medieval Times (1) (LM)

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

At the end of the course, students will be able to recognize the main processes of migration, mobility and ethnogenesis in the medieval Mediterranean since the 5th century AD. They will able to analyze with methodological rigor a rich typology of sources, cross-referencing their data to identify connections, developments, persistence, and transformations of historical phenomena with a critical approach to periodization; they will able to use the main bibliographical reference resources and to read historiography critically; they will be able to grasp the evolution of spatial-territorial and political-institutional arrangements linked to migrations; they will able to recognize the role of the various actors involved and the social, cultural, political and economic consequences of ethnogenesis in the medieval West, through appropriate methods of investigation and terminology.

Contenuti

The historiographical concept of ethnogenesis was developed by early medievalist scholarship in the second half of the 20th century to describe the ethnic identities of the peoples involved in the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages as the outcome of open and continuously evolving historical and cultural processes. This concept stood in opposition to earlier essentialist theories —rooted in nationalist and romantic traditions—that had applied anachronistic notions of ethnic identity to early medieval peoples, placing their histories within their own national meta-narratives.

The course will present the historiographical and archaeological debate on the topic of early medieval ethnic identities and provide critical tools for interpreting contemporary sources that narrate the origin myths of those peoples, the Origines gentium as identity texts serving political agendas in post-Roman West.

Testi/Bibliografia

Attending students will take part in 75% of the classes (at least) and participate to class discussions. Starting from week 3, groups of students will present and discuss one or more primary source and the relevant scholarship. Reading materials will be provided on the University's repository "Virtuale”.

Moreover, attending students will prepare an essay (3000 words) outlining the results of individual or group work set during the lectures, that will be discussed in the final oral exam.

The essay must be submitted in digital format (Word, Openoffice, pdf) at least 5 days before the date of the exam.

Non-attending students will study one book and one paper (by two different authors) from this reading list:

Books:

· Patrick J. Geary, The myth of nations: the medieval origins of Europe, Princeton, 2002.

· Walter Pohl, The Avars. A Steppe Empire in Central Europe, 567-822, Ithaca 2008.

· Helmut Reimitz, History, Frankish identity and the framing of Western ethnicity, 550 - 850, Cambridge, 2015.

· Ian Wood, The modern origins of the early Middle Ages, Oxford 2013

Papers

· Herwig Wolfram, Gothic history as historical ethnography in Thomas F. X. Noble (ed.), From Roman provinces to Medieval kingdoms, London, 2006, pp. 43-69.

· Walter Pohl, Telling the difference: signs of ethnic identity, in Id. and Helmut Reimitz (eds.), Strategies of distinction. The construction of the ethnic communities 300-800, Leiden, 1998, pp. 17-69

· Walter Pohl, Memory, identity and power in Lombard Italy, in Yitzhak Hen and Matthew Innes (eds.), The Uses of the Past in the Early Middle Ages, London 2000, pp. 9-28

· Patrick J. Geary, Ethnic Identity as a Situational Construct in the Early Middle Ages, in Id., Florin Curta and Cristina Spinei (eds.), Writing history: identity, conflict, and memory in the Middle Ages, Bucuresti 2012, pp. 19-32.

· Peter Heather, 'Gens' and 'Regnum' among the Ostrogoths, in Hans-Werner Goetz, Jörg Jarnut and Walter Pohl (eds.), Regna and gentes. The relationship between late antique and early medieval peoples and kingdoms in the transformation of the Roman world, Leiden 2003, pp. 85-133.

· Patrick Wormald, The 'leges barbarorum': Law and ethnicity in the post-Roman West, in Hans-Werner Goetz, Jörg Jarnut and Walter Pohl (eds.), Regna and gentes. The relationship between late antique and early medieval peoples and kingdoms in the transformation of the Roman world, Leiden 2003, pp. 21-53.

· Helmut. Reimitz, The Early History of Frankish Origin Legends, c.500-800 C.E., in Lindy Brady and Patrick Wadden (eds.), Origin legends in early medieval Western Europe, Leiden 2022, pp. 156-183.

Metodi didattici

After the introductory lectures (weeks 1 and 2) presenting the main theoretical and methodological tools on the subject, students will be involved in the critical reading and presentation of scholarly papers and in the analysis of selected primary sources.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

In the evaluation of the essay (attending students) and the oral exam (non-attending students), account will be taken of the student's ability to find their way around the sources and bibliographical material proposed, to illustrate themes and problems and to be able to link them together.

The following will therefore be assessed:
- The mastery of the contents
- The ability to synthesise and analyse themes and concepts
- The ability to express oneself in language appropriate to the subject matter

The student's attainment of an organic vision of the themes addressed in the lessons together with their critical use, a good mastery of expression and specific language will be assessed with marks of excellence.

A mnemonic knowledge of the subject, together with synthesis and analysis skills articulated in a correct but not always appropriate language, will lead to fair marks.

Formative deficiencies and/or inappropriate language - albeit in the context of minimal knowledge of the examination material - will lead to grades that do not exceed sufficiency.

Formative deficiencies, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliographical materials offered during the course will lead to negative marks.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

"Virtuale", the University's repository of teaching materials, will be used for the distribution of teaching materials: power points summarising lecture content, pdf files of sources and further reading.

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office:https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students .

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Giacomo Vignodelli