32589 - Germanic Philology 1 (LM)

Learning outcomes

The student has deep knowledge about the fundamental social institutions of the Germanic peoples of the Late-antiquity and Middle Ages.The student possesses the direct knowledge of written sources which he/she reads in the original languages, he/she konws and is able to use the practical methodologies for the analysis and interpretation of the lietary texts through a linguistic and filological education.

Course contents

1st Semester: 6 CFU (30 hrs)

wineleas guma. A friendless man: the Old English Wanderer

The course will examine one of the most beautiful Anglo-Saxon elegy, The Wanderer. It is a short poetic composition focused on the exile of a warrior, the only survivor among his companions. Taken from remorse for not having saved his lord from death, the wanderer navigates the North seas subjected to storms and bad weather. Wandering aimlessly, he reflects on the meaning of life, on the idea of survival, on the very destiny of humanity.

After a historical-cultural framework on the early medieval Anglo-Saxon culture, the Old English text will be analyzed in its narratological structure and content. We will focus on some words which can better illuminate the Anglo-Saxon culture: during the classroom, we will discuss in order to achieve a translation of the text into Italian.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students:

- Texts charged by the professor as on line materials

- The Wanderer, ed. by T. P. Dunning and A. J. Bliss, New York, Appleton 1969

- Maria Grazia Cammarota - Gabriele Cocco, Le elegie anglosassoni. Voci e volti della sofferenza, Milano, Meltemi, 2020

Reference grammar: Alistair Campbell, Old English Grammar, Oxford, Oxford UP, 1959 or any other edition.

Michael Barnes, A new Introduction to Old Norse, I, Grammar, London, Viking Society for Northern Research, 2008 (scaricabile online)

Non attending students:

to the previous bibliography it must  be added:

- C. Braun Pasternack, Anonymous polyphony and the Wanderer's textuality, "Anglo-Saxon England", 20 (1991), pp. 99-122

- Christine Fell, Perceptions of Transience, in The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature, ed. by M. Godden and M. Lapidge, Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 1991, pp. 172-189

- Francini, Marusca, La letteratura anglosassone, in Le civiltà letterarie del Medioevo germanico, a cura di M. Battaglia, Roma, Carocci, 2017, pp. 137-276.

 

Teaching methods

The first six lessons will be on Microsoft Teams, the following nine lessons will be provided in blended form.

Assessment methods

The assessment will take into account some textual examples discussed in classroom will be object of the examination and will be orally discussed together with the theoretical knowledge gained . During the interview the methodological and critical skills acquired by the student will be evaluated . The student will be invited to discuss the texts covered during the course and to move within the sources and bibliographical material in order to be able to identify in them the useful information that will enable to illustrate the similarities and cultural areas of the discipline. The achievement of an organic vision of the issues addressed during the classes and their critical use, which demonstrate ownership of a mastery of expression and specific language, will be assessed with marks of excellence. Mechanical and / or mnemonic knowledge of matter, synthesis and analysis of non-articulating and / or correct language but not always appropriate will lead to discrete assessments; training gaps and / or inappropriate language - although in a context of minimal knowledge of the material - will lead to votes that will not exceed the sufficiency. Training gaps, inappropriate language, lack of guidance within the reference materials offered during the course will lead to failed assessments.

Teaching tools

Multimedial tools

Office hours

See the website of Alessandro Zironi