32599 - Slavic Philology 1 (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims at providing students with basic notions of comparative grammar, which will allow them to recognize the main differences between east-slavic (Russian in particular), west-slavic (Polish) and south-slavic (Bulgarian) languages. The aim of the course is also to provide an accurate knowledge of slavic medieval history, within the broader context of european and mediterranean culture and civilization. Students will acquire the knowledge and skills to read and comprehend short slavonic texts.

Course contents

The course concerns the figure of Michael Trivolis, a Greek monk who lived between the end of the 15^th and the middle of the 16^th century, known in Russia as ‘Maximus the Greek’ (Maksim Grek). Born in Arta, in the Epirus region of Greece, pupil of John Lascaris in Corfù and Florence, collaborator of Aldo Manuzio in Venice, at the service of the court of Mirandola, once again in Florence as dominican monk, Michael Trivolis trained at the school of Italian humanism. When he was about 35 years old, he returned to his fatherland and entered the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos. After 12 years, in 1518, he was sent to Muscovy with the task of correcting the church-slavonic translations which were in use there (with particular reference to the Psalter). In the Rus’, the first half of the 16^th century was a time characterized by the struggle against heresies on one hand, and by an harsh debate on church properties on the other. Maximus the Greek’s friction with the political and ecclesiastical power earned him imprisonment and ostracism: up until the moment of his death, which took place almost 40 years later, he has never been allowed to leave the Rus’. It’s been written that Maximus “had been prepared for a mission to Muscovy, but Muscovy was not yet ready for him”. Nevertheless, besides being one of the most prolific writers in the entire Slavic Middle Ages, Maximus the Greek has been read and loved by many people, to the point that he became very soon worthy of veneration (but the Russian Church canonized him only in 1988).

1. Historical background: the Rus’ in the 16^th-17^th Centuries

2. The ‘Second South-Slavic Influence’

3. The Life of Maximus the Greek

4. The Works of Maximus the Greek

5. The Slovo otvěčatelno o knižnom ispravlenii

6. Maximus the Greek and the Letter of Patriarch Photios to Prince Boris

Readings/Bibliography

1. M. Garzaniti, Gli slavi. Storia, culture e lingue dalle origini ai nostri giorni, Carocci, Roma 2013, capitoli 16-25 (pp. 190-323).

2. J.V. Haney, From Italy to Muscovy. The Life and Works of Maxim the Greek, München 1973 (= Humanistische Bibliotek. Reihe 1. Abhandlungen, 19).

3. M. Garzaniti, F. Romoli (a cura di), Massimo il Greco, Firenze e l’Umanesimo italiano, “Studi Slavistici”, VII, 2010, pp. 239-394, <http://http://www.fupress.net/index.php/ss/issue/view/753> (in particolare i saggi di N.V. Sinicyna, pp. 313-326; A.-E.N. Tachiaos, pp. 327-337; M. Garzaniti, pp. 349-363; F. Romoli, pp. 365-383).

4. Massimo il Greco, Sermone in replica sulla correzione dei libri (dispense scaricabili dal portale ‘Insegnamenti Online’ <https://iol.unibo.it>)

5. A. Alberti, "Cerca di farti degli amici tra i migliori e non tra i peggiori!". Massimo il Greco e l’Epistola di Fozio al principe Boris, in: N. Bąkowska, A. Alberti (a cura di), Lezioni di Traduzione, 1, Bologna 2022, pp. 11-39, <http://amsacta.unibo.it/6957/>.

(further readings will be provided during the course: non-attending students, as well as students of the old – four-year – course, or students who wish to attend the advanced class, must consult with the lecturer in order to arrange a program)

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons; reading and analysis of texts; seminars

Assessment methods

The evaluation of the students' competencies is articulated in two separate and consecutive phases:

1. During the second half of the course, some subjects will be chosen for an in-depth analysis, on the basis of the students' interests. The analysis will be done in a workshop manner, that is dividing the literature between students and allowing them to give a brief but accurate (oral) report on the subject. The lecturer will help students to select the appropriate literature and to find the best expository strategies. He will also coordinate the workshops and stimulate the discussion. The workshops are conceived in order to improve students' critical thinking and research skills, on the one hand, and their presentation and debating capabilities, on the other hand.

2. At the end of the course, students must pass an oral exam on course subjects. The student will be asked to recognize and discuss critically the crucial points in the linguistic and cultural development of the so-called Slavia Orthodoxa in the 14th-16th centuries, with particular reference to the figure of Maximus the Greek (Garzaniti, Romoli 2010) and his activity in Muscovy during the first half of the 16th century. (Haney 1974). Particularly appreciated will be the student capability to incorporate the assimilated notions into a comprehensive vision of the european Middle Ages, independently filling potential gaps.

During all phases of the examination, the use of an appropriate terminology and the capability to express oneself in a fully autonomous way, without suggestions or corrections, represents the necessary prerequisite for an assessment of excellence.

Teaching tools

Audiovisual aids will be used

Office hours

See the website of Alberto Alberti