32604 - Slavic Philology 2 (LM)

Learning outcomes

Acquiring a deeper knowledge of comparative Slavonic grammars, recognizing the main distinctive traits of each Slavonic language group, with particular reference to Russian, Polish and Bulgarian. Integrating the history of mediaeval Slavonic peoples into the general European historical and cultural background. Reading, understanding and analysing short text in Old Church Slavonic.

Course contents

The first part of the course concerns the linguistic redactions of Church Slavonic; it aims to provide the students with a brief survey of the local variations of the old literary language in the “Slavia Orthodoxa” and in Croatia; in this connection, some gospel texts from the 11th-15th centuries will be read. The second part of the course focuses on the history of the Second Bulgarian Empire; particular attention will be paid to the figure of tsar Ivan Aleksandăr (14th Century). Studying the complex phenomenon called ‘Euthymian Reform', the students will recognize the cultural and linguistic basis of the ‘Second South-Slavic Influence', which determines the subsequent evolution of East Slavic and of Russian in particular. Basic notions of comparative grammar will also be supplied, so that students may learn to recognize the various modern slavic languages and the peculiarities of their structure, from the phonological, morphological and syntactical point of view.

1. Introduction: local redactions of Church Slavonic;

2. The Byzantine Empire and the Slavs in the medieval Balkans

3. The Euthymian reform of Church Slavonic and the Second South-Slavic Influence in Rus'

4. Sources for the history of the 14-th Century in Bulgaria

5. Textual criticism of the slavic gospels

6. Historical grammar: from Proto-Indo-European to modern slavic languages

7. Similarities and differences among modern slavic languages

 

Readings/Bibliography

R. MARTI, «Dal manoscritto alla letteratura: per una testologia del patrimonio scritto slavo», in: M. Capaldo (a cura di), Lo spazio letterario del medioevo, 3.III Le culture slave, Salerno ed., Roma 2006, pp. 671-703.

F. DVORNIK, «Il secondo impero bulgaro e l'ascesa della Serbia», in: ID., Gli Slavi nella storia e nella civiltà europea, I, Dedalo, Bari 1968 (trad. di P. Portoghese, ed. or. The Slavs in European History and Civilization, Rutgers, New Brunswick 1962), pp. 133-171.

A.M. SCHENKER, The Dawn of Slavic. An Introduction to Slavic Philology, Yale Univesity Press, New Haven-London 1995.

Further readings to be chosen among:

F. CONTE, Gli Slavi. Le civiltà dell'Europa centrale e orientale, Einaudi, Torino 1991.

E. GASPARINI, Il matriarcato slavo, Sansoni, Firenze 1973 (and new edition).

 

Teaching methods

Lessons; reading and analysis of texts; seminars.

Assessment methods

Oral exam.

Office hours

See the website of Gabriella Elina Imposti