Admission requirements
A bachelor in Linguistics.
A study programme that includes at least one of these courses: Italian Linguistics, History of Italian, Italian philology. The course must be taken successfully for at least 5 EC before the enrollment.
A proficiency in spoken Italian at CEFR level B2-C1, other skills in Italian at level C1.
A proficiency in oral English at CEFR level C1.
Description
This course will tackle fundamental issues for readers of all time: is the text I'm reading reliable? Does the text form respect the author's last wish?
In this sense, many classics of Italian literature are emblematic. Their modern editions are based on manuscripts and old prints, but are the originals still existing? Well, the answer is not obvious.
This course will deal with some relevant cases. For instance, the Comedy by Dante has been transmitted through 6 main copies, but the complete original perhaps never existed; the Canzoniere by Petrarch has been received through a manuscript written in part by the author and in part by his scrivener; the Boccaccio's Decameron last autograph is incomplete, and it has been reconstructed by the means of a previous version. In addition, non-Tuscan writers had to face problems with the literary language. This was the case of Tasso who did not authorize any of the two editions of his Gerusalemme Liberata, and Manzoni who wrote three versions of his Promessi Sposi.
Thus, the course program aims at illustrating:
the principles of philology applied to texts in Italian varieties,
case studies of how texts were created and transmitted,
the consequences on written literary language,
how to edit an Italian text for the modern reader.
Course objectives
The course is intended to provide:
the theoretical and practical understanding of the Italian philology (e.g. the stemmatic method and the interpretation of textual variants),
the insight of the main aspects in the historical grammar of Italian,
the skills to critically analyse literary texts in order to identify the cultural and material aspects of language use in authors,
the skills to apply scientific methods in editing a text in Italian and its varieties,
the ability to write a MA thesis in Italian, preferably in form of a critical edition of a brief document.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar and workshop
Assessment Method
Written test: test (8 multiple choice questions on linguistic phenomena, 3 closed questions on disciplinary principles, 1 textual analysis with 4 closed questions)
Paper on one of the course’s topic (10-20 A4 pages)
Weighing
Test: 35%
Paper: 50%
class activities 15%
Resit
The student does only take the resit for the parts of the finel test that were insufficient.
If the paper does not satisfy the standards, the student will be required to revise own work according to the teacher’s guidance.
Exam review
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
G. Inglese, Come si legge un'edizione critica. Elementi di filologia italiana: Roma, Carocci, 2006,
C. Fahy, Saggi di bibliografia testuale: Padova, Antenore, 1988 (chapters I-VI), Support readings will be given during lessons if necessary. Brightspace will also be used.
Registration
Enrolment through My Studymap is mandatory
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar
For questions related to the content of the course, please contact the lecturer, you can find their contact information by clicking on their name in the sidebar.
For questions regarding enrollment please contact the Education Administration Office Reuvensplaats E-mail address Education Administration Office Reuvensplaats: osz-oa-reuvensplaats@hum.leidenuniv.nl
For questions regarding your studyprogress contact the Coordinator of Studies
Remarks
The language of instruction is Italian. However, English can be adopted in class if needs of students so require.