ITALIAN LINGUISTICS II

This course is part of the Bachelor Degree in Humanities (Lettere), curriculum of Science of the literary text and communication. The course aims to enahance the students’ knowledge of the history of the Italian linguistics. This year the module examines the development of the Italian language, from the Middle Ages to modern Italy, by studying key discussions on the form that a common Italian language should take (the so called 'Questione della lingua'), first in the context of literary usage, then more broadly in the context of the written and spoken usages of a unified nation. The achievement of these objectives will enable students to reflect on the Italian language from a proper linguistic perspective, grounded in the history of the linguistic thought.

By the end of the course students are expected to be able to:
- know the basic bibliographical instruments of the discipline;
- be familiar with the most relevant events of the external linguistic history of Italian, from the Origins until the present, with special regard to the Renaissance phase of the ‘Questione della lingua’;
- be able to contextualize a text chosen from the anthology provided by R. Scarpa within its social, political, geographical and historical background.

Students should have already attended the first module of Italian Linguistics: they will not be allowed to enroll for the exam if they have not passed Italian Linguistics I. The final result of Italian Linguistics (12 credits) is the average of the evaluation of the two exams.

The course is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the main events in the history of the Italian language. Particular attention will be paid to some crucial points, such as the formation of literary Florentine in the 14th century, the 'Questione della lingua' and the role of Bembo in the 16th century, the linguistic ideas of Manzoni and Ascoli in the 19th century. The second part will explore in depth the Renaissance linguistic debate.

C. MARAZZINI, Breve storia della questione della lingua, Roma, Carocci, 2018.
R. SCARPA, La questione della lingua. Antologia di testi da Dante a oggi, Roma, Carocci, 2012 (selection).

Further readings:
C. MARAZZINI, Da Dante alle lingue del web. Otto secoli di dibattiti sull’italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2013.

Non-attending students will study entirely both Marazzini and Scarpa’s books.

Students will have to pass an oral exam of 20-30 minutes. During the exam, students should demonstrate their knowledge of the topics discussed in class and illustrated in the reference texts. In particular, students are expected to demonstrate their knowledge of the 'Questione della lingua' in its different geographical, historical and political developments. Students should also be able to analyse a text chosen from the anthology edited by R. Scarpa and to contextualize it.

Frontal teaching. All materials (texts in photocopies) will be available in the e-learning platform moodle.unive.it. Although the course is not conceived as a seminar, feedback from students will be constantly solicited, according to an interactive and dynamic idea of teaching.

Italian

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