GERMANIC PHILOLOGY

The module gives the students the opportunity to acquire knowledge of the origin of the languages and cultures they have chosen as a major, especially from a historical viewpoint. Therefore, the module contributes in a large part to the development of all the aforementioned skills (e.g. language contact/interference, multilingualism, interlinguistic variation and universal language properties, analysis of texts belonging to early stages of the chosen languages), and specifically covers knowledge and understanding of the principles of language change and language variation.

The module is an introduction to Germanic Philology. Thus, particular attention will be paid to the methodological approaches which characterize this field of research (e.g. diachronic and synchronic analysis of the Germanic languages; up-to-date theories on the origin of the Germanic peoples, their literatures and cultures; Germanic-Romance interference in Italy and in Medieval Europe; modern rewrites of medieval "Germanic" texts). The acquisition of these methodological approaches, along with the contents described below, represents the main teaching objective of the course.

1. Knowledge and understanding.
1a. Students will know and understand, in a comparative perspective, the major features of linguistic change applied to the Germanic linguistic family, primarily with the aim of better understanding the modern languages;
1b. Students will know and understand the major literary and cultural manifestations of the Germanic medieval traditions, through the texts that have come down to us;
1c. Students will know and understand the mechanisms of textual production in the Middle Ages, as well as their dissemination through time and space.

2. Applying knowledge and understanding.
2a. Students will be able to recognize the major triggers of linguistic change, manipulate linguistic forms, derive forms from protolanguages, and account for their development.
2b. Students will be able to apply the research methods acquired in the course to selected texts of the Germanic traditions.
2c. Students will be able to master the appropriate philological terminology in the fields of both Germanic linguistics and cultural/literary studies.

3. Making judgements.
Students will become familiar with the most up-to-date critical debate on philological topics, and will be able to evaluate different hypotheses posed by the scholars, as well as to pose alternative hypotheses.

4. Communication skills.
Students will be able to communicate their conclusions - and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these - clearly and unambiguously. They will also be able to use the correct register.

5. Learning skills.
By studying the recommended books under the guidance of the teacher, students will develop those learning skills that are necessary for them to continue to undertake further study with a high degree of autonomy.

no prerequisite is required to attend this module

Presentation of the course and examination modalities. A brief overview of comparative-historical linguistics and aspects of diachronic linguistics (from Indoeuropean to Germanic; from Germanic to the historically attested Germanic languages). Major linguistic phenomena characterizing the medieval Germanic languages. The ethnogenesis of the Germanic peoples: historical, archaeological, linguistic sources. Germanic religion. Runes. Christianization and the birth of manuscript tradition. Germanic peoples in Italy. Medieval literary sources, and an outline of some modern rewritings.

- Per la consultazione: M. Buzzoni-M.G. Saibene, Manuale di linguistica germanica, Milano-Bologna 2006 (pp. 1-188 ESCLUSE tutte le sezioni intitolate APPROFONDIMENTI)
- Letture:
- Passi scelti da Tacito ("Germania"), che verranno commentati in classe.
- Battaglia, M. (2013), I germani. Genesi di una cultura europea, Roma: Carocci, capp. 6-7-8.
- Alessandro Zironi, Il Carme di Ildebrando. Un padre, un figlio, un duello, Milano, Meltemi, 2019 (lettura consigliata)

The exam is made up of two parts: 1. a multiple choice part; 2. open questions
- 50 minutes.
- FIRST PART, fifteen (15) multiple choice questions (3 possible answers, of which only one is correct). Each correct answer corresponds to 1,6 points (15x1,6= 24 points). Grade threshold for part one: 16 points (10/15 correct answers).
- SECOND PART, two open questions (one on linguistic aspects, one on cultural aspects),.Each answer corresponds to max 3 points (3x2= max 6 points).

The first part enables the teacher to evaluate the knowledge acquired and the understanding of the linguistic and the cultural phenomena illustrated during the course. Furthermore it enables to evalute how such knowledge and understanding are applied by the students.
The second part enables the teacher to evaluate primarily how students make judgements and how they communicate the contents.

this module consists of 15 lectures

Students who cannot attend the course must contact the teacher

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