MEDIEVAL AND HUMANISTIC LATIN SCRIPTS AND TRADITION

The Course is one of the training activities of the Degree Programme in Literature and aims to provide an overview of medieval Latin culture, through direct reading and analysis of texts and their historical and cultural contextualization. The aims are: to introduce the knowledge of Latin literature in the Middle Ages, and in general of Latin written culture in the period 800-1300; to strengthen the reading and analysis skills of medieval literary texts in Latin, through an in-depth contextualization; to navigate critical methodologies, through a direct comparison with the critical bibliography and a discussion of the results of the current debate on medieval culture.

1. Knowledge and understanding
- Knowledge of the development of medieval Latin culture;
- theoretical-methodological knowledge of the problems related to the matter.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
- Ability to critically elaborate issues related to basic literary knowledge;
- ability to apply, to concrete and specific cases, the theoretical-methodological tools learned;
- ability to analyze a literary text and place it in the correct historical-cultural context.

3. Ability of judgement
- Know how to develop a critical approach, which allows to evaluate the different interpretations and evaluations of a text and to formulate personal hypotheses.

4. Communication skills
- Know how to communicate the specificities of the subject using appropriate terminology.

5. Learning skills
- Know how to critically consult the reference texts and bibliography.

Basic knowledge of Latin required.

The literary culture of the Middle Ages was a decisive laboratory for the development of socio-cultural categories that are familiar to us: the birth of the intellectual, the university, the laborious definition of a cultural space for the laity, cultural differentiation on a regional basis and the birth of vernacular languages. These great phenomena, often neglected in secondary school, are conveyed in Latin, and this has allowed an intellectual debate on a wide European scale (albeit in the framework of a fragmentation of powers).
Within this very broad framework, the course will focus on the Italian area in the Middle Ages. The choice stems from the lively contemporary debate of scholars, who have identified Italian culture in the long centuries of the Central Middle Ages (VIII-XIV century) as the main vehicle for a new relationship with classical culture practiced by lay intellectuals. This relationship was formed through a long and conflictual path between different conceptions of the book, culture and language, as Ronald Witt demonstrated in the book 'L'eccezione italiana'.
The course will retrace the hypothesis of this scholar, comparing them with other important historiographical constructions (in particular those of Auerbach, Banniard, Curtius) and verifying it through a direct analysis of a rich choice of texts in Latin. The texts will be contextualized, with particular attention to their context of production, their intended use, the historical-social figure of its author and its reference milieu.

1. An anthology of medieval texts will be provided by the teacher into the Moodle space.

2. Reference text (to be studied in its entirety for the exam):
- Paolo CHIESA, La letteratura latina del medioevo. Un profilo storico, Roma, Carocci 2017.

3. Readings that will be discussed in class (a selection of pages):
- Erich AUERBACH, Lingua letteraria e pubblico nella tarda antichità latina e nel Medioevo, Milano, Feltrinelli (various editions);
- Michel BANNIARD, Viva Voce Communication écrite et communication orale du IVe au IXe siècle, Paris, IEA, 1992 (now also available in Italian translation, ed. by Lucio Cristante and Fabio Romanini, Trieste, EUT, 2020);
- Ernst Robert CURTIUS, Letteratura europea e Medio Evo latino, a cura di Roberto Antonelli, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2022 (Italian translation);
- Ronald G. WITT, L'eccezione italiana. L'intellettuale laico nel Medioevo e l'origine del Rinascimento (800-1300), Roma, Viella, 2017.

4. Recommended supplementary readings:
- Letteratura latina medievale (secoli VI-XV). Un manuale, a cura di Claudio Leonardi, Firenze, SISMEL · Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2002;
- Paolo CHIESA, La trasmissione dei testi latini. Storia e metodo critico, Roma, Carocci, 2019.

Oral exam (aprox. 30 mins.). Students will be tested on the medieval texts taken into account (item 1 of the section 'Referral texts'), on the principles of Medieval Latin Literature (item 2) and on the critical readings discussed in class (item 3). In the assessment, particular attention will be paid to the historical-literary background of the students, their ability to translate and comment on texts, and to establish critical relationships between the various issues examined using appropriate language.

Assessment criteria
27-30 cum laude: extensive knowledge of topics and methodologies learned; excellent ability to express, discuss and summarise concepts; appropriate and critical use of technical terminology.
26-23: good knowledge of topics and methodologies learned, even if marked by some imperfections in content and method; good ability to express, discuss and summarise concepts, with some uncertainty and/or inaccuracy in the use of technical terminology.
18-22: acceptable but superficial knowledge of topics and methodologies learned; limited ability to express, discuss and summarise concepts; use of technical terminology not always appropriate.
<18 (insufficient): poor knowledge of topics and methodologies learned; inadequate ability to express, discuss and summarise concepts; inappropriate use of technical terminology.

Conventional method: lectures.

Italian

oral