HISTORY AND PRINCIPLES OF TEXTUAL CRITICISM

A text is... many different things! For example: it is the document (the medium on which it is written, in some cases so valuable that it is exhibited in a museum), it is the language in which it is written, it is the message it conveys. Depending on the historical periods considered, there are different modes of transmission and use of texts. Sensitivity towards texts is crucial in any working context.
The module serves as an introduction to the study of manuscript traditions (medieval, but also modern) primarily in the Germanic area, and to the discussion of the main editing approaches (how does one transition from a handwritten text to a printed text?). Tools and methods for digital text processing will also be presented, including Artificial Intelligence (for example, for automatic recognition of handwritten scripts).

1. Knowledge and understanding
To know and understand the problems related to the transmission of both manuscript and printed literary texts in the medieval and modern Germanic field; to know and understand the philological practices and the theorisations developed in connection with the preparation of the critical edition of the text.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
To be able to recognise the problems inherent in the transmission of texts and the philological procedures necessary for the restitution of the text in the form presumably closest to the original; to acquire awareness of the linguistic, stylistic, historical-cultural, palaeographical and codicological knowledge indispensable to the practice of text edition.
3. Autonomy of judgement
Being able to recognise, by comparing manuscript or printed witnesses with modern editions of a text, the practice followed by individual editors and to assess, through analysis of the critical debate, the greater or lesser goodness of their choices.
4. Communication skills
To be able to communicate in a clear and technically adequate manner the contents of the course
course content in a clear and technically appropriate manner, using the register relevant to the communicative situation.
5. Learning ability
To be able to present the course content in an organic manner and to consult reference texts critically.

There are no prerequisites.

- What is a text: levels of textuality and the "text-wheel"
- Text transmission in the medieval and modern periods (Germanic area)
- The scholarly editing of a text: principles and methods, terminology and abbreviations (diplomatic edition, critical edition, DSE, etc.)
- Digital tools for scholarly editing
- Artificial Intelligence for scholarly editing
- Practical examples primarily from the English area (Old English, Middle English, Modern English), with some comparisons from the German and Nordic areas. For the daring students who wish to engage right away with an example: https://ebeowulf.uky.edu/ebeo4.0/CD/main.html (more during the course!)

- Notes taken in class and materials in Moodle
- Paolo Chiesa, Elementi di critica testuale, Bologna: Patron, 2012.
- Patrik Sahle, What is a text? (Open Access) https://readcoop.eu/what-is-a-text/
- Patrik Sahle, What is a Scholarly Digital Edition? (Open Access) https://books.openedition.org/obp/3397?lang=it
- Selected readings from: "Handbook of Stemmatology" (Open Access) https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110684384/html
Students who are not able to attend classes are kindly asked to contact the professor in order to receive further bibliographic indications about supplementary materials.

The examination consists of a written test of the course content based on the training objectives set out in the relative section.
More specifically:
- knowledge and understanding: assessment through questions concerning the course content;
- ability to apply knowledge and understanding: assessment through a practical exercise (e.g. description and evaluation of the characteristics of an edition)
- autonomy of judgement: assessment through methodological questions;
- communication skills: assessment of the ability to express oneself in a technically correct (with the appropriate use of terms from the philological lexicon) and clear manner;
- learning ability: assessment of the student's degree of autonomy in formulating a judgement.

The module consists of lectures by the teacher and exercises on specific case-studies.

Italian

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development