INTERPRETATION OF TEXTS AND HISTORICAL HERMENEUTICS

The course is part of the common teachings of the MA program in Languages and Civilizations of Asia and Northern Africa (LICAAM).

The course is aimed at introducing the participants to the basics of Western (classical and Romance) «philology» o «textual criticism», i.e. the discipline that «investigates through specific techniques the genesis and development of works of literature, by identifying its different forms (in particular its original form or forms) and investigating their transformations through the ages. Its main aim is the reconstruction and publication [i.e. the "edition"] of a 'reliable' text of a literary work» (Paolo Chiesa). The methods and examples that will be presented and discussed in the classroom will introduce the participants (students of languages and cultures of the Near and Middle East) to historical-philological inquiry of the similar, or else, different, issues related to the transmission history of the texts that were produced or translated in the cultures of their specific competence.

Communicating capabilities:
- capability to express and process the contents of the course and the topic of the papers orally or in written form (in Italian or in English for non-Italian speaking students).

Learning capabilities:
- efficiently taking lecture notes in classroom;
- critically integrating different teaching materials (class notes, slides, handbooks, academic papers);
- independent, critical study of course-related topics not dealt in class;
- improving the student's capability to read and process materials in English.

Basic knowledge of Latin and of the history of Italian literature is helpful but not required.

1) Single subject course (teacher):
Introduction to textual criticism (Textkritik) of Western texts (especially from Greco-Roman antiquity and the Romance middle ages) from antiquity to the modern age.
Problems and methods of textual restoration and reconstruction of textual transmission through the ages.
2) Seminar (students):
Students will apply the notions and methods learnt in the subject course to the transmission of texts chosen from the geo-cultural traditions of their competence. They will present and discuss their research in class seminars or in a written paper.

Teaching and reading materials will be made available by the teacher in the Moodle page of the course.

The reading of a handbook on how to write an academic paper or dissertation is mandatory (recommended: U. Eco, "Come si fa una tesi di laurea. Le materie umanistiche", Bompiani, Milano 1977 and reprints).

The final evaluation mark will depend on:
50 % - attendance to classes and participation to discussion in class;
50 % - evaluation of a 30-40-mins. seminar presented in classroom or of a written paper.

Written papers are required i) to be IN WORD FORMAT (pdfs will not be evaluated), ii) not to exceed 30.000 characters (spaces included; front pages, summaries, and bibliographies are excluded from the count), and iii) to observe the editorial indications and rules for quoting bibliography explained in Eco's handbook (mandatory reading). Papers may be submitted at any time during the academic year, regardless of the dates of the calls.

Papers will consist of applying the methodologies learnt in the monographic course to one or more texts of the student's choice, depending on their language of specialization.

Students non attending classes are required to submit two papers.

Classroom lectures and seminar discussion of the topics.

Italian

written and oral