B004027 - MEDIEVAL AND HUMANISTIC PHILOLOGY

Italian

Reading and analysis of Francesco Petrarca's Canzoniere (and some sections of the Triumphi) in the light of his Latin works, especially the moral, religious and philosophical ones, but also the poetic ones, with particular focus on the Secretum, the De remediis utriusque fortune and the epistolary collections.

F. Petrarca, Canzoniere, a cura di M. Santagata, Milano, Mondadori, 2018 (or a cura di P.Vecchi Galli, Milano, Rizzoli, 2012; o di S. Stroppa, Torino, Einaudi, 2015).
F. Petrarca, Il mio segreto, a cura di U. Dotti, Milano, Rizzoli, 2000.
M. Santagata, I frammenti dell’anima. Storia e racconto nel ‘Canzoniere’ di Petrarca, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2001 (solo le pp. 13-101).
Reading of one of the following essays:
S. Albonico, Per un commento a RVF 50, in «Stilistica e metrica italiana», I, 2001;
E. Fenzi, Introduzione a F. Petrarca, Rimedi all’una e all’altra fortuna, Napoli, La scuola di Pitagora, 2009.
E. Fenzi, Note petrarchesche: RVF 16, in Id., Saggi petrarcheschi, Fiesole, Cadmo, 2003.

The texts of other works (by Petrarch and other authors) will be provided by the teacher and made available on the Moodle platform.
For further information on the life and works of Petrarch we recommend: E. Fenzi, Petrarca, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2008.

During the lectures other indications concerning further bibliography will be given; additional texts and materials relating to the subject matter will be provided in PDF or photocopy: knowledge of this material is necessary for the examination.

The course has the following objectives:
- Knowledge: at the end of the course the student will be familiar with some of the main aspects of the figure and work of Francesco Petrarca; the fundamental outlines of some literary and philological debates of Italian and European culture of the 13th century; the basic problems regarding humanistic philology (copies and original of the codices and prints) and the specific characteristics of the critical edition of similar texts.
- Applied comprehension skills: at the end of the course the student is able to historically contextualize the figure and work of Petrarch, with particular attention to the philological study of the texts; he/she can read and interpret the proposed writings from a thematic, historical, rhetorical, stylistic, linguistic point of view; he /she can consciously use critical editions and master the tools necessary for commenting on texts.
- Individual critique: By the end of the course, the student will be capable of critically elaborating the content discussed in class.
- Communication skills: By the end of the course, the student will clearly and effectively discuss the topics dealt with in the individual lectures, applying appropriate specialist vocabulary; he/she establishes a fruitful exchange with teachers and other students; he/she appropriately comments on the topics treated during the course.
- Learning skills: By the end of the course, the student will have acquired methodological skills and strategies for the study of literature and the interpretation of texts.

The course has the following objectives:
- Knowledge: at the end of the course the student will be familiar with some of the main aspects of the figure and work of Francesco Petrarca; the fundamental outlines of some literary and philological debates of Italian and European culture of the 13th century; the basic problems regarding humanistic philology (copies and original of the codices and prints) and the specific characteristics of the critical edition of similar texts.
- Applied comprehension skills: at the end of the course the student is able to historically contextualize the figure and work of Petrarch, with particular attention to the philological study of the texts; he/she can read and interpret the proposed writings from a thematic, historical, rhetorical, stylistic, linguistic point of view; he /she can consciously use critical editions and master the tools necessary for commenting on texts.
- Individual critique: By the end of the course, the student will be capable of critically elaborating the content discussed in class.
- Communication skills: By the end of the course, the student will clearly and effectively discuss the topics dealt with in the individual lectures, applying appropriate specialist vocabulary; he/she establishes a fruitful exchange with teachers and other students; he/she appropriately comments on the topics treated during the course.
- Learning skills: By the end of the course, the student will have acquired methodological skills and strategies for the study of literature and the interpretation of texts.

A basic knowledge of Latin is required.

Lectures, also with the support of IT tools. Regular attendance and active participation are recommended.

If you have any doubt or problem, please contact the lecturer. Non-attending students must contact the teacher at the beginning of the course to agree upon a specific program. Disabled students or students with learning disabilities are invited to contact the "UNIFI Include" desk in order to set up the course in the most appropriate manner for their specific needs. The agreed measures must be shared with the teacher in due time.

The oral exam will be divided into three parts: reading, translation, contextualization and commenting of passages addressed specifically in class; questions about the author and his works to be prepared independently; questions concerning philological methodology. If an appropriate certification is presented, students with disabilities and students with Specific Learning Disorders, those unable for health reasons to attend the examination as scheduled, may negotiate an alternative type of examination with the teachers.

The aim of the course is to show the close connections between Petrarch's Canzoniere and his Latin works (moral, religious, philosophical, poetic), in order to highlight the 'moral' character of Petrarch's vernacular poetry: the need, for a correct reading and interpretation of the Canzoniere, to always read it in parallel with the author's Latin production; and the profound unity of his cultural and literary project, in controversy with some of the main currents of thought of his era.

At the same time, the study of these texts will allow us to address some central methodological issues of modern philology: the critical edition of texts with a mono- or multi-testimony tradition; autographic texts, apographical and mixed tradition; texts characterized by multiple editions and the presence of authorial variants.

High quality instruction