ROMANCE PHILOLOGY 1 MOD. 2

The teaching of Romance Philology 1 module 2 is one of the characteristic teachings of the Course of Studies (Master's Degree) in Language Sciences. The general objective of the module is to analyze in depth and in original language some texts of the Roman literature developed between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries.

1. Knowledge and understanding

To know and understand, in a comparative perspective, the main phenomena of the linguistic change in the medieval Romance context, also in function of an adequate understanding of the characteristics of the Romance languages in today's phase;

Know and understand the main historical, cultural and literary events of the Romance world through textual documentation;

To know and understand the dynamics of text production in the Middle Ages and its dissemination through time and space.



2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:


To know how to recognise the main phenomena of linguistic change in the Romance languages and to know how to illustrate their importance, also in order to take into account the peculiarities of these languages at this stage;

To be able to deal, in the relevant context, with the linguistic and historical-cultural analysis of a medieval text, using the investigative tools discussed in the course;

To be able to use philological terminology correctly in the main areas of teaching.


3. Autonomy of judgement:

To be able to orient oneself in the critical debate on themes of philological subject, in order to be able to face the evaluation of alternative hypotheses concerning the same phenomenon (linguistic, literary, historical-cultural) or to formulate hypotheses on various questions of the discipline.


4. Communication skills:

To be able to communicate in a clear and technically appropriate way the contents of the course, using the register relevant to the communicative situation.



5. Learning ability:

To be able to propose in an organic way the contents of the course.
To be able to orient oneself adequately when reading the reference texts.

Have attended the module I of the a.y. 2025/26

The Legend of the Grail in Medieval Romance Literature (Part II).
In the second module, the focus will be on the two prose novels of the Arthurian Vulgate cycle, i.e. the "Estoire del Saint Graal" and the "Queste del Saint Graal", novels that excavate a spiritual dimension in the courtly and chivalric world of "Lancelot": individual scenes in the Old French original and in the Italian, Castilian and Portuguese medieval translations will be examined.

Reference texts:

"The Grail. I testi che hanno fondato la leggenda", edited by M. Liborio, introduction by F. Zambon, Milan, Mondadori, 2005.
‘Arthur, Lancelot and the Grail’, vol. I, edited by L. Leonardi, Turin, Einaudi, 2020.
C. Lagomarsini, ‘Il Graal e i cavalieri della Tavola Rotonda’, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2019.
Students will be required to read in full in Italian the ‘Quest for the Holy Grail’ contained in Mondadori's volume with introduction and commentary notes by M. Infurna (pp. 817-1111) and Lagomarsini's booklet. The parts of the original texts examined in class will be provided by the lecturer.


Students who cannot be present for class will contact the lecturer.

Ask questions about your classroom program and personal readings. The questions allow to test critical thought, as well as the capacity of mastering the subject.
More specifically:
Knowledge and understanding as well as communication skills will be verified through content questions;
The ability to apply knowledge and understanding will be verified through practical exercises, such as the translation of passages from the texts analysed during the course;
autonomy of judgement will be verified by questions on the personal evaluation of the various positions of the critic on the subject dealt with.

oral

18-22 points will be awarded to students who show barely sufficient or very modest preparation in the passages, themes and critical problems of the texts examined in class; 23-26 points to those who show a more extensive and thoughtful preparation; 27-30 points with possible honours to those who show good or excellent preparation accompanied by good or excellent critical language skills.

Lectures and presentation by the students of precise researches on the theme of the course assigned during the lectures.