INTRODUCTION TO DANTE

The course is included in the interdisciplinary activities of the Bachelor's Degree Programme in Humanities and aims to read critically Dante's works, providing also linguistic, metrical and rhetorical notions for reading medieval vernacular texts.

By the end of the cours students are expected to be able to:
- read critically and carefully Dante's works, linking it to other Italian, Romance and Classical texts;
- use precisely critical, metrical, philological, rhetorical instruments to face a Medieval poetical text;
- reinforce the awareness of the plurality of the critical approaches to the text of the Dante's works.

Foreigners attending this course are expected to be fluent in Italian and to have a general knowledge of the Italian literature.

Dante and his "friends" (about Cavalcanti, Dante and Cino)

The course aims to explore the complex relationships between Dante and two other poets of the highest caliber whom he himself refers to as “friends”: Guido Cavalcanti and Cino da Pistoia. In particular, during the lessons some excerpts from texts by Dante, Cavalcanti and Cino will be read, with particular focus on linguistic, metrical and rhetorical issues.

Obligatory texts:
- A. Balduino, Cavalcanti contro Dante e Cino, in Bufere e molli aurette. Polemiche letterarie dallo Stilnovo alla «Voce», a cura di Maria Grazia Pensa, con una nota di Silvio Ramat, Milano, Guerini e associate, 1996, pp. 1-19;
- M. Picone, Dante e Cino: una lunga amicizia. Prima parte: i tempi della "Vita nova", in "Dante: rivista internazionale di studi su Dante Alighieri", 1 (2004), pp. 39-53;
- L. Livraghi, Dante (e Cino) 1302-1306, in "Tenzone", 13 (2012), pp. 55-98;
- S. Bellomo, "Filologia e critica dantesca". Nuova edizione riveduta e ampliata, Brescia, La Scuola, 2012: capp. 1 (Vita di Dante).

Optional texts:
- Calenda, Corrado, Un’accusa di plagio? Ancora sul rapporto Cavalcanti-Cino in Da Guido Guinizzelli a Dante. Nuove prospettive sulla lirica del Duecento. Atti del convegno di studi Padova- Monselice 10-12 maggio 2002, Padova, 2004, pp. 291-304.

Written test to be completed in 60 minutes. It consists of a series of open-ended questions about the course and bibliography and of a paraphrase of a passage of Dante's "Vita nova".

written

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

Assessment criteria:
A. To achieve a grade between 18 and 22, students must demonstrate:
- acceptable but cursory knowledge of the programme;
- limited text analysis and argumentation skills in open-ended questions;
- an expression that is not always appropriate;
B. To achieve a grade between 23 and 26, students must demonstrate:
- decent knowledge of the programme;
- decent text analysis and argumentation skills in open-ended questions;
- correct use of the language, even if with some imprecisions in the use of the technical language of the discipline;
C. To achieve a grade between 27 and 30 cum laude, students must demonstrate:
- good or excellent knowledge of the programme;
- good or excellent analysis and argumentation skills in open-ended questions;
- perfect use of the language.

Frontal lessons; further material will be available on the e-learning platform moodle.unive.it.

For any needs students are invited to contact the lecturer.

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