ROMANCE PHILOLOGY I

The Vernacular Culture in the Romance Middle Ages (12th-14th c.): An Introduction. 1. The Fin'amor and the chivalrous imagery: the romance and the lyrics.
Romance philology is part of the characterizing didactic activities.
'Court love', 'chivalry' and 'courtesy' are some of the objects that the modern imagination has inherited from the Romance cultural tradition of the Middle Ages. In this series of lessons these themes will be discussed through the direct and commented reading of some literary objects extracted from the French traditions, and attributable to the romance-form and to the form of the lyrics.

Knowledge.
- basic knowledge of comparative literature (Romance Middle Ages);
- knowledge of the fundamental theoretical-methodological elements of medieval philology;
- knowledge of the essential elements of the morphosyntactic structure of a medieval Romance language (Old French).
Skills.
- ability to apply, in concrete and specific cases, the theoretical-methodological tools typical of the comparative analysis of texts belonging to different linguistic identities;
- ability to reflect on the peculiarities of linguistic use in the literary field (Italian and medieval French) through the exercise of translation.

It may be useful to have already attended the courses of "Fundamentals of Linguistics" and "Philology Institutions" (and having passed their exams); an elementary knowledge of the Latin language, of Medieval history and Italian literature of the Origins can help a lot.

Reading of texts in Old French and Occitan (translation and commentary); notions of literary history on the romance, and the lyrics.

The texts to be commented on will be provided in digital format during the lectures on the Moodle platform (many will be extracted from A. Varvaro, Avviamento alla filologia francese medievale", Roma, NIS/Carocci - any edition).
Mandatory study text: Eugenio Burgio, Filologia romanza. 3. Analisi letteraria, Firenze-Milano, Le Monnier-Mondadori 2022, capp. 1, 4.1-3, 5, 7.
Full reading (in Italian) of two texts chosen from a list that will be provided at the beginning of the lessons.

The exam consists of two parts:
(a) discussion of the texts chosen for individual reading (plots, characters, themes);
(b) the analysis of the themes and texts presented in class and in the bibliography.
The exam is oral; having passed the exam related to the exercises. is the precondition for taking the Filologia romanza 1 exam.

written and oral

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.

Complete and accurate answers to all questions; very good accuracy in technical language; absolute correctness in reading and translating Old French texts: 30/30lode
Complete and accurate answers to all questions; more than good accuracy in technical language; good accuracy in reading and translating Old French texts: 27/29 out of 30
Complete and accurate answer to at least 2 questions; good accuracy in technical language; fair accuracy in reading and translating Old French texts: 25/26
Complete and accurate answer to at least 2 questions; acceptable accuracy in technical language; sufficient accuracy in reading and translating Old French texts: 23/24
Complete and accurate answer to at least 1 question; sufficient accuracy in technical language; sufficient accuracy in reading and translating Old French texts: 18/22

Old French texts will be presented, read and commented according to the traditional ways of text interpretation.

1. "Romance Philology I" is the first part of the "Romance Philology" course for those who are required to 12 ECTS of this discipline.
2. During the year, there will be a seminar open to students on the three-year course, students on the specialisation course and anyone else interested in the subject: 'The Manuscript Tradition of the Chanson de Roland'. The seminar will be divided into two modules, each lasting one semester; active participation (translation exercises, seminar lectures) in each module will entitle the student to 3 CFUs of activity equivalent to an internship. Information on dates and times will be provided at the beginning of the 2026-2027 courses.