10547 - Germanic Philology (1)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will possess the theoretical and material fundamentals in order to understand the Germanix languages, literatures and cultures (which must be intended like corpora indipendently from their literary value) from their proto-historical past to the end of the Middle Ages, in other words the cultures that Germanic peoples starting  from the prehistorical period. The Middle Ages will be at the centre of investigation because in that period the common Germanic cultural milieu is more evident through the large number of sources and documentation in Old Germanic languages and literatures. The student will be able to read, translate and give a philological and linguistic comment to a short passage in an Old Germanic language.

Course contents

Module A (30hrs):

Fondamentals of Germanic Philology

The cultural peculiarities of the Germanic peoples will be taken into account: the oral transmission of knowledge, law, religion, social structure and the role of women. Part of the module will analyze the literary genres of the Germanic literature of the Middle Ages (heroic poetry, sagas, skaldic poetry, religious poetry). During the module the main phonetic and morpho-syntactical characteristics of the old Germanic languages will be examinated. The themes of the module will be analyzed  by reading and commenting some primary sources. A particular care will be devoted to the literary and documental production of the medieval period.

Module B : The Laxdæla saga (30 hours)

The second module will focus on one of the most important sagas of Nordic medieval world : the Laxdæla saga . Written around the middle of the thirteenth century in Old Icelandic, the saga tells the story of a Norwegian clan that settled in Iceland by the Hvammsfjörðr, at the feet of the Western Fjords. The saga expands from the ninth century until the early generations around the year 1000, highlighting  uses, customs, love and revenge of a powerful family. Of major importance, in this story, is the role of the female characters and in particular of Gudðrún Osvifrsdóttir, the most beautiful and intelligent woman of her time. The saga, read in Italian, will be commented starting from the literary genre of the saga and reaching some modern rewritings.

Readings/Bibliography

Module A:

Teaching materials at disposal on the course web-site

 Marco Battaglia, I Germani. Genesi di una cultura europea, Roma, Carocci, 2013, pp. 109-112, 117-124; 131-147; 149-181; 199-213; 249-262; 282-294; 317-326.

 Vittoria Dolcetti Corazza, Introduzione alla filologia germanica, Alessandria, Edizioni dell'Orso, 3° ediz., 2009, capitolo V (pp. 83-110).

Module B:

- Laxdæla saga, a cura di Silvia Cosimini, postfazione di Alessandro Zironi, Milano, Iperborea, 2015

- O'Donoghue, H., Old Norse-Icelandic Literature. A Short Introduction, Malden (MA) - Oxford, Blackwell, 2004, pp. 1-60

- Andersson, Th. M., The Icelandic Family Saga. An Analytic Reading, Cambridge (MA), Harvard UP, 1967, pp. 1-32; 66-74, 163-174

- Bampi, M., Le saghe norrene e la questione dei generi, in Intorno alle saghe norrene, a cura di C. Falluomini, Alessandria, Edizioni dell'Orso, 2014, pp. 89-105

- Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir, Introduction, in The Saga of the People of Laxardal and Bolli Bollason's Tale, London, Penguin Books, 1997, pp. ix-xliv

- Cook, R., Women and Men in Laxdæla saga, in «Skáldskaparmál», 2 (1992), pp. 34-59

- Pétur Knútsson, Home, Home in the Dales. The Dialogism of Toponimy in Laxdæla saga, in Astraður Eysteinsson (ed.), The Cultural Reconstruction of Places, Reykjavík, University of Iceland Press, pp.122-130

- S. Clarck, "Cold are the Counsels of Women": the Revengeful Woman in Icelandic Family Sagas, in A. Classen (ed.), Women as Protagonists and Poets in the German Middle Ages. An Anthology of Feminist Approaches to Middle High German Literature, Göppingen, Kümmerle Verlag, pp. 1-27.

No-attending students

No attending students will add the following texts::

M. Battaglia, I Germani. Genesi di una cultura europea, Roma, Carocci, 2013

C. J. Clover, The Medieval Saga, Ithaca (NY), Cornell UP, 1982

Dronke, U., Narrative Insight in Laxdæla saga, in J. Tucker, ed., Sagas of the Icelanders. A Book of Essays, New York - London, Garland Publishing, 1989, pp.206-225

O. Maurer, William Morris and Laxdaela Saga, in «Texas Studies in Language and Literature», 3 (1963, pp. 422-437

A. Zironi, Laxdale as William Morris's Interior Topography, in Astraður Eysteinsson (ed.), The Cultural Reconstruction of Places, Reykjavík, University of Iceland Press, pp. 209-221

Teaching methods

Front lessons with multimedia instruments

Assessment methods

The exam consists in an oral interview on both modules, which can not be shared into separated moments. During the interview the methodological and critical skills acquired by the student will be evaluated . The student will be invited to discuss the texts covered during the course and to move within the sources and bibliographical material in order to be able to identify in them the useful information that will enable to illustrate the similarities and cultural areas of the discipline. The achievement of an organic vision of the issues addressed during the classes and their critical use, which demonstrate ownership of a mastery of expression and specific language, will be assessed with marks of excellence. Mechanical and / or mnemonic knowledge of matter, synthesis and analysis of non-articulating and / or correct language but not always appropriate will lead to discrete assessments; training gaps and / or inappropriate language - although in a context of minimal knowledge of the material - will lead to votes that will not exceed the sufficiency. Training gaps, inappropriate language, lack of guidance within the reference materials offered during the course will lead to failed assessments.

Teaching tools

Lectures notes provided by the teacher.

Office hours

See the website of Alessandro Zironi