The purpose of the course is the acquisition of the foundmental historical and critical competences in Italian Literature. This implies, as an ultimate target, the control of the essential concepts which can guide the student through the study of literary phenomena, according one of the main aims of the Laurea Triennale and of the Philological Curriculum. In detail, the course will offer a critical survey and some appropriate methodological competences about ancient Italian Literature (especially concerning Dante’s texts), its geography and periodization, and about its main philological and linguistic aspects.

First semester. Ancient and modern biographies of Dante – The composition of the Commedia – About the first dissemination of the text of the Commedia – Literary geograpghy of the origins. Historic and analytic survey on the origins of vernacular poetry, together with a general information of History of Language and tradition of classics – The vernacular poetry of the Dugento: Sicilian poetry – Analytical explanation of the Vatican manuscript 3793 – The De Vulgari Eloquentia – Guinizzelli – Dante e the poets of the XIIIth Century: reading of Purg. XXIV, XXVI – The Commedia and its title: the Epistola to Cangrande – Reading of Inf. I – Dante’s life and the exile – Lectura Dantis: Paradiso XVII –

Second semester. About the first development of the vernacular lyric poetry – The Vita nova – Reading of the De vulg. Eloquentia libro I – Cavalcanti and Dante – Reading of Inferno X – Reading of Cavalcanti’s rhymes – Reading of Boccaccio Dec. VI. 9 – Dante as a philosopher: the canzoni of the Convivio – Ancient lyrical poetry and its dissemination during the XIV and XV Centuries – The Raccolta aragonese – The fortune of the Commedia in XIV Century: the forst commentaries and Boccaccio – Petrarch as a reader of Dante – The fortune of the Commedia and other Dante’s works: the ms. Chigiano L VI 213 – Fortune of the Commedia in the XVI Century – The text of the Commedia in the modern scholarship.

- The students are expected to demonstrate the owning and competence of the basic knowledge on the ancient Italian Literature, with a special reference to its elements of literary geography, of periodization, and to the literary and poetical genres.

 - The students are expected to demonstrate the comprehension of the concepts and contents included in the course; and to show a capacity to read the texts, and some adequate analytic skill and the capacity of puttng the specific analysis to the general historical pattern.

 - The students are expected to demonstrate the owning and competence of the sectorial language of literary studies, in order to be able to reason according the basic elements of the discipline.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Besides the lectures held by the official teacher, there will be held other supplementary lectures by an assistant teacher on the History of Italian Ancient Language, in order to give the students some basic notions and to make easy the comprehension of the texts. In addition a seminar will take place on a reading of Dante’s canto Paradiso XVII.   

Teaching

Lectures i n the class. The students will be requested some readings during the course, in order to be able to attend the classes with a specific preparation.

Attendance

Attendance is compulsory

Course books

Some didactic materials will be at the attending students disposal at the beginning of the course. Those materials include some texts related to the matter of the lectures, and they will be in fact a subject for the final exam. At the exam the student will have to prepare the following texts (some of which included in the mentioned folder).

D. Alighieri, Vita Nova, a cura di L. C. Rossi, introd. di G. Gorni, Milano, Mondandori (Oscar), 1999.

D. Alighieri, Commedia : una cantica a scelta.

D. Alighieri, De vulgari eloquentia

D. Alighieri, Epistola a Cangrande

E. Auerbach, Farinata e Cavalcante, in Id., Mimesis. Il realismo nella letteratura occidentale, vol. I. 

G. Contini, Preliminari alla lingua di Petrarca, in F. Petrarca, Canzoniere, Torino, Einaudi, 1964.

G. Contini, Esercizio d’interpretazione sopra un sonetto di Dante, in Id., Varianti e altra linguistica, Torino, Einaudi, 1970, pp. 161-168.

M. Corti, Guido Cavalcanti e una diagnosi dell’amore, in Ead., Scritti su Cavalcanti e Dante. La felicità mentale, Percorsi dell’invenzione e altri saggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2003, pp. 9 sgg.

C. Dionisotti, Geografia e storia della letteratura italiana, Torino, Einaudi, 1967. (Solo il sggio omonimo).

E. Fenzi, La canzone d’amore di Guido Cavalcanti e i suoi antichi commenti, Genova, Il Melangolo, 1999.

V. Formentin, Poesia italiana delle origini, Roma, Carocci, 2007.

Assessment

Oral exam. The attending student is expected to discuss any subject treated by the teacher during the classes, including the lectures held by other guest teachers. He is expected, in addition, to demonstrate the knowledge and comprehension of the above mentioned texts. All the students will be equally judged according the following criteria: (1) Konowledge of the matter. (2) Capacity of reasoning adequately on the subject of the questions. (3) Capacity of exposing the matter with an appropriate language.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Non-attending students are invited to follow the program on line and prepare allt the texts. All the students will be equally judged according the following criteria: (1) Konowledge of the matter. (2) Capacity of reasoning adequately on the subject of the questions. (3) Capacity of exposing the matter with an appropriate language.

Attendance

Attendance is non compulsory.

Course books

Students are expected to prepare the following texts:

D. Alighieri, Vita Nova, a cura di L. C. Rossi, introd. di G. Gorni, Milano, Mondandori (Oscar), 1999.

D. Alighieri, Commedia : 50 cantos on choice

D. Alighieri, De vulgari eloquentia

D. Alighieri, Epistola a Cangrande

E. Auerbach, Farinata e Cavalcante, in Id., Mimesis. Il realismo nella letteratura occidentale, vol. I. 

G. Contini, Preliminari alla lingua di Petrarca, in F. Petrarca, Canzoniere, Torino, Einaudi, 1964.

G. Contini, Esercizio d’interpretazione sopra un sonetto di Dante, in Id., Varianti e altra linguistica, Torino, Einaudi, 1970, pp. 161-168.

M. Corti, Guido Cavalcanti e una diagnosi dell’amore, in Ead., Scritti su Cavalcanti e Dante. La felicità mentale, Percorsi dell’invenzione e altri saggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2003, pp. 9 sgg.

C. Dionisotti, Geografia e storia della letteratura italiana, Torino, Einaudi, 1967. (Solo il sggio omonimo).

E. Fenzi, La canzone d’amore di Guido Cavalcanti e i suoi antichi commenti, Genova, Il Melangolo, 1999.

V. Formentin, Poesia italiana delle origini, Roma, Carocci, 2007.

Assessment

Oral exam. The non-attending students are invited to follow the program on line and prepare all the texts. They are expected, in addition, to demonstrate the knowledge and comprehension of the above mentioned texts. All the students will be equally judged according the following criteria: (1) Konowledge of the matter. (2) Capacity of reasoning adequately on the subject of the questions. (3) Capacity of exposing the matter with an appropriate language.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.