This course is meant as a learning experience on what 'heroic' might mean. We will be working on different kinds of sources, not only narrative ones. We will select these sources from the Scandinavian and European Middle Ages but also from present-day culture. We will be raising questions such as:

- What is a hero?

-  Can we formulate a univocal definition of 'heroic', one that may explain and take account of the use of the terms hero/heroine regardless of time and cultural context?

- What is a 'hero' from a psychological and imaginary-narrative perspective? Is it a myth? Or an archetypal image? Or both, or something else? 

- Should we approach the notion of 'heroic' from a gender-related perspective or rather from an all-comprehensive 'human' perspective?

- is the figure of the hero linked to a specific fictional genre such as the heroic poem or is it rather a genre-bridging figure?

-  Are there any historical periods when we can detect more 'heroic figures' than in others? Why / why not? What about the Covid era?

- Have I met / acted / experienced any behavior, situation, or person I would define as heroic so far in my life? Where do I express my 'heroic' qualities? Can I employ them as professional competencies and skills? 

The course is conceived as a  two-level learning pathway: a theoretical level and a practical, experience-oriented level. Therefore, you will be taking part in frontal lessons AND in workshops/labs ("laboratori"). The frontal teaching units shall introduce the main hero theories (Campbell, Jung, Neumann, Propp, Vogler...) and the main manuscript sources for hero and heroine stories from the so-called Ancient Germanic world. In the laboratory hours, you will be creating individual and group projects focused on the experience of the 'heroic' through work with different sources and approaches (see below, "Program"). A part of the labs is also devoted to other aspects of a philologist's work (s. below, Program information).

The ultimate goal of this course is that participants comprehend 'heroism' on a deeper cognitive-emotional level, and therefore why accounts of heroes and heroines have been topical in all human cultures beyond time and space. On an existential level, this course shall have fulfilled its task if it shall have helped participants to acquire a deeper awareness of some aspects of themselves. On an educational and professional level, the 'heroic' experience shall help develop the following competencies and skills: 

- hard skills (in the 'notion-based' frontal hours): mastering philological and hermeneutical knowledge; (in the 'project-based' lab hours): applying that knowledge to empirical data and building case studies; 

- soft skills (in the 'project-based' lab hours): relational skills in group dynamics; developing your awareness about what problem-solving resources you dispose of and which of them you can apply in specific situations.

A) PROGRAMMA UNITA' DIDATTICHE FRONTALI:

1. Theories of the hero: Campbell, Jung, Neumann, Propp, Vogler. 

2. Images of the hero/heroine in medieval Scandinavian cultures from the North Germanic language group: for example, in verse Edda, Snorra Edda, Heimskringla, and other sources.

3. The genre of the heroic poem: structure, meter/rhythm, lexicon, motives/topoi.

4. Reception and adaptation of medieval heroic themes into present-day culture. One case-study: Norwegian TV series 'Olav' ( https://tv.nrk.no/serie/olav/sesong/1/episode/1/avspiller).

5. Other sources for the representation of heroic themes (to be selected during the course)

No previous attendance of philology courses is required. However, basic philological knowledge is helpful.

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