Modern Philology

GAIA TOMAZZOLI

A) Students will know the scientific literature on the topics dealt with and will be able to comment on it critically;
B) they will be able to formulate linguistic hypotheses on the basis of the acquired analytical concepts and tools;
C) they will be able to integrate their new knowledge with the previous ones in order to face the theoretical and practical complexity of acquired concepts;
D) they also will manage to communicate knowledge entering in discussion with specialists of linguistic studies and non-specialists.
E) They will lastly be able to study self-managed or autonomous topics proposed during the course and will be encouraged to cultivate their own scientific interests independently.

Solid command of the methodologies for the editing and linguistic commentary of texts in the vernacular; in-depth knowledge of practices related to translations from Latin into the vernacular within rhetorical and dictaminal contexts.

The course is intended for students who have already taken at least one exam in the History of the Italian Language; knowledge of Latin is not essential but certainly useful.

The course has a dual objective: to provide methodological skills for the editing and linguistic commentary of texts from the Italian Origins, and at the same time to explore in depth a fundamental tradition in the history of our language, namely the XII and XIII century vernacular translations from Latin. The case study focuses on Latin and vernacular epistles linked to the teaching of Pietro dei Boattieri, a master of legal and rhetorical disciplines in Bologna and Tuscany at the turn of the XIII and XIV centuries.
Please subscribe's to the relevant moodle: https://elearning.uniroma1.it/course/view.php?id=20300.

Reference textbooks:
- R. Casapullo, Storia della lingua italiana. Il Medioevo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1999 (in part. i capp. I-II-III-IV);
- G. Frosini, Volgarizzamenti, in Storia dell’italiano scritto. II. Prosa letteraria, a cura di G. Antonelli, M. Motolese, L. Tomasin, Roma, Carocci, 2014, pp. 17-72;
- F. Bruni, L’ars dictandi e la letteratura scolastica, in Storia della civiltà letteraria italiana. I. Dalle Origini al Trecento, a cura di G. Bárberi Squarotti, F. Bruni, U. Dotti, Torino, UTET, 1990, pp. 155-210.
Further references will be suggested in class.

The course will be held on Tuesdays from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM in Room A (ex ISO), and on Wednesdays from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM in Room A (ex ISO).

Attendance is not mandatory but strongly recommended, as during the lessons students will work both individually and collectively on the transcription, edition, and linguistic commentary of the texts under study.

The course is seminar-based: after a few introductory lectures, students will work on preparing a critical edition with linguistic commentary of a small corpus of epistles transmitted in manuscript II.IV.312 of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze.

Historical-cultural, philological, and linguistic contextualization of Boattieri's epistles; presentation of the ecdotical work and linguistic commentary carried out both in class and independently.

• Introduction


• Vernacular languages and vernacular translations


• Rhetorical teaching and the ars dictaminis


• Pietro di Boattieri


• Manuscript II.IV.312 of the BNCF


• Transcription and critical edition of the epistles


• Linguistic analysis