BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The methods of philology between critical reconstruction and computer representation. The humanist specializing in digital techniques is an important figure in today's research and publishing areas: the computer restitution of philological data (editions, broadsheets, catalogs, etc.) is required, at various levels, in the most advanced projects.
Students will acquire the critical and technical tools necessary to understand, analyze and construct an edition (in “traditional” and digital form) of literary texts of Italian repertoire, with particular attention to the medieval canon of XIVth and XVth centuries. It is thus intended to develop in the student learning skills, expository ability and the ability to formulate autonomous analyses on some canonical texts of Italian literature from a philological and digital perspective.
Course Prerequisites
Students must possess a basic knowledge of Italian literature. Suggested text for a general view of the history of Italian literature (ex.: G. Ferroni, “Profilo storico della letteratura italiana”, Torino, Einaudi, 2001). Basic computer skills are also required.
Teaching Methods
The course includes 54 hours of (36 for 6 cfu course). The professor deals with philological and ecdotic issues and analyzes some exemplary texts in order to provide interpretative and analytical keys that students can apply independently also for the study of other texts or repertoires. As for the explanation of complex methodological issues, the teacher makes use of exercises, examples developed with students, PowerPoint presentations with summary diagrams and information. The slides are available on the Moodle platform.
Assessment Methods
The exam will take the form of an oral test on the reference texts and topics covered in the course (authors, works, problems).
The critical-historical preparation acquired and the expository capacity will be assessed.
The student will have to demonstrate that he/she has developed adequate learning skills and is able to read and interpret texts and to formulate judgements, also autonomously, on important texts and issues of an intercultural and intermediate nature in Italian philology.
The final exam will consist of a oral test in Italian meant to check the achievement of educational goals:
- The knowledge of the principles of critical and philological editions;.
- The ability to contextualize the works of primary literature considered during the course.
- The ability to analyze one texts from a stylistic point of view-formal, content and historical-critical.
Contents
From the physicality of the manuscript to the reconstruction of the most important works of the Italian canon: a journey through the history of texts (from the Sicilians to Dante and Petrarch, to the early Modern Age), scripts and techniques of “traditional” and “digital” philological restitution.
The course consists of seminars and workshops on texts, artifacts and repertories, divided into two didactic units: a first introduction to the fundamentals of textual criticism and the peculiarities of the work of critical edition (from the description or filing of codices to the restitution of the text) and a second part dedicated to the digital representation of a critical edition, using XML-TEI language, with an introduction to digital visualization, in computerized editions, of verse texts.
The various teaching units will be enriched by exercises conducted either in the classroom or at the Angelo Mai Civic Library (also making use of some ancient manuscript codices).
Online Resources
More information
Lectures will be held in the second semester (subperiods III and IV).
The 6-credit course in Digital Philology (13R043), which can be selected from the free choices, is based on the 9-credit course in Digital Philology. Students will attend the first 36 hours of teaching, which include a theoretical and practical part on philology and the use of XML-TEI language. The 9-credit course will continue with case studies and analysis of literary texts. The professor will provide detailed information during the lessons; non-attending students are requested to contact the lecturer by email.
Non-attending students must also study Guido Milanese, "Filologia, letteratura, computer: idee e strumenti per l'informatica umanistica", Milano, Vita&Pensiero, 2020. In any case, they should meet the professor to get better information about the general program and bibliography.
All texts can be consulted at the University Library (P.zzale S. Agostino) or at any other public library. During the first lecture of the course the teacher will explain which open access texts can be read online as they are reliable from the point of view of content and philological correctness. All texts the teacher will read and comment on during the course can be downloaded from the Moodle page of the course.
Erasmus students are asked to contact the lecturer before the course begins.
The course program will expire after three years. Students with expired programs must contact the teacher.