IJ2A222 History of Italian Literature I (from the Origins to Dante)

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Paolo Divizia, Dottore di Ricerca (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Paolo Divizia, Dottore di Ricerca
Department of Romance Languages and Literatures – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Romance Languages and Literatures – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
IJ2A221 Textual Criticism I && IJ2A231 History of Italian I
The subject is open to students of different study programmes who have already passed a course of Ancient Italian Literature and obtained a mark between A and C.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 11 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
History of Italian literature from the early days till Dante.
The course aims at providing a general knowledge, from an historical-philological point of view, of the history of language, of the most renowned authors and literary movements in Italian literature for the period taken into account. Specific attention is given to texts and context, linguistic and stilistic aspects, metre and philological questions (sources/models, genetic/evolutionary variants, transmission/fortune).

Since the course mostly consists in reading and explaining excerpts of literary works which are part of the exam, you are kindly invited to print them on paper.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course the student will be able to read texts of ancient Italian literature in original language; find secondary bibliography specialised in Italian literature; use the secondary bibliography to support a critical assessment of an Italian literary text; frame artistic texts in historical, social, cultural and artistic contexts; know their textual issues, as well as offering a theoretical framework for these texts; prepare a critical review of a literary work.
Syllabus
  • You should be familiar with the following authors' works and topics (to be studied on Ferroni's History of literature or an equivalent):
  • beginning of Italian vernacular languages and the first vernacular documents; Francis of Assisi; Sicilian Poetical school and its fortune in the rest of Italy; Bonvesin da la Riva; veracular translations (volgarizzamenti); Brunetto Latini; Bono Giamboni; Stilnovismo; poeti comico-realistici: Iacopone da Todi; Dante; preachers of the Dominican order (Iacopo Passavanti, Domenico Cavalca); Francis Petrarch; Giovanni Boccaccio; Franco Sacchetti.
  • You should also be familiar with ALL the excerpts that were read during lectures and any other author that was eventually dealt with during the course.
Literature
    required literature
  • Alberto Varvaro, Prima lezione di filologia, Bari, Laterza, 2012
  • STOPPELLI, Pasquale. Filologia della letteratura italiana. Roma: Carocci, 2008. info
  • FERRONI, Giulio. Storia della letteratura italiana. [I], Dalle origini al Quattrocento. Milano: Einaudi scuola, 1991, lvii, 451. ISBN 88-286-0073-X. info
  • FERRONI, Giulio. Storia della letteratura italiana. Milano: Einaudi scuola, 1991, 555 s. ISBN 88-286-0074-8. info
  • Claudio Marazzini, La lingua italiana. Profilo storico, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1994 e successive edizioni.
  • Antologia minima della letteratura italiana, a cura di Danilo Romei, Parte Prima. Dalle Origini al 1494, Firenze, Nuovo Rinascimento, 1997.
  • Alfredo Stussi, Nuovo avviamento agli studi di filologia italiana, Bologna, Il mulino, 1988, cap. 2. Premesse linguistiche, pp. 55-92.
  • Pietro G. Beltrami, La metrica italiana, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2002.
  • SEGRE, Cesare and Clelia MARTIGNONI. Leggere il mondo : letteratura, testi, culture. Edited by Donatella Martinelli - Giuliana Citton - Giulia Raboni - Andrea Corall. [Milano]: Edizioni Scolastiche Bruno Mondadori, 2007, 660 stran. ISBN 8842454915. info
  • SEGRE, Cesare. Leggere il mondo : letteratura, testi, culture. Edited by Clelia Martignoni - Pietro Sarzana - Mauro Bignamini - Rossana Saccani. [Milano]: Edizioni Scolastiche Bruno Mondadori, 2007, 720 stran. ISBN 8842454931. info
  • SEGRE, Cesare. Leggere il mondo : letteratura, testi, culture. Edited by Clelia Martignoni - Pietro Sarzana - Anna Longoni - Rossana Saccani. [Milano]: Edizioni Scolastiche Bruno Mondadori, 2007, 408 stran. ISBN 8842454869. info
  • SEGRE, Cesare. Leggere il mondo : letteratura, testi, culture. Edited by Clelia Martignoni - Pietro Sarzana - Rossana Saccani - Anna Longoni. [Milano]: Edizioni Scolastiche Bruno Mondadori, 2007, 480 stran. ISBN 8842454923. info
  • SEGRE, Cesare and Clelia MARTIGNONI. Leggere il mondo : letteratura, testi, culture. Edited by Vania De Maldé - Giuliana Citton - Gianmarco Gaspari - Donatella Mart. [Milano]: Edizioni Scolastiche Bruno Mondadori, 2007, 539 stran. ISBN 8842454907. info
  • SEGRE, Cesare and Clelia MARTIGNONI. Leggere il mondo : letteratura, testi, culture. Edited by Giuliana Citton - Claudia Rebuffi - Luigina Morini - Raffaela Castagno. [Milano]: Edizioni Scolastiche Bruno Mondadori, 2000, 540 stran. ISBN 8842454842. info
  • SEGRE, Cesare and Clelia MARTIGNONI. Leggere il mondo : letteratura, testi, culture. Edited by Giuliana Citton - Luigina Morini - Claudia Rebuffi. [Milano]: Edizioni Scolastiche Bruno Mondadori, 2000, 420 s. ISBN 9788842454380. info
    recommended literature
  • Bruno Migliorini, Storia della lingua italiana, Firenze, Sansoni, 1960 e successive edizioni.
    not specified
  • Vittorio Coletti, Storia dell'italiano letterario. Dalle origini al Novecento, Torino, Einaudi, 1993.
  • AAVV, Il Medioevo, a cura di Emilio Piccolo, Napoli, Loffredo & Dedalus, 2000
  • Luca Serianni, Appunti di grammatica storica, Roma, Bulzoni, 1995, Fenomeni più notevoli, pp. 21-36.
  • Dizionario di linguistica e di filologia, metrica, retorica, a cura di Gian Luigi Beccaria, Torino, Einaudi, 1996.
  • SEGRE, Cesare and Clelia MARTIGNONI. Leggere il mondo : letteratura, testi, culture. Edited by Giulia Raboni - Claudio Vela - Gianmarco Gaspari - Vania De Maldé. [Milano]: Edizioni Scolastiche Bruno Mondadori, 2000, 528 stran. ISBN 8842454850. info
Teaching methods
Lecture: description of the literary field, explanation and definition of basic notions and their demonstration on concrete texts by concrete authors. Seminar: Application of the acquired theoretical knowledge on authentic texts. In the form of a presentation the students show their capability to connect their theoretical knowledge while working with a concrete text.
Assessment methods
The exam includes the complete programme of the subject such as provided in the lectures held during the semester (including lectures given by guest lecturers, and references to topics covered in the previous semester if the subject has the number II in its title) and in a manual on the subject to choose from among those listed. The final grade will also take into account the work done by students during the semester and their active participation in the course.
Attendance is compulsory.
Maximum number of unjustified absences: 1. Late arrival, i.e. when the lecture has already started, will be marked as an absence. Doing other things, not relevant to the subject, during the classes (such as chatting, reading/sending email, surfing the internet, watching films/videos) will also be considered as an absence. Homework which is the result of plagiarism or written with the aid of AI tools may result in non-admission to the exam.
Arriving late at the exam may result in non-admission to the exam.
Language of instruction
Italian
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
General note: Lze zapsat až po úspěšném složení bakalářské zkoušky.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/IJ2A222