Philology and Dante Criticism

Philology is essential to read and understand Dante. In the absence of his autographs, scholars have had to reconstruct his works trying with different methods to prepare scientifically reliable texts. The problems are not all solved as the continuous studies and the current debate show. The course aims to provide students with the fundamental notions of Dante's Philology: history, methods, solutions, problems. In particular we will focus on Vita nuova.

At the end of the course, the student must acquire:
- Knowledge of the tradition of Dante's works (in particular of the Vita nuova) and of the various attempts to reach a solution of the numerous ecdotic problem.
- Ability to read ancient manuscripts and the first printed editions of Dante's works (especially the Vita nuova)
- Ability to evaluate textual solutions proposed by modern publishers.
- Ability to read and evaluate editions and to interpret variants.