Philology and Germanic Literatures

The course aims to perfect the knowledge of ancient Germanic languages and literatures by investigating their historical and cultural context of origin and the dynamics of their diffusion, as well as their manuscript tradition, with the help of the most advanced tools of historical linguistics and textual criticism. The course also aims to encourage reflection on the concept of critical edition, popular edition and rewriting, and on the responsibilities of the philologist in making such texts available to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.

Knowledge and understanding: Knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of production, circulation and reception of texts written in the main ancient Germanic languages (Gothic, Nordic, Anglo-Saxon, Continental Saxon and High German areas) in their historical and cultural context; knowledge and understanding of the most up-to-date methodologies of historical linguistics and ecdotics.
Applying knowledge and understanding: The ability to reconstruct the dating, provenance and circulation of written evidence in various ancient Germanic languages on the basis of textual, linguistic and palaeographic-codicological data. Ability to read and translate texts from manuscript, and analyse them phonologically, morpho-syntactically and lexically, in order to carry out digital transcription and contribute to their dissemination. The ability to deal with ecdotical problems of certain texts from the various ancient Germanic areas in order to independently assess the possibilities of edition.