Romance Philology

The course aims at providing a basic preparation in the comparative study of Romance languages and literatures, from their origins until the end of the Middle Ages. The course will focus on the earliest witnesses of these new languages and on literary texts written using the vernaculars, higlighting their multiple interconnections with figurative and/or performing arts (in the original context of their production, and/or studying their reception in later periods).

Knowledge:
At the end of the course students will know: 1) the main historical-linguistic features that characterise the transformation of Latin into the Romance languages, and the principal instruments for the linguistic study of Medieval texts; 2) the earliest witnesses of the Neo-latin languages, with a focus on their interconnections with figurative and performing contexts; 3) the general developments of Medieval Romance literatures, that will be studied in a historical and comparative perspective, with special attention to authors, texts and literary genres that show important associations with figurative and performing arts.

Competence:
At the end of the course students will be able to deal with Medieval Romance texts, contextualizing them in the historical-cultural context of their production and recognizing their main linguistic features, making use of the specialized vocabulary of the discipline. Students will also be able to use the general knowledges and instruments of Romance philology to analyze Medieval artifacts and figurative/performing works that show interconnections with the vernacular languages and literatures.