Italian Philology and Formal Analysis
A.Y. 2026/2027
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with advanced training in textual analysis methods at various levels (linguistic, metrical, stylistic, intertextual, structural, etc.) in relation to philological issues raised by texts from the Italian literary tradition.
Expected learning outcomes
Through the application of formal analysis methods to specific cases in Italian literature, students will develop the skills necessary to understand and address the main philological issues:
- the assessment of variant readings in traditions with multiple witnesses,
- the collocation in space and time of individual witnesses,
- the definition of the formal format of an edition,
- the typical problems of author philology (identification of redactions, drafts, stratifications, variants),
- questions of attribution, dating and criticism,
- the interpretation of the text, regarded as the ultimate goal of philological research.
Students will acquire the skills needed to define the formal and stylistic characteristics of a work, a corpus or an author.
Students will be able to handle and evaluate critical editions and commentaries and to use the main tools required for philological research, including those offered by the development of digital humanities.
- the assessment of variant readings in traditions with multiple witnesses,
- the collocation in space and time of individual witnesses,
- the definition of the formal format of an edition,
- the typical problems of author philology (identification of redactions, drafts, stratifications, variants),
- questions of attribution, dating and criticism,
- the interpretation of the text, regarded as the ultimate goal of philological research.
Students will acquire the skills needed to define the formal and stylistic characteristics of a work, a corpus or an author.
Students will be able to handle and evaluate critical editions and commentaries and to use the main tools required for philological research, including those offered by the development of digital humanities.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Part A (3 ECTS): Issues in Metrics and Philology: Prosody and Rhyme
The lectures will focus on the role of metrical issues in the philological study of poetic texts, particularly from the early centuries, examining challenging cases, solutions employed in critical editions, and different methodological approaches in the fields of metrics and philology.
Part B (3 ECTS): The Form of Canzone in the Early Version of the Canzoniere
The lectures will examine the problems involved in reconstructing the early forms of the "Canzoniere" and will focus on the role played by the 'canzone' in the Chigi form and in the hypothetical Correggio form. Attention will then turn to the critical analysis of Petrarch's "canzoni", as complex texts in which the metrical structure, at various layers, is functional to the thematic development.
Part C (3 ECTS): Petrarch's Songs from the "Codice degli abbozzi" to the "Canzoniere"
The first lectures will provide an overview of the characteristics and philological issues posed by the so-called "Codice degli abbozzi" (Vat. lat. 3196). The course will then focus on the study of authorial variants, with particular attention to the songs attested in Petrarch's drafts, both in classroom lectures and in student presentations.
The lectures will focus on the role of metrical issues in the philological study of poetic texts, particularly from the early centuries, examining challenging cases, solutions employed in critical editions, and different methodological approaches in the fields of metrics and philology.
Part B (3 ECTS): The Form of Canzone in the Early Version of the Canzoniere
The lectures will examine the problems involved in reconstructing the early forms of the "Canzoniere" and will focus on the role played by the 'canzone' in the Chigi form and in the hypothetical Correggio form. Attention will then turn to the critical analysis of Petrarch's "canzoni", as complex texts in which the metrical structure, at various layers, is functional to the thematic development.
Part C (3 ECTS): Petrarch's Songs from the "Codice degli abbozzi" to the "Canzoniere"
The first lectures will provide an overview of the characteristics and philological issues posed by the so-called "Codice degli abbozzi" (Vat. lat. 3196). The course will then focus on the study of authorial variants, with particular attention to the songs attested in Petrarch's drafts, both in classroom lectures and in student presentations.
Prerequisites for admission
There are no specific requirements different from those requested for the degree admission.
However, a knowledge of the basics of philology is recommended. Students who have never taken an exam in Italian philology may have recourse to Alfredo Stussi, Breve avviamento alla filologia italiana, Bologna, il Mulino 2015 (4th edition).
However, a knowledge of the basics of philology is recommended. Students who have never taken an exam in Italian philology may have recourse to Alfredo Stussi, Breve avviamento alla filologia italiana, Bologna, il Mulino 2015 (4th edition).
Teaching methods
Classes are held entirely in person (Alpha format).
Class attendance is strongly recommended, although not mandatory. Non-attending students are recommended to make contact with the teacher.
Parts A and B involve face-to-face lectures, in which content and methodological problems will be addressed with the help of slides, the viewing of reproductions of manuscripts, and the use of useful sites. Dialogue and discussion on the issues gradually addressed will be an integral part of the course.
Part C will allow students to apply what they have learned by working individually and in groups on case studies, which they may present to the class and which will be the subject of a written assignment that will count toward their grade.
Class attendance is strongly recommended, although not mandatory. Non-attending students are recommended to make contact with the teacher.
Parts A and B involve face-to-face lectures, in which content and methodological problems will be addressed with the help of slides, the viewing of reproductions of manuscripts, and the use of useful sites. Dialogue and discussion on the issues gradually addressed will be an integral part of the course.
Part C will allow students to apply what they have learned by working individually and in groups on case studies, which they may present to the class and which will be the subject of a written assignment that will count toward their grade.
Teaching Resources
Part A
The exam will cover:
1) The materials presented in class and the slides, which will be uploaded to MyAriel: please note that declaring yourself as attending student means you may be tested on everything that was explained in class.
2) Pietro G. Beltrami, Quante sillabe ha un endecasillabo? (Qualche problema intorno alla storia della metrica), in Id., L'esperienza del verso. Scritti di metrica italiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 2015, pp. 243-60 (available through Minerva).
3) Pietro G. Beltrami, Incertezze di metrica dantesca, in Id., L'esperienza del verso. Scritti di metrica italiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 2015, pp. 303-21 (available through Minerva).
4) Aldo Menichetti, Storia della lingua e metrica. Tra fonetica e prosodia: "i" vs iod, in Id., Saggi metrici, Firenze, Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2006, pp. 283-300 (only pp. 283-93).
5) Marco Praloran, Alcune osservazioni sul ritmo nel "Canzoniere", in "Studi petrarcheschi", XVI (2003), pp. 247-61 (available through Minerva).
6) Roberto Antonelli, Tempo testuale e tempo rimico. Costruzione del testo e critica nella poesia rimata, "Critica del testo", I (1998), 1, pp. 177-201 (available through Minerva).
Non-attending students will add the following readings to those assigned to attending students, in replacement of point 1 (i.e., the course notes and materials presented in class):
7) Edoardo Esposito, Il verso. Forme e teoria, Roma, Carocci, 2003 (and later reprints), capitoli 5 e 6 (pp. 77-107).
8) Claudio Vela, Anomalie metriche nel Canzoniere di Petrarca?, in "Stilistica e metrica italiana", 4 (2004), pp. 59-88 (available for purchase online).
9) Irene Iocca, Sul trattamento editoriale di due tipologie di rime imperfette nei testi in ottava rima di Boccaccio, in "Stilistica e metrica italiana", 19 (2019), pp. 3-33 (available for purchase online).
All students are invited to refresh their knowledge of metrics using a textbook of their choice: we recommend Pietro G. Beltrami, Gli strumenti della poesia. Guida alla metrica italiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 1996 (and other editions). During the classes, we will refer to other textbooks that may be useful for clarifying the concepts covered; in particular, Edoardo Esposito, Il verso. Forme e teoria, Roma, Carocci, 2003 (and later reprints); Aldo Menichetti, Metrica italiana. Fondamenti prosodici, prosodia, rima, Padova, Antenore, 1993; Pietro G. Beltrami, La metrica italiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 1991 (and other editions).
Part B
The exam will cover:
1) The texts from the "Canzoniere" specified on MyAriel at the end of the course, which must be prepared using Francesco Petrarca, "Canzoniere", edizione commentata a cura di Marco Santagata, Milan, Mondadori ("Oscar"), 2018.
2) The materials presented in class and the slides, which will be uploaded to MyAriel: please note that registering as an attending student implies that you may be tested on everything that was covered in class.
3) Marco Praloran, La canzone di Petrarca. Orchestrazione formale e percorsi argomentativi, a cura di Arnaldo Soldani, Roma-Padova, 2013, pp. 3-146.
4) Furio Brugnolo, Libro d'autore e forma-canzoniere: implicazioni grafico-visive nell'originale dei "Rerum vulgarium fragmenta", in Rerum vulgarium fragmenta. Codice Vat. Lat. 3195. Commentario all'edizione in fac-simile, a cura di Gino Belloni, Furio Brugnolo, H. Wayne Storey e Stefano Zamponi, Roma, Padova, Antenore, 2004, pp. 105-29.
5) Marco Santagata, Per moderne carte. La biblioteca volgare di Petrarca, Bologna, il Mulino, 1990, pp. 273-362.
6) Claudia Berra, Le canzoni degli occhi ('Rvf' 71, 72, 73), in "Atti e memorie dell'Accademia Galileiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Padova. Memorie della Classe di Scienze Morali, Lettere ed Arti", CXXII (2009-2010), pp. 233-74 (available through Iris Air).
Non-attending students will submit the following essays in addition to those already required of attending students, in replacement of pont 2 (i.e., course notes and materials presented in class):
7) Gabriele Baldassari, Rerum vulgarium fragmenta (Canzoniere), in Petrarca, a cura di Gabriele Baldassari e Claudia Berra, Roma, Carocci, 2025, pp. 137-83.
8) Gabriele Baldassari, Unum in locum. Strategie macrotestuali nel Petrarca politico, Milano, Led, 2006, pp. 121-242 (available through Iris Air).
Part C
We will refer in particular to Francesco Petrarca, Il codice degli abbozzi: Edizione e storia del manoscritto Vaticano latino 3196, a cura di Laura Paolino, Milano-Naples, Ricciardi, 2000. Texts and other materials will be provided during class.
Students are required to study:
1) https://www.petrarcaonline.it/testimone/1082/citta-del-vaticano-biblioteca-apostolica-vaticana-lat-3196
2) Stefano Zamponi, Nota sulla scrittura, in Autografi dei letterati italiani, dir. da Matteo Motolese ed Emilio Russo, Le origini e il Trecento, tomo II, a cura di Luca Azzetta, Monica Berté, Giuseppina Brunetti, Maurizio Fiorilla, Marco Petoletti, Roma-Padova, Antenore, 2025, pp. 218-22.
3) Marco Cursi-Carlo Pulsoni, La scrittura del Codice degli abbozzi di Petrarca e la sua fortuna, in Volontà d'archivio. L'autore, le carte, l'opera, a cura di Paola Italia e Monica Zanardo, Roma, Viella, 2023, pp. 33-68 (available for purchase online).
4) Rosanna Bettarini, Lacrime e inchiostro nel Canzoniere di Petrarca, Bologna, Clueb, 1998, pp. 45-83 e 113-36.
Non-attending students will add the following readings to those assigned to attending students, in replacement of the course notes and materials presented in class:
5) Alessandro Pancheri, Il "Codice degli abbozzi" di Francesco Petrarca, in Gli "scartafacci" degli scrittori. I sentieri della creazione letteraria in Italia (secc. XIV-XIX), Roma, Carocci, 2022, pp. 89-122.
6) Gianfranco Contini, Saggio d'un commento alle correzioni del Petrarca volgare, in Id., Varianti e altra linguistica. Una raccolta di saggi (1938-1968), Torino, Einaudi, 1970, pp. 5-31 (alternatively in Id, Una corsa all'avventura. Saggi scelti (1932-1989), a cura di Uberto Motta, Roma, Carocci, 2023, pp. 195-98). We recommend reading this alongside Uberto Motta, Il Petrarca di Contini: «equilibrio dinamico» e «eroismo metafisico», in Petrarca e i moderni, a cura di Veronica Bernardi e Valentina Zimarino, Bologna, Dipartimento di Filologia classica e Italianistica (FICLIT), 2025, pp. 133-56 (open access book).
7) Francesco Amendola, La canzone 207 dei "Rerum vulgarium fragmenta" dal codice degli abbozzi al Vat. lat. 3195, in "Nuova rivista di letteratura italiana", XXII (2019), 1, pp. 11-35 (available through Iris Air).
8) Francesco Amendola, Tra paleografia e codicologia. Alcune considerazioni sulle filigrane di cc. 15 e 16 del "codice degli abbozzi" (Vat. lat. 3196), in Laureatus in Urbe I, a cura di Luca Marcozzi e Paolo Rigo, Canterano (Roma), Aracne, 2019, pp. 139-50 (available through Iris Air).
The exam will cover:
1) The materials presented in class and the slides, which will be uploaded to MyAriel: please note that declaring yourself as attending student means you may be tested on everything that was explained in class.
2) Pietro G. Beltrami, Quante sillabe ha un endecasillabo? (Qualche problema intorno alla storia della metrica), in Id., L'esperienza del verso. Scritti di metrica italiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 2015, pp. 243-60 (available through Minerva).
3) Pietro G. Beltrami, Incertezze di metrica dantesca, in Id., L'esperienza del verso. Scritti di metrica italiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 2015, pp. 303-21 (available through Minerva).
4) Aldo Menichetti, Storia della lingua e metrica. Tra fonetica e prosodia: "i" vs iod, in Id., Saggi metrici, Firenze, Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2006, pp. 283-300 (only pp. 283-93).
5) Marco Praloran, Alcune osservazioni sul ritmo nel "Canzoniere", in "Studi petrarcheschi", XVI (2003), pp. 247-61 (available through Minerva).
6) Roberto Antonelli, Tempo testuale e tempo rimico. Costruzione del testo e critica nella poesia rimata, "Critica del testo", I (1998), 1, pp. 177-201 (available through Minerva).
Non-attending students will add the following readings to those assigned to attending students, in replacement of point 1 (i.e., the course notes and materials presented in class):
7) Edoardo Esposito, Il verso. Forme e teoria, Roma, Carocci, 2003 (and later reprints), capitoli 5 e 6 (pp. 77-107).
8) Claudio Vela, Anomalie metriche nel Canzoniere di Petrarca?, in "Stilistica e metrica italiana", 4 (2004), pp. 59-88 (available for purchase online).
9) Irene Iocca, Sul trattamento editoriale di due tipologie di rime imperfette nei testi in ottava rima di Boccaccio, in "Stilistica e metrica italiana", 19 (2019), pp. 3-33 (available for purchase online).
All students are invited to refresh their knowledge of metrics using a textbook of their choice: we recommend Pietro G. Beltrami, Gli strumenti della poesia. Guida alla metrica italiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 1996 (and other editions). During the classes, we will refer to other textbooks that may be useful for clarifying the concepts covered; in particular, Edoardo Esposito, Il verso. Forme e teoria, Roma, Carocci, 2003 (and later reprints); Aldo Menichetti, Metrica italiana. Fondamenti prosodici, prosodia, rima, Padova, Antenore, 1993; Pietro G. Beltrami, La metrica italiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 1991 (and other editions).
Part B
The exam will cover:
1) The texts from the "Canzoniere" specified on MyAriel at the end of the course, which must be prepared using Francesco Petrarca, "Canzoniere", edizione commentata a cura di Marco Santagata, Milan, Mondadori ("Oscar"), 2018.
2) The materials presented in class and the slides, which will be uploaded to MyAriel: please note that registering as an attending student implies that you may be tested on everything that was covered in class.
3) Marco Praloran, La canzone di Petrarca. Orchestrazione formale e percorsi argomentativi, a cura di Arnaldo Soldani, Roma-Padova, 2013, pp. 3-146.
4) Furio Brugnolo, Libro d'autore e forma-canzoniere: implicazioni grafico-visive nell'originale dei "Rerum vulgarium fragmenta", in Rerum vulgarium fragmenta. Codice Vat. Lat. 3195. Commentario all'edizione in fac-simile, a cura di Gino Belloni, Furio Brugnolo, H. Wayne Storey e Stefano Zamponi, Roma, Padova, Antenore, 2004, pp. 105-29.
5) Marco Santagata, Per moderne carte. La biblioteca volgare di Petrarca, Bologna, il Mulino, 1990, pp. 273-362.
6) Claudia Berra, Le canzoni degli occhi ('Rvf' 71, 72, 73), in "Atti e memorie dell'Accademia Galileiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Padova. Memorie della Classe di Scienze Morali, Lettere ed Arti", CXXII (2009-2010), pp. 233-74 (available through Iris Air).
Non-attending students will submit the following essays in addition to those already required of attending students, in replacement of pont 2 (i.e., course notes and materials presented in class):
7) Gabriele Baldassari, Rerum vulgarium fragmenta (Canzoniere), in Petrarca, a cura di Gabriele Baldassari e Claudia Berra, Roma, Carocci, 2025, pp. 137-83.
8) Gabriele Baldassari, Unum in locum. Strategie macrotestuali nel Petrarca politico, Milano, Led, 2006, pp. 121-242 (available through Iris Air).
Part C
We will refer in particular to Francesco Petrarca, Il codice degli abbozzi: Edizione e storia del manoscritto Vaticano latino 3196, a cura di Laura Paolino, Milano-Naples, Ricciardi, 2000. Texts and other materials will be provided during class.
Students are required to study:
1) https://www.petrarcaonline.it/testimone/1082/citta-del-vaticano-biblioteca-apostolica-vaticana-lat-3196
2) Stefano Zamponi, Nota sulla scrittura, in Autografi dei letterati italiani, dir. da Matteo Motolese ed Emilio Russo, Le origini e il Trecento, tomo II, a cura di Luca Azzetta, Monica Berté, Giuseppina Brunetti, Maurizio Fiorilla, Marco Petoletti, Roma-Padova, Antenore, 2025, pp. 218-22.
3) Marco Cursi-Carlo Pulsoni, La scrittura del Codice degli abbozzi di Petrarca e la sua fortuna, in Volontà d'archivio. L'autore, le carte, l'opera, a cura di Paola Italia e Monica Zanardo, Roma, Viella, 2023, pp. 33-68 (available for purchase online).
4) Rosanna Bettarini, Lacrime e inchiostro nel Canzoniere di Petrarca, Bologna, Clueb, 1998, pp. 45-83 e 113-36.
Non-attending students will add the following readings to those assigned to attending students, in replacement of the course notes and materials presented in class:
5) Alessandro Pancheri, Il "Codice degli abbozzi" di Francesco Petrarca, in Gli "scartafacci" degli scrittori. I sentieri della creazione letteraria in Italia (secc. XIV-XIX), Roma, Carocci, 2022, pp. 89-122.
6) Gianfranco Contini, Saggio d'un commento alle correzioni del Petrarca volgare, in Id., Varianti e altra linguistica. Una raccolta di saggi (1938-1968), Torino, Einaudi, 1970, pp. 5-31 (alternatively in Id, Una corsa all'avventura. Saggi scelti (1932-1989), a cura di Uberto Motta, Roma, Carocci, 2023, pp. 195-98). We recommend reading this alongside Uberto Motta, Il Petrarca di Contini: «equilibrio dinamico» e «eroismo metafisico», in Petrarca e i moderni, a cura di Veronica Bernardi e Valentina Zimarino, Bologna, Dipartimento di Filologia classica e Italianistica (FICLIT), 2025, pp. 133-56 (open access book).
7) Francesco Amendola, La canzone 207 dei "Rerum vulgarium fragmenta" dal codice degli abbozzi al Vat. lat. 3195, in "Nuova rivista di letteratura italiana", XXII (2019), 1, pp. 11-35 (available through Iris Air).
8) Francesco Amendola, Tra paleografia e codicologia. Alcune considerazioni sulle filigrane di cc. 15 e 16 del "codice degli abbozzi" (Vat. lat. 3196), in Laureatus in Urbe I, a cura di Luca Marcozzi e Paolo Rigo, Canterano (Roma), Aracne, 2019, pp. 139-50 (available through Iris Air).
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam will be in oral form and scored from 18 to 30.
The 9 ECTS exam will cover parts A, B and C.
The 6 ECTS exam will cover parts A and B.
Attending students who take the 9-credit exam will be permitted to give a presentation and submit a written paper on a text of their choice for Part C; this will count toward the final grade. Students who have attended at least seven out of ten classes, as attested by the signatures collected during the course, will be considered attending students.
The mark will be awarded on the basis of the degree of
- knowledge of the content covered by the exam,
- awareness of method issues,
- competence in the use of the technical language of the subject,
- ability to articulate a coherent and effective discourse.
The format of the exam for students with disabilities and SLDs should be arranged in advance with the professor, as well as the relevant office.
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the professor in charge of the course in a timely manner.
The 9 ECTS exam will cover parts A, B and C.
The 6 ECTS exam will cover parts A and B.
Attending students who take the 9-credit exam will be permitted to give a presentation and submit a written paper on a text of their choice for Part C; this will count toward the final grade. Students who have attended at least seven out of ten classes, as attested by the signatures collected during the course, will be considered attending students.
The mark will be awarded on the basis of the degree of
- knowledge of the content covered by the exam,
- awareness of method issues,
- competence in the use of the technical language of the subject,
- ability to articulate a coherent and effective discourse.
The format of the exam for students with disabilities and SLDs should be arranged in advance with the professor, as well as the relevant office.
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the professor in charge of the course in a timely manner.
Modules or teaching units
Parte A e B
LIFI-01/B - Philology of Italian Literature - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Parte C
LIFI-01/B - Philology of Italian Literature - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
Tuesday 9.30-12.30
Department of Literary Studies, Philology and Linguistics, Unit of Modern Studies, second floor