Romance Philology
A.Y. 2026/2027
Learning objectives
The learning objective of this course is to provide the students with a basic preparation in the historical-comparative study of Romance languages and literatures, starting from their medieval origins, through a direct review of medieval texts and their tradition.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course the student:
- will know the underlying principles of the discipline, especially regarding the linguistic and literary origins of medieval Romance world in his historical context;
- will learn to analyse in depth one or more literary texts, dealing with subjects as genres and critical methodologies for their interpretation;
- will learn the foundations of Romance languages' history and classification and learn to read literary texts in the context of their time and point out their linguistic features.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course the student:
- will become autonomous in translating the texts (if in a language different from Old Italian) or paraphrasing them (if in Old Italian);
- will be able to resource bibliographical information, critical essays and basic methodology of the teaching.
In their exam, the student will be asked to illustrate their competence in presenting clearly and correctly what they have learnt during the course.
At the end of the course the student:
- will know the underlying principles of the discipline, especially regarding the linguistic and literary origins of medieval Romance world in his historical context;
- will learn to analyse in depth one or more literary texts, dealing with subjects as genres and critical methodologies for their interpretation;
- will learn the foundations of Romance languages' history and classification and learn to read literary texts in the context of their time and point out their linguistic features.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course the student:
- will become autonomous in translating the texts (if in a language different from Old Italian) or paraphrasing them (if in Old Italian);
- will be able to resource bibliographical information, critical essays and basic methodology of the teaching.
In their exam, the student will be asked to illustrate their competence in presenting clearly and correctly what they have learnt during the course.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Surname A-H
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
The course consists of the following two sections, which will be addressed in sequence:
Parts A+B: "Issues and methods in Romance linguistics" + "The origins of Neo-Latin literatures" (40 hours, 6 CFU).
Part C: "Conquering the World: the novels of Alexander the Great" (20 hours, 6 CFU).
Parts A+B aim to present the fundamentals of the discipline: first, the Romance varieties will be described, highlighting their common and specific lines of development from Latin onwards, and examining various key issues in their past and present history (A). A concise overview of the literary origins of the Romance languages will then be provided, from the dawn of writing in the vernaculars of the French, Occitan, Iberian and Italian-speaking regions to the emergence of the first highly successful literary genres (B).
Part C will be structured as an anthological itinerary through various works and different languages, tracing the exceptional medieval Romance-language popularity of Alexander the Great, whose controversial figure and exploits, beyond the limits of human capability, have inspired long-form fiction in the vernacular since its very beginnings.
The course is addressed to students whose surname begins with A-H, attending the first year of the Humanities Degree Course: it is compulsory for students of the "Modern Humanities" curriculum and it awards 9 ECTS credits; it is suggested among other disciplines for students of the "Classics" curriculum and it awards 6 ECTS credits (parts A + B).
For obvious organisational reasons, switching to the course corresponding to another alphabetical range is not allowed, except for serious, justified and documented work or personal reasons that demonstrate the actual impossibility of attending classes in the assigned range. Students who need to request a change of alphabetical range must first obtain permission from the teacher responsible for the course to which they belong. Overlapping with optional courses does not allow for the issuance of the aforementioned authorisation.
NB: Students may take the examination on this programme by the January-February 2028 session, after which the programme will cease to be valid.
Parts A+B: "Issues and methods in Romance linguistics" + "The origins of Neo-Latin literatures" (40 hours, 6 CFU).
Part C: "Conquering the World: the novels of Alexander the Great" (20 hours, 6 CFU).
Parts A+B aim to present the fundamentals of the discipline: first, the Romance varieties will be described, highlighting their common and specific lines of development from Latin onwards, and examining various key issues in their past and present history (A). A concise overview of the literary origins of the Romance languages will then be provided, from the dawn of writing in the vernaculars of the French, Occitan, Iberian and Italian-speaking regions to the emergence of the first highly successful literary genres (B).
Part C will be structured as an anthological itinerary through various works and different languages, tracing the exceptional medieval Romance-language popularity of Alexander the Great, whose controversial figure and exploits, beyond the limits of human capability, have inspired long-form fiction in the vernacular since its very beginnings.
The course is addressed to students whose surname begins with A-H, attending the first year of the Humanities Degree Course: it is compulsory for students of the "Modern Humanities" curriculum and it awards 9 ECTS credits; it is suggested among other disciplines for students of the "Classics" curriculum and it awards 6 ECTS credits (parts A + B).
For obvious organisational reasons, switching to the course corresponding to another alphabetical range is not allowed, except for serious, justified and documented work or personal reasons that demonstrate the actual impossibility of attending classes in the assigned range. Students who need to request a change of alphabetical range must first obtain permission from the teacher responsible for the course to which they belong. Overlapping with optional courses does not allow for the issuance of the aforementioned authorisation.
NB: Students may take the examination on this programme by the January-February 2028 session, after which the programme will cease to be valid.
Prerequisites for admission
No prerequisites for admission.
Teaching methods
The course, which is taught in person (alpha mode) adopts the following teaching methods: lectures; translation, commentary and critical discussion of texts; examination of digital reproductions of documents, medieval manuscripts and prints, available either inside the books of the bibliography or through the course website on myAriel, the online educational platform (https://myariel.unimi.it); since these materials are written in different medieval languages, attendance is strongly recommended.
Teaching Resources
Part A+B:
- Personal class notes;
- Pietro G. Beltrami, "La filologia romanza. Profilo linguistico e letterario", Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017, pp. 19-73, 85-110, 133-196, 125-6, 203-207, 209-224, 231-234, 239-243;
- Maria Luisa Meneghetti, "Le origini delle letterature medievali romanze", Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2026 (PLEASE NOTE: this is a revised and updated edition that supersedes the previous one, which is no longer to be used), pp. 3-47, 59-91, 97-104, 127-137, 138-280; the pages indicated require in-depth study of the sections in larger font and the texts cited and translated (in the text or in notes); the sections in smaller font on the pages indicated require careful and informed reading; the section of photographic plates is an integral part of the program;
- other learning materials available on the MyAriel site of the course.
Please note: for exam preparation, students are recommended to refer to the final and detailed syllabus for this part, which will be published on the course's MyAriel website as soon as the classes have concluded.
Part C:
- personal class notes;
- a digital booklet containing the texts that will be read, translated and commented during the lessons, which will be available before classes of this section start on the MyAriel site of the course;
- other learning materials available on the MyAriel site of the course.
Please note: for exam preparation, students are recommended to refer to the final and detailed syllabus for this part, which will be published on the course's MyAriel website as soon as the classes have concluded.
To support the translation and commentary of Old French and Castilian texts, we recommend the use of A. Roncaglia, "La lingua d'oïl. Profilo di grammatica storica del francese antico", Pisa, Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali, 2005 (usefully associated with A. Varvaro, "Avviamento alla filologia francese medievale", Roma, Carocci, 2003, Introduction and Glossary) and of A. D'Agostino, "Lo spagnolo antico. Sintesi storico-descrittiva", Milano, LED, 2001.
There are no differences in the reference material for non-attending students.
- Personal class notes;
- Pietro G. Beltrami, "La filologia romanza. Profilo linguistico e letterario", Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017, pp. 19-73, 85-110, 133-196, 125-6, 203-207, 209-224, 231-234, 239-243;
- Maria Luisa Meneghetti, "Le origini delle letterature medievali romanze", Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2026 (PLEASE NOTE: this is a revised and updated edition that supersedes the previous one, which is no longer to be used), pp. 3-47, 59-91, 97-104, 127-137, 138-280; the pages indicated require in-depth study of the sections in larger font and the texts cited and translated (in the text or in notes); the sections in smaller font on the pages indicated require careful and informed reading; the section of photographic plates is an integral part of the program;
- other learning materials available on the MyAriel site of the course.
Please note: for exam preparation, students are recommended to refer to the final and detailed syllabus for this part, which will be published on the course's MyAriel website as soon as the classes have concluded.
Part C:
- personal class notes;
- a digital booklet containing the texts that will be read, translated and commented during the lessons, which will be available before classes of this section start on the MyAriel site of the course;
- other learning materials available on the MyAriel site of the course.
Please note: for exam preparation, students are recommended to refer to the final and detailed syllabus for this part, which will be published on the course's MyAriel website as soon as the classes have concluded.
To support the translation and commentary of Old French and Castilian texts, we recommend the use of A. Roncaglia, "La lingua d'oïl. Profilo di grammatica storica del francese antico", Pisa, Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali, 2005 (usefully associated with A. Varvaro, "Avviamento alla filologia francese medievale", Roma, Carocci, 2003, Introduction and Glossary) and of A. D'Agostino, "Lo spagnolo antico. Sintesi storico-descrittiva", Milano, LED, 2001.
There are no differences in the reference material for non-attending students.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of a single oral test, grading on a scale of 30 (the student has the right to refuse it: in this case it will be verbalized as «withdrawn»); the minimum mark for passing the exam is 18.
It is possible to take an optional written pre-test, on the programme of Romance linguistics (part A), which consists of some open-ended questions. There are three exam sessions during the year (in May, in September or in January). The results of only the tests passed will be published in the days immediately following the test on the MyAriel page of the course. For privacy reasons, the notice will only indicate the student ID number, the initials of the surname and first name, and the grade assigned. If the written test has been passed, the candidate will take the remaining parts to the oral exam. The written test grade remains valid for one year. Students who have not passed the written test may take the oral exam in the same session, covering the entire program. When the final grade is assigned, the grade obtained in the written test, grading on a scale of 30, will be averaged with the other results of the oral exam relating to each of the remaining parts.
The exam, which is held in Italian, is individual, and aims to verify the knowledge of the program contents, evaluating both the familiarity with linguistic problems (part A) and with the dynamics of literary history (part B and C) as well as the ability to translate, comment and contextualize the first documents of the Romance languages (part B) and the excerpts of the texts presented in the handout (part C) .
Non-attending students are invited to contact the teacher before beginning the preparation for the exam.
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course.
Students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
It is possible to take an optional written pre-test, on the programme of Romance linguistics (part A), which consists of some open-ended questions. There are three exam sessions during the year (in May, in September or in January). The results of only the tests passed will be published in the days immediately following the test on the MyAriel page of the course. For privacy reasons, the notice will only indicate the student ID number, the initials of the surname and first name, and the grade assigned. If the written test has been passed, the candidate will take the remaining parts to the oral exam. The written test grade remains valid for one year. Students who have not passed the written test may take the oral exam in the same session, covering the entire program. When the final grade is assigned, the grade obtained in the written test, grading on a scale of 30, will be averaged with the other results of the oral exam relating to each of the remaining parts.
The exam, which is held in Italian, is individual, and aims to verify the knowledge of the program contents, evaluating both the familiarity with linguistic problems (part A) and with the dynamics of literary history (part B and C) as well as the ability to translate, comment and contextualize the first documents of the Romance languages (part B) and the excerpts of the texts presented in the handout (part C) .
Non-attending students are invited to contact the teacher before beginning the preparation for the exam.
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course.
Students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
Modules or teaching units
Part A and B
FLMR-01/B - Romance Philology and Linguistics - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Part C
FLMR-01/B - Romance Philology and Linguistics - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Surname I-Z
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Modules or teaching units
Part A and B
FLMR-01/B - Romance Philology and Linguistics - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Part C
FLMR-01/B - Romance Philology and Linguistics - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
By appointment only, wednesday 10.00-13.00
Teams class "Ricevimento Luca Sacchi"