OVERVIEW

The Course of Germanic Philology II A "Introduction to the Language and Literature of Early English" is dedicated to the study of Old English, with a particular focus on the historical, cultural, literary, and linguistic context Early medieval England.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Germanic Philology II aims to provide students with the necessary knowledge to understand the linguistic and cultural evolution of Germanic languages starting from their ancient phase and to develop methodologies for the correct interpretation of texts from the Old English period.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course provides fundamental notions concerning the origin of Old English and its position in relation to the other Germanic languages; it provides an overview of the historical and cultural context of early medieval England; it enables students to understand the factors that led to the emergence of literature in English and to analyse its specific features, also in relation to Latin-Christian culture. The course also aims at the acquisition of the knowledge and methodological skills necessary for a correct interpretation of texts in the original language.

By the end of Germanic Philology II, the student will be able to:
- present the main features of English history from the time of the colonisation of Britain by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians to the end of the 11th century;
- Describe the distinctive cultural elements of the Anglo-Saxon world, with particular reference to developments following the Christianisation of the British Isles;
- Assess the impact of the Viking invasions on English language and culture;
- To identify the main features of linguistic development from Proto-Germanic to Old English;
- To illustrate the characteristics of the lexical heritage of Old English, with particular reference to the Indo-European and Germanic legacies, influences from other languages and the main mechanisms of word formation;
- Analyse short texts of medium difficulty in Old English from a philological-linguistic and philological-literary point of view, based on the correct use of critical editions, historical grammars and lexicographic tools.
- identify, on the basis of tutored readings, the specific features that the Anglo-Saxon world has in common with other ancient Germanic cultures;
- to use the vocabulary of the discipline properly.

PREREQUISITES

This course is addressed to students in the second year of the Modern Languages and Cultures programme. The student must have taken Germanic Philology I Part A in the first semester.

TEACHING METHODS

Traditional. The course consists of frontal lessons in Italian, with small group exercises for the analysis of texts in the original language. The teaching material will be uploaded on the aulaweb platform. 

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The programme is the same for attending and non-attending students.

1) Introduction to cultural history: from the arrival of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians in Britain to the conquest of England by William of Normandy; conversion to Christianity; the Viking invasions and Danish dominion; the cultural programme of Alfred the Great; the Benedictine renaissance.
2) Introduction to the main Anglo-Saxon texts: runic inscriptions; poetic and prose texts (including the Caedmon's Hymn; Deor; the Preface to Ælfric's translation of Genesis).
3) Phonetic evolution from Germanic and major linguistic phenomena of Old English.
4) Notions of Old English vocabulary: Indo-European and Germanic heritage; loans and casts; word formation.
5) Textual analysis: historical-cultural introduction to some Old English texts and to the relevant textual tradition; reading in the original language and philological-linguistic analysis of selected passages; etymological analysis of a series of terms contained in the selected passages; reading in Italian translation and commentary on selected passages.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

In order to prepare for the exam, it is essential to use the 'Teaching materials for the academic year 2024-2025' (available online on the aulaweb platform) and the following texts:

• Godden, M., Lapidge, M. (eds.): The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature, 2a edizione Cambridge 2013, pp. 1-18 (“The social and political background”), pp. 295-313 (“The world of Anglo-Saxon learning”).
• Francovich Onesti, N., Digilio, M. R., Breve storia della lingua inglese, Roma, Carocci 2004 (Capitolo 1 “Il periodo antico”. Utile soprattutto per gli studenti non frequentanti per una panoramica sulla storia della lingua inglese).
• Mitchell, B., Robinson, F. C., A Guide to Old English, Oxford/Cambridge, Blackwell 1994 (da intendersi come manuale di lingua di riferimento e di supporto per lo studio individuale).
• Cammarota, M. G., Cocco, G., Le elegie anglosassoni, Milano, Meltemi 2020.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LAURA POGGESI (President)

CHIARA BENATI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

First week second semester 2025

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam in Italian.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral examination will focus on the topics covered during the lectures. The first part will include questions on the historical, cultural and literary context presented during the course, followed by at least one question on linguistics. The second part will focus on the analysis of one or more texts studied in class: the student will be asked to read, translate and give a philological, linguistic and etymological commentary on a passage of the texts analysed in the original language, while the knowledge of the texts read in Italian translation will be tested by means of more general questions.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students with ASD certification, disability or other special educational needs are advised to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course to agree on teaching and examination methods that take into account individual learning methods and provide suitable compensatory tools.