OVERVIEW

The Master's Course in Germanic Philology "Heroic Literature in the Germanic Area and Its Modern Reworkings" is dedicated to the analysis of this important medieval Germanic literary genre and delves into the historical and comparative study of Germanic languages, cultures, and literatures.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at providing the instruments for the understanding of the linguistic and cultural evolution of the Western and Northern Germanic languages during the Middle Ages.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to develop effective methodologies for the proper interpretation of texts from the Germanic Middle Ages in the western and northern areas and to acquire the necessary knowledge for the comparative analysis of the literary, historical, and cultural-historical phenomena connected to the Germanic world.

Knowledge and understanding: knowledge related to the Germanic civilization, framed within the critical and historiographical debate, with an in-depth study of the languages, cultures, and literatures of the Germanic Middle Ages.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: ability to perform philological-linguistic and philological-literary analysis of texts from the Germanic Middle Ages, based on the correct use of critical editions, historical grammars, and lexicographical tools; ability to critically rework the elements under study.

At the end of the Germanic Philology LM course, the student will be able to:

• Understand the issues related to the concept of history among the Germanic peoples in the early Middle Ages in relation to the late antique cultural heritage;
• Describe the main characteristics of the sources for the history of the Western and Northern Germans;
• Reconstruct the historical cores underlying Germanic heroic literature and evaluate the authors' strategies in their reworking;
• Present the essential features of the Germanic heroic tradition and some of its modern reworkings;
• Analyze, from a philological-linguistic and philological-literary perspective, various types of texts from the Germanic Middle Ages, based on the correct use of critical editions, historical grammars, and lexicographical tools;
• Read, translate, and comment on short excerpts from the texts examined during the lessons;
• Properly use the specific vocabulary of the discipline.

PREREQUISITES

A solid knowledge of at least one modern Western Germanic language (English and/or German), basic knowledge of general linguistics/glottology and/or literary criticism. It is useful but not essential to have attended a Germanic Philology course in the bachelor's degree.

TEACHING METHODS

Frontal lectures with the support of the online education platform Aulaweb

Please note: The program for non-attending students is the same as for attending students.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Heroic Literature in the Germanic Area and its Modern Reworkings

The course will examine:

• The heroic tradition in Old English, with particular reference to Beowulf
• The Nibelung tradition in the German area (Nibelungenlied) and the Scandinavian area (the Sigurðr cycle in the Poetic Edda; the Völsunga saga; Scandinavian ballads)
• Examples of modern rewritings of Beowulf and the Nibelungenlied
• Reading, translation, and linguistic commentary on significant passages from Beowulf and the Nibelungenlied

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For exam preparation, the following are essential: "Materials related to the LM Course for the academic year 2024/2025" curated by C. Benati (available online on the web classroom platform) and the following text:

• Marco Battaglia with contributions by Maria Rita Digilio, Medioevo volgare germanico. New edition, Pisa: Pisa University Press, 2016.

Additionally, each student must delve into the topic of modern rewritings of the Germanic heroic tradition, focusing on either the English or German linguistic area, by choosing ONE of the following texts:

• Bruce Gilchrist and Britt Mize (eds), Beowulf as Children's Literature, Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2021
• Claudia Händl, Die Rezeption des Nibelungenstoffs im deutschsprachigen Theater der Gegenwart. Exemplarische Fallanalysen, Göppingen: Kümmerle Verlag, 2020
• Mary Boyle, "'Hardly gear for woman to meddle with': Kriemhild's Violence in Nineteenth-Century Women's Versions of the Nibelungenlied", Translations and Literature 30.2 (2021), 170-197.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

CHIARA BENATI (President)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Thursday October, 3rd

Schedule: Thursday 14-15, aula D; Friday 17-19, aula F

Class schedule

GERMANIC PHILOLOGY LM

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam (for further details see below "Assessment methods")

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam will consist of an oral assessment of the knowledge and understanding of the topics covered in the course. It will also test the ability to apply the acquired knowledge, with particular attention to the ability to conduct a philological analysis of texts from the Germanic Middle Ages and to critically rework the elements studied. The candidate will be asked at least one question for each of the topics covered, and the result of the individual in-depth study (the study of bibliographic material in a modern Germanic language, chosen between English and German) will be verified.

In the evaluation of the student's performance, consideration will be given not only to the knowledge and understanding of the program to be completed (topics covered in class and in-depth studies based on the indicated bibliography and materials made available on the web classroom platform) but also to the ability to critically rework the addressed elements and to articulate a complex discourse. Additionally, the student's expository skills and accuracy in the use of the specific language of the discipline will be assessed.

The evaluation is expressed in a scale of 30 points according to the following criteria for the minimum and maximum grades:

• 18/30: uncertain or partial mastery of the topic with fragmentary knowledge of basic notions. Incomplete exposition.
• 30/30: mastery of the topics and full possession of basic notions. Excellent exposition.
• 30 with honors: mastery of the topics and the ability to correlate them, addressing them critically. Excellent exposition.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Addressees: The course is designed as a core educational activity for first-year students of the Master's degree program in Modern Languages and Literatures for Cultural Services, with a focus on Modern Literatures, specializing in either English or German. Students enrolled in other curricula of the Master's degree program can include this subject in their study plan as an "attività formativa a scelta" (elective educational activity.)

Attendance: Strongly recommended.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Prof. Sara Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it), the Department’s disability liaison.