OVERVIEW

The course will illustrate the main issues relating to the production and transmission of texts written in Italian (and its dialect varieties) from the Middle Ages to the contemporary age and will address, also through some examples, the strictly philological problems, with particular attention to the edition and the interpretation of theatrical texts.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The primary purpose of the course is to provide the main notions of textual criticism and methodologies of philological analysis of texts of the entire Italian literary tradition (from the 13th to the 20th century), with particular reference to the principles of the genealogical method, of the textual bibliography and of the “filologia d’autore”. Particular care will also be devoted to the philological examination of plays, distinguishing the various configurations of the text (script, recited text, text written for publication, etc.) and focusing on the ecdotic strategies most suited to their publication, as well as the deepening of the history of textual transmission.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to teach the fundamental principles of textual criticism applied to stagey texts, with particular regard to the census and analysis of manuscripts and printed editions and to the production, transmission, circulation and execution of these texts. The first part of the course will consist of a general introduction dedicated to the explanation of the main philological methodologies and of the most significant notions of textual criticism and historical analysis of the textual transmission, also conducted through a series of examples concerning the various stages of development of the Italian literature, with particular regard to the Renaissance centuries, which saw the birth of the Italian theatrical tradition, and to the twentieth century, the century for which the materials useful for philological analysis survive to a greater extent (scripts, drafts, direct or indirect traces of particular stagings etc.). The peculiarities of the stagey text and the connected philological problems will then be highlighted, in relation to the possibility of applying the genealogical method to this particular field and to the most appropriate ecdotic strategies to exploit its specific features, such as the distinction between text for acting and text for reading and the issues of multiple textual versions. The final part of the course will be dedicated to the illustration of a specific case, that of Ludovico  Ariosto's Negromante. The analysis of the comedy will be conducted using critical editions and other aids useful for the discussion of the data transmitted by manuscripts and printed editions and the choices of modern scholars. This part of the course aims to acquire specific skills in reading and analyzing critical texts and in the objective evaluation of philological data.

At the end of the course the student will have to:

- have strengthened his knowledge of the Italian literary language, and in particular of that used in the stagy literature;

- understand and know the ways in which Italian texts have been transmitted (including the main dialectal varieties);

- know the main material peculiarities of the witnesses transmitting Italian texts, and in particular theatrical ones (manuscripts, ancient prints, audiovisual material, etc.), and the tools for their scientific analysis;

- know how to analyze, contextualize and interpret the literary text on philological bases, with particular regard to the peculiarities of the text born for the stage or in any case transferred to the theatrical environment;

- know how to read critical editions and knowing the main procedures useful for their realization, with particular regard to stagy texts;

 - know the main procedures useful for reconstructing the linguistic and formal characteristics of the texts;

 - know how to use the main bibliographic resources functional to philological analysis (repertoires, dictionaries, concordances, databases, etc.);

 - be able to illustrate with adequate terminology the principles and methods of textual criticism and their specific applications in the theatrical field;

 - know how to present the results of critical-textual investigations and interpretative hypotheses using appropriate language, objectively and consciously evaluating their plausibility.

PREREQUISITES

None.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures, also including collective discussion on the texts and editions examined, such as facsimiles of manuscripts or prints, critical editions, scripts etc. The teacher will make the materials discussed in class available on AulaWeb.

Students with disabilities or specific learning disorders (SLDs) can find information on requesting support services, reasonable accommodations, assistive technologies, and other forms of academic support in the document available at the following link:

https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa/modulistica

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Fundamentals of philology and textual criticism

1. Census and analysis of manuscripts and prints;

2. Production, transmission and circulation of texts;

3. Purpose and characteristics of the critical edition;

4. Lachmann’s method;

5. Linguistic and formal restitution of the texts;

6. “Filologia d’autore” and analysis of the variants.

Ecdotics of theatrical texts

1. Text for the theatrical performance and text for the print;

2. Manuscripts and editions in the tradition of theatrical texts;

3. The author, the public and the intermediaries: centrality of the history of tradition;

4. Textual bibliography and “filologia d’autore” in the ecdotics of theatrical texts.

Furthermore, in the final part of the course will be examined the Negromante by Ludovico Ariosto as a case-study: its philological problems will be deeply investigated.

Students who cannot attend are requested to contact the teacher before the end of the semester.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following essays are study sources for the exam:

- all topics and texts analyzed in class (including materials distributed and discussed);

- Pasquale Stoppelli, Filologia della letteratura italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2024 (terza edizione)

- Anna Scannapieco, Sulla filologia dei testi teatrali, in Gli orizzonti dell’ecdotica. Autori, testi, lettori, a cura di F. Rico, Roma, Carocci, 2022, pp. 297-331.

- Laura Riccò, Testo per la scena – testo per la stampa. Problemi di edizione, «Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana», CLXXIII (1996), pp. 210-266.

-  Paolo Trovato, Su un problema ricorrente nelle edizioni di testi teatrali. Qualche esempio italiano e una proposta terminologica, in Estemática: el Siglo de Oro por las ramas. Actas del XVII Taller Internacional de Estudios Textuales, eds. Luigi Giuliani, Victoria Pineda, Firenze, Firenze University Press, 2025, pp. 97-106 (freely available for download at: https://media.fupress.com/files/pdf/24/15987/45549).

Students who are unable to attend classes will not be examined on the topics and materials discussed during class (the first item in the list above). Instead, they are required to supplement the syllabus indicated above (excluding the first item) with the following:

• complete reading of the first version of Il Negromante by Ludovico Ariosto (in an annotated edition);
• Nicola De Blasi, Edizione di testi teatrali, in La critica del testo. Problemi di metodo ed esperienze di lavoro. Trent’anni dopo, in vista del Settecentenario della morte di Dante, Rome, Salerno Editrice, 2019, pp. 509–529.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Classes will begin during the week of February 15, 2027, according to the timetable.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral examination.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Students must demonstrate that they know the topics and problems addressed in the lessons and that they have studied the assigned essays (see Texts/Bibliography); they must also be able to discuss these topics using the specific terminology of the discipline.

In particular, the exam interview will aim to ascertain the students' knowledge of the linguistic features and the particular ways of transmitting of Italian theatrical texts and how they can be represented in a critical-textual representation. The student's ability to analyze and interpret the theatrical text on a philological basis using the tools presented during the course will also be verified.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Erasmus students not proficient in Italian may request a substitutive bibliography, and take the examination in English or French.