Ateneo - UPO

«Mission impossible» A French Knight in the East.
Advanced seminar in Roman Philology.

For attending students, the specific bibliography will be provided in class, following students' interests.
Some titles about the subject of the seminar are:
Huon de Bordeaux, éd. par P. Ruelle, Bruxelles-Paris, PUB-PUF, 1960
Huon de Bordeaux, publ. W.W. Kibler et F. Suard, Paris, Champion, 2003

D.D.R. Owen, «The principal source of Huon de Bordeaux», French Studies, 7/2, 1953, pp. 129-139
M. Rossi, Huon de Bordeaux et l’évolution du genre épique au XIIIe siècle, Paris, Champion, 1975
Alessandro Vitale-Brovarone, «Una nuova redazione di Huon de Bordeaux», Pluteus, 1, 1983, pp. 85-128

Some titles about textual transmission in the Middle Ages are:
- L.D. Reynolds - N. G. Wilson, Scribes and Scholars. A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature, Oxford 2013
- Le livre au Moyen Âge, sous la dir. de J. Glénisson, Paris, Presses du CNRS, 1988
- A. Varvaro, Critica dei testi classica e romanza. Problemi comuni ed esperienze diverse, in Id., Identità linguistiche e letterarie nell'Europa romanza, Roma, Salerno, 2004.
- L. Leonardi, Filologia romanza. 1. Critica del testo, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2021
- S. Lefèvre, La magie du codex. Corps, folio, page, pli, cœur, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2023

Non-attending students will choose a program with the teacher.

Knowledge:
- basic knowledge of the mechanisms of text transmission in the Western Middle Ages;
- knowledge of the philologist's working methods;
- basic knowledge of the main moments and articulations of medieval literary history.
Skills:
- ability to read a medieval text in a romance language on its manuscript support;
- ability to independently face and critically analyze a philological problem;
- ability with the bibliography.
Transversal skills:
- refinement of the skills of exposition of the topics covered in class and studied independently;
- refinement of the analysis skills of a novel text;
- refinement of critical skills in front of a written text.

Basic knowledge in philology and linguistics expected after a BA in "Lettere".

Lectures, seminar discussion, individual study.

Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/servicesstudentsphysical- or-learning-disabilities. Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, must refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the modalities of examination at least 15 days before; some of these must be approved by docent.

Learning will be verified in progress and with a final exam. The evaluation will be based on the following points:
1. Students are required to actively participate during the seminar discussion;
2. Students will be asked to write down a specimen edition of an unpublished medieval text, which will be presented and discussed in class;
3. Students are required to study a book, chosen with the teacher;
4. Students are required to provide a review (ca 2 pages) on a book or a group of articles;
5. The oral interview (exam) will conclude the evaluation process with the presentation by the candidate of the work done.
Point 1.: 10% of the final evaluation. Point 2.: 30%. Point 3.: 20%. Point 4.: 20%. Point 5. 20%.
Honors will be awarded on the basis of the acuteness of the written work and the oral interview.

During the seminar (2024-2025) we will deal with an interpretive edition of chanson de geste ‘Huon de Bordeaux’, transmitted by Turin MS, BNU, L.II.14. At the crossroads of different literary traditions (epic, fable, romance), the text tells of the impossible mission entrusted by Charlemagne to Hugh: to go to the king of Babylon and recover four teeth without the latter noticing.
The course is divided into two parts: in the first part, the lecturer will provide a theoretical framework of the problems that will be addressed, and equip students with the tools for independent study of an unpublished medieval novel text; the second part, a seminar, will see students working directly on a medieval novel text, to present, at the end of the course, the results of their work.

The following topics will be covered in the first part of the course:
- The chanson de geste: meter, language and style
- The subject matter of the Huon de Bordeaux
- The manuscript tradition of a medieval french text
- From text to cycle
- A particular witness: Turin, BNU, L.II.14
- Paleography, codicology and philology: tools

In the second part of the course, the class will tackle the edition of redaction T of the Huon de Bordeaux. Students will be guided through the reading of the text, transcription, and study of the language, leading to each producing an edition specimen of the text itself with glossary.

Students are expected to:
- (at a basic level) expose the knowledge and skills acquired during the course and demonstrate mastering vocabulary and methods of Romance philology;
- (at an advanced level) deal independently with a medieval text, using methods and bibliographical tools of Romance philology.