Ateneo - UPO

 Now I know only so far. Ethnopoetics and Shamanism: voice, song, and consciousness on the Ascent of the Axis Mundi

M. Danesi, Linguistic Relativity Today: Language, Mind, Society, and the Foundations of Linguistic Anthropology, New York - London, Routledge, 2021; D. Hymes, Now I know only so far. Essays in Ethnopoetics, Lincoln (NE) - London, University of Nebraska Press, 2003; C. Severi, Il percorso e la voce. Un’antropologia della memoria, Torino, Einaudi, 2004, Students enrolled on the Master’s degree programme in Philology, have to read also G. Costa, Antichità indeuropee. Miti, riti, testi e memorie, Alessandria, Edizioni dell'Orso, 2020.

The course is distinctly seminar-based and covers highly advanced content and topics;
it is reserved for students who have already successfully passed
at least the general linguistics and ethnology exams;
prior reading of M. Danesi, *Linguistic Relativity*
Today: Language, Mind, Society, and the Foundations of Linguistic
Anthropology, New York–London, Routledge, 2021; attendance is
strongly and highly recommended, as active student participation
is a key component of the final grade:
in-person instruction (3 CFU), self-directed learning activities (3
CFU). The course aims, first and foremost, to equip students
to analyze the texts presented in class in terms of their
main entolinguistic components; a more advanced objective is
to develop their ability to analyze
diachronic and synchronic material and to acquire the specific metalinguistic
and communicative skills necessary to propose new solutions for
given ethnolinguistic components or systems, independently applying
the appropriate advanced methodologies of theoretical and pragmatic analysis from among
those covered in class.

The course is open only to students who have already passed at least the General Linguistics and Ethnology examinations; students are required to have read the following in advance: M. Danesi, *Linguistic Relativity Today: Language, Mind, Society, and the Foundations of Linguistic Anthropology*, New York – London, Routledge, 2021.

Lectures and online teaching (DIR); however, the material in the DIR isintended solely as a supplement and does NOT replace the texts listed inthe program's bibliography. Classes require active and participatory student involvement through the analysis and commentary of ethnolinguistic and ethnopragmatic data, including short written essays and oral presentations using audiovisual materials. This activity aims to developthe ability to analyze diachronic and synchronic material, the assimilationof advanced general linguistics teaching methodologies, and specific metalinguistic and communicative skills.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), or Special Educational Needs (SEN) can request dedicated services and tools by contacting the Career Development and Coordination and Student Services Staff and by visiting the dedicated page on the University website: https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizi-studentidisabilied-dsa. Studentswith disabilities, SLD, or SEN, after contacting the University Staff, must contact the instructor in charge of the course to arrange the exam procedures at least 20 days before the exam; some of these procedures must be approved by the instructor in advance.

Oral exam lasting approximately 30–40 minutes. The exam is considered passed if the grade is 18/30 or higher. During the exam, students may withdraw, and at the end of the exam, they may refuse a passing grade; a grade accepted on the spot cannot be changed. Pursuant to Article 35 of the University’s Academic Regulations, please note that students may take the same exam no more than three times in an academic year. The overall grade will be based on the assessment of the appropriate use of specific metalinguistic terminology, the accuracy and appropriateness of answers to questions on the texts listed in the syllabus and on material covered in class, active and creative participation in the seminar, and the result of the written/oral term paper that each student is required to complete as an integral part of the final evaluation; The minimum passing requirement consists of attendance at at least two-thirds of the classes, a successful in-class presentation of the term paper, and correct answers to at least four questions on the exam; honors will be awarded based on an overall assessment of the student’s ability to explore topics in depth and engage in independent analysis.

Building on the concept of ethnopoetics developed by D. Hymes, the course will focus on analysing the main ethnolinguistic and ethnopragmatic characteristics of spoken language and the use of the human and animal voice and the soundscape in the principal ritual and poetic contexts—both oral and aural—from the perspective of historical-religious tradition (particularly shamanic tradition) as well as from a sociolinguistic and historical-cognitive perspective. After identifying and describing the characteristics of the human neurolinguistic and phonic-acoustic apparatus and its biological and historical co-evolution, based on the most recent research in the field, the course will first examine the main characteristics of spoken discourse (encoding/decoding, recognition and turn-taking between speakers, evanescence/redundancy of the message, the role of prosodic features, use of paralinguistic means, gestures, etc.), and then on the main ethnolinguistic concepts (taxonomies and the semantic-cognitive organisation of the ethno-sciences, the structure of traditional knowledge and external symbolic storage systems, and the introduction of the concept of the ethno-cognitive fossil), and ethnopragmatic concepts (theory of speech acts, frames and schemata, textuality and contextuality), necessary for a full understanding of the ethnopoetic texts selected from various ancient and modern ethnolinguistic traditions and presented for analysis in class.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: Ability to clearly illustrate the theoretical foundations of ethnopragmatic and ethnolinguistic analysis presented in the course using the appropriate specific metalanguage; ability to fully understand and explain the linguistic, cognitive, and cultural differences between the different types of performative agency and texts produced in utterance. • ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: Ability to conduct ethnopragmatic analysis of texts, even those never analyzed before; ability to identify, explain, and evaluate at least three (minimum pass mark) of the main linguistic features contained in them (contextual features and their textual impact, type of linguistic register chosen, focalization mechanisms, discourse cues, interruptions, overlaps, dialogic repetitions, assessment of the degree of involvement, symmetry or dissymmetry between interlocutors, self-referentiality and turn-taking identity, etc.); Provide examples of at least two of the types of ritual and non-ritual texts covered during the course (minimum level for passing). • JUDGMENT ABILITY: Ability to recognize the main linguistic phenomena at work in the proposed examples and appropriately propose one's own, including with the aid of audiovisual and IT technologies. • COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Ability to express one's knowledge using specific metalinguistic terminology with awareness. • LEARNING SKILLS: Ability to delve deeper into the topics presented and develop a capacity for critical and independent analysis of the theoretical references and bibliography presented during the course and their concrete application (advanced level for the final assessment).