MEDIEVAL GERMANIC LITERATURES

• Consolidation of the linguistic and philological tools required for the analysis and interpretation of Medieval Germanic texts.
• Achievement of a comparatist viewpoint in the investigation of Medieval Germanic texts.

• Traditional /Lectures.
• Translation exercise from Medieval texts.

Attendance in this course is highly recommended.

“Power, violence and gender: what about female heroes in epic poetry?”

• Interpretation and analysis of epic verse from Old English (Judith), Middle High German (Nibelungenlied) and Old Norse (Guðrúnarkviða). The texts under investigation will be translated and analyzed both from a stylistic and historic cultural point of view.
• Investigation of literary genres (Eddic and heroic poetry, Bible poetry) particularly relevant to Medieval Germanic literatures.
• The manuscript transmission of Medieval Germanic texts.

a) Original texts and translations

• Das Nibelungenlied. Mittelhochdeutscher Text und Übertragung, hg. von Helmut Brackert, Frankfurt/M [Fischer] 1992, vol. I, pp. 180-195; vol. II, 252-265 (Aventiure XIV, XXXIX).
• Edda. Die Lieder des Codex regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern, hg. von Gustav Neckel. 5. verbesserte Auflage von Hans Kuhn, Heidelberg [Winter] 1983, I, pp. 197-227.
• Griffith, Mark (ed.), Judith, Exeter [Exeter University Press] 1997, pp. 44-93 (introduction), pp. 97-107 (text).
• I Nibelunghi, a cura di Laura Mancinelli. Traduzione italiana, Torino [Einaudi] 1995, pp. 114-122, 320-327.
• Il canzoniere eddico, a cura di Piergiuseppe Scardigli. Traduzione italiana di P. Scardigli e Marcello Meli, Milano [Garzanti] 2012, pp. 237-241, 265-276.

b) Handbooks, encyclopedic articles

• Fulk, Robert D., Cain, Christopher M., A History of Old English Literature, Malden [MA] et al. [Blackwell] 2013, pp. 157-176.
• Gibbs, Marion E., Johnson, Sidney M., Medieval German Literature, London [Routledge] 2000, pp. 205-217.
• Glendinning, Robert J., “Guðrúnarkviða I-III”, in Phillip Pulsiano (ed.), Medieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia, New York /London [Garland] 1993, pp. 246-248.
• Gunnell, Terry, “Eddic Poetry”, in Rory McTurk (ed.), A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, Malden [MA] et al. [Blackwell] 2007, pp. 82-100.
• Harris, Joseph, “Eddic Poetry”, in C. Clover, J. Lindow (eds.), Old Norse-Icelandic Literature. A Critical Guide, Ithaca - London [Cornell University Press] 1985, pp. 68-126.
• Luiselli Fadda, Anna Maria, Tradizioni manoscritte e critica del testo nel Medioevo germanico, Bari/Roma [Laterza] 2010, pp. 44-51, 98-109, 172.
• Müller, Jan-Dirk, “Das Nibelungenlied”, in Horst Brunner (Hg.) Interpretationen. Mittelhochdeutsche Romane und Heldenepen, Stuttgart [Reclam] 1993, pp. 146-172.
• Schulze, Ursula, Das Nibelungenlied, Stuttgart [Reclam] 1997, pp. 84-103.

c) Methodology (a choice, according to the topics of the written report and the oral exam)

• Bennet, Helen T., Lees, Clare A., Overing, Gillian R., “Gender and Power: Anglo-Saxon and Feminist Studies”, Medieval Feminist Newsletter 10 (1990), pp. 15-24.
• Bennewitz, Ingrid, „Frauenliteratur im Mittelalter oder feministische Mediävistik? Überlegungen zur Entwicklung der geschlechtergeschichtlichen Forschung in der germanistischen Mediävistik der deutschsprachigen Länder, Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie 112 (1993), pp. 383-393.
• Clark, David, Friðríksdóttir, Jóhanna Katrin, “The Representation of Gender in Eddic poetry”, in C. Larryngton, J. Quinn, B. Schorn (eds.), A Handbook to Eddic poetry. Myths and Legends of Early Scandinavia, Cambridge [Cambridge University Press] 2012, pp. 333-348.
• Pincikowski, Scott. E., “Violence and Pain at the Court: Comparing Violence in German Heroic and Courtly Epics”, in Albrecht Classen (ed.), Violence in Medieval Courtly Literature. A Casebook, New York - London [Routledge] 2004, pp. 93-109.

d) Critical Essays (a choice, according to the topics of the written report and the oral exam)

• Batten, Caroline R., “Strengði hon elfi: Female Reactions to Male Violence in Eddic Heroic Poetry”, Scandinavian Studies 91 (2019), pp. 289-321.
• Belanoff, Patricia, “Judith: Sacred and Secular Heroine”, in H. Damico, J. Leyerle (eds.), Heroic Poetry in the Anglo-Saxon Period. Studies in Honor of Jess B. Bessinger, jr., Kalamazoo [Western Michigan University] 1993, pp. 247-264.
• Bennewitz, Ingrid, “Das Nibelungenlied - ein „Puech von Chrimhilt“?“, in Klaus Zatloukal, 3. Pöchlarner Heldenliedgespräch. Die Rezeption des Nibelungenliedes, Wien [Fassbender] 1995, pp. 33-52.
• Clark, David, “Undermining Vengeance: Distancing and Anti-feminism in the Guðrún Poems”, in Idem, Gender, Violence, and the Past in Edda and Saga, Oxford [Oxford University Press] 2012, pp. 17-45.
• Lienert, Elisabeth, „Geschlecht und Gewalt im Nibelungenlied“, Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum 132 (2003), pp. 3-23.
• Lochrie, Karma, “Gender, Sexual Violence, and the Politics of War in the Old English Judith”, in B.J. Harwood, G.R. Overing (eds.), Class and Gender in Early English Literature. Intersections, Bloomington-Indianapolis [Indiana University Press] 1994, pp. 1-20.
• Magennis, Hugh, “Gender and Heroism in the Old English Judith”, in E. Treharne (ed.), Writing Gender and Genre in Medieval Literature, Cambridge [D.S. Brewer] 2002, pp. 5-18.
• Schausten, Monika, „Der Körper des Helden und das „leben“ der Königin: Geschlechter- und Machtkonstellationen im Nibelungenlied“, Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie 118 (1999), pp. 27-49.
• Zironi, Alessandro, “L’ultimo grido, l’ultimo fendente: la morte di Crimilde nel Nibelungenlied”, in M. G. Arcamone, M. Battaglia, La tradizione nibelunico-volsungica, Atti del XXXVI Convegno dell’Associazione Italiana di Filologia Germanica (Pisa 4-6 giugno 2009), Pisa [ETS] 2010, pp. 193-207.

Texts, handbooks and critical essays available on STUDIUM.

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.