B026276 - ARABIC LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (12 CFU)

Italian

Introduction to Arabic philology as history of manuscript traditions and text criticism. How to prepare a critical edition of medieval Arabic texts. Introduction to Palaeography, Codicology and linguistic Middle Arabic features.

A. Varvaro, Prima lezione di filologia, Roma-Bari, Laterza 2012.
P. Trovato, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Lachmann's Method: A Non-Standard Handbook of Genealogical Textual Criticism in the Age of Post-Structuralism, Cladistics, and Copy-Text. Foreword by Michael D. Reeve. Translation by Federico Poole. (Storie et linguaggi.) Padua, 2014.
V. Sagaria Rossi, F. Déroche, I manoscritti in caratteri arabi, Roma, Viella, 2012.
K. Hirschler, Leggere e scrivere nell'Islam medievale, Roma, Carocci, 2017.
A. Bausi & A. Gori, Tradizioni orientali del Martirio di Areta. La prima recensione araba e la versione etiopica: edizione critica e traduzione, Firenze, 2006.

The course aims to offer students the basic theoretical tools for studying and analyzing medieval Arabic manuscripts. The main objective of the course is to offer theoretical-methodological basis of the Arabic philology as method of restoring and reconstructing ancient Arabic texts in their double aspect: “lingusitical forms” and “textual variants”. At the end of the course, the student will have learned the theoretical-practical tools in order to create a critical edition. Another objective is to familiarize students with Arabic manuscripts, introducing them to palaeographical, codicological and linguistic issues of pre-modern Arabic texts.

Bachelor's degree with specialization in Arabic Language and Literature.

The course will be divided into two modules: one theoretical and one practical.
The theoretical module will be 25 hours of tought class.
The remaining 35 hours will be a practical seminar in which students will be guided to decode, read and analyze Arabic manuscript texts.

Students who intend to take part to exam, must present themselves with the teaching material, namely the employed books and the texts of Arabic Literature which have been translated and commented during the course. Those who present themselves without material will not be able to take part to the exam.
The exam will take place in written and oral form in the following ways:
1) Drafting a paper of about 10-15 pages on a research project studied within the course, the essay will be delivered at least 10 days before the exam session.
2) Verification of the theoretical contents; the following skills will be taken into account: oral presentation, synthesis, knowledge of specific terminology.
3) Reading, translation and linguistic commentary of the manuscript texts analyzed during the course. Particular importance will be given to the following skills: reading of paleography, pronunciation, knowledge of Arabic syntax and of the main Middle Arabic features.

The course is divided into two modules. The first module is of theoretical nature. It will deal with the history textual criticism in Europe between 18th and 20th centuries, the Lachmann's method and the birth of stemaology, as well as problems related to "forms" and "substances" of Arabic texts, by providing a broad introduction to the Arabic linguistic varieties. Finally, the basic concepts of Arabic codicology and paleography will be offered.
Second practical module: manuscript witnesses of pre-modern Arabic texts belonging to the hagiographic literary genre will be analyzed. Students will be introduced to the technique of preparing and setting up an electronic critical edition.