Examination procedure
Seminar presentation
Examination procedure notes
The topic of the seminar will be agreed with the professor, who will propose some topics related to the matter addressed during the course, taking into account the skills and interests of the students.
Prerequisites
The course is designed for PhD students, but is open to undergraduates with a basic grounding in philology; knowledge of Old French is desirable.
Syllabus
The debate concerning the genealogical relationships between the manuscripts of Jean Renart’s *Lai de l’Ombre* has been a subject of interest in Romance philology since the late nineteenth century. Joseph Bédier’s extensive work led him to more general sceptical conclusions regarding the applicability of the stemmatic method, conclusions which have influenced much of the subsequent philological scholarship. A new proposal has recently been put forward, which has the potential to resolve this long-standing problem. The seminar aims to assess its plausibility, seeking further arguments to support it.
Bibliographical references
Jean Renart, Le lai de l’ombre, publié par Joseph Bédier, Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1913
Bédier, Joseph, 1928, «La tradition manuscrite du Lai de l’Ombre. Réflexions sur l’art d’éditer les anciens textes», Romania, 54, 161-96, 321-56; Paris, Champion, 1929
Lecoy, Félix, 1982, «Variations sur le texte du Lai de l'Ombre», Romania, 103, 433-469.
Trovato, Paolo, 2013, «La tradizione manoscritta del Lai de l'Ombre. Riflessioni sulle tecniche d'edizione primonovecentesche», Romania, 131, 338-380.
Leonardi, Lino, 2018, Philologie, science historique? Une question d'anachronisme qui se pose depuis Bédier (à propos du texte du «Lai de l'Ombre»), in Craig Baker, Marcello Barbato, Mattia Cavagna et Yan Greub (éds.), L'ombre de Joseph Bédier. Théorie et pratique éditoriales au XXe siècle, Strasbourg, Editions de Linguistique et Philologie, 2018, pp. 333-357
Further specific bibliography will be provided and discussed during the course.