Learning objectives
That of Ancient Christian Literature is an advanced course aiming to provide students with thorough methodological skills in the fields of linguistics and philology in order for critical methodology, translation techniques and critical reading and interpretation of Ancient Christian Greek and Latin literary texts to be fully developed.
Classroom lectures, which are supplemented by practice and personal tutor sessions, will focus on critical reading and advanced interpretation of the texts provided. Students will also be requested to apply translation techniques and critical analysis in a research paper on a topic of choiche that they will have to submit at the end of term.
At the end of the course students should be able to translate complex texts and properly present the results of their researches.
Course unit content
The course will focus on the analysis of the most prominent literary features of women within the very first christian groups
Bibliography
1) M. SIMONETTI, E. PRINZIVALLI, Storia della letteratura cristiana antica, EDB Editore, Bologna 2010;
2) J. SCHRIJNEN, I caratteri del latino cristiano antico; con un’appendice di Christine Mohrmann: dopo quarant’anni, ed. it. Pàtron, Bologna 2002.
3) Cyprian. De habitu Virginum, in Cipriano, Opuscoli/1, a cura di A. CERRETINI – S. MATTEOLI – C. MORESCHINI – C. DELL’OSSO – P. PODOLAK – G. TAPONECCO – M. VERONESE, Città Nuova, Roma 2009.
Students of Classics:
1) M. SIMONETTI, E. PRINZIVALLI, Storia della letteratura cristiana antica, EDB Editore, Bologna 2010;
2) E. NORDEN, Dio Ignoto. Ricerche sulla storia della forma del discorso religioso, ed. it. Morcelliana, Brescia 2002;
3) Tertullian. De virginibus velandis, in Tertulliano, Opere Montaniste, a cura di A. CAPONE – S. ISETTA – S. MATTEOLI – A. PERŠIČ – R. UGLIONE, Città Nuova, Roma 2012
or
Cyprian. De habitu Virginum, in Cipriano, Opuscoli/1, a cura di A. CERRETINI – S. MATTEOLI – C. MORESCHINI – C. DELL’OSSO – P. PODOLAK – G. TAPONECCO – M. VERONESE, Città Nuova, Roma 2009.
Teaching methods
Selected passages from Greek and Latin Christian writers' works will be read, translated and commented during classroom activities, special focus being placed on intertextuality as well as on rhetorical devices and figures of speech. Selected bibliography will be provided during lessons and students will be guided towards the elaboration of a research paper on a topic of their choice through personal tutor sessions scaled up and down according to each student’s needs.
Assessment methods and criteria
Before being assessed, students will need to present their research paper during classroom lectures or at the end of the course.
The final assessment aims to test:
1) proper reading and translation of Greek and Latin Christian texts;
2) critical and interpretation skills along with the ability to produce personal reinterpretation and interdisciplinary links;
3) complexity of the topic selected for the research paper;
4) oral proficiency; correct use of language; ability to give proper answers to given questions.
Students will have to fully achieve the first two assessment criteria and score a minimum of 60 percent or better to get a pass grade.
The final score will be calculated by the arithmetic mean of the partial scores of the two courses.
