RECEPTION OF CLASSICAL CULTURE - Lecturer: Roberto Mario Danese - A.Y. 2022/2023

RECEPTION OF CLASSICAL CULTURE
FORTUNA DELLA CULTURA CLASSICA

Plautus' Pseudolus and the European theater.
Lo Pseudolus di Plauto e il teatro europeo

A.Y.	Academic discipline	Credits	Duration (hours)	Year	Period	Location
2022/2023	L-FIL-LET/05	6	36	2	First Semester	URBINO

Lecturer	Email	Office hours for students
Roberto Mario Danese	roberto.danese@uniurb.it	by appointment by email

Teaching in foreign languages
Course with optional materials in a foreign language English French Spanish This course is entirely taught in Italian. Study materials can be provided in the foreign language and the final exam can be taken in the foreign language.

Assigned to the Degree Course

Humanities. Literature, Arts and Philosophy (L-10)

Curriculum: PERCORSO COMUNE

Lectures Timetable

Date	Time	Period	Classroom / Location

Examinations Timetable

Date	Time	Session	Classroom / Location

Learning Objectives

Students will have to understand the interchange relationship between ancient and modern and contemporary culture, so as to acquire the linguistic, hermeneutic and cognitive tools to investigate from a historical and functional point of view every creative phenomenon of our time. They will also have to know how to read and interpret ancient literary texts, comparing them with the various 'rewritings' in later eras. The central objective is therefore the proper and necessary historical placement of the cultural products of each age and the study of the inescapable value of Greco-Roman culture in order to elaborate models and narratives now completely disengaged from it, but totally dependent on it, to communicate, narrate and represent the world in which we are living. Therefore, the course also aims at a study of the historical mutations of the rhetorical and stylistic apparatuses that inform different civilizations of themselves, apparatuses without which societies, politics, science, philosophy, technologies, economics, as well as the myths and representations related to them, cannot exist.

Program

1. The concept of reception and 'reuse' of the classic in the ages after the end of the ancient world.

2. Examples of reuse of the ancient in the present day both in the 'high' cultural sphere and in wider culture (working materials and exercises).

2a. Examples of reuse of the ancient in the present day both in 'high' cultural sphere and in the culture of wider dissemination: literature (working materials and exercises).

2b. Examples of reuse of the ancient in the modern day both in 'high' cultural sphere and in culture of wider dissemination: graphic novels and mass communications (working materials and exercises).

2c. Examples of reuse of the ancient in the modern day both in 'high' cultural sphere and in culture of wider dissemination: cinema (working materials and exercises).

3. The palliata

4. Reading and analysis of excerpts from Plautus' Pseudolus

5. The dramaturgical mechanisms of Pseudolus and European theater

6. Pseudolus, the Broadway musical and the cinema

Learning Achievements (Dublin Descriptors)

knowledge and ability to understand: Students will have to acquire the ability to read advanced scientific essays on the texts indicated in the program and on their reception, not only from the point of view of interlingual translation, but also from that of interpretation from a literary and anthropological point of view. Furthermore, they will have to know how to read texts produced in the last century and in the current one, with a syncritical impact with respect to ancient texts.

Applied knowledge and understanding: This learning process should lead students to the ability to elaborate judgments and analyses that highlight the importance of mythologies and narrative rhetoric for the construction of psychological and narrative models characterizing entire cultures, even distant from each other, and they should be able to illustrate the processes of reuse and transformation of fundamental themes in the arts and cultures of different eras.

Autonomy of judgement: the course also aims at providing students with the ability to use databases, bibliographies and interpretative tools that can allow them to carry out research and in-depth studies autonomously with respect to the texts and topics illustrated and studied during the lessons, in such a way that they can acquire a basic competence in the elaboration of literary, multimedia and intermedial texts capable of connecting and communicating fundamental elements of the cultural processes that they themselves and the society in which they study and work are experiencing. In this regard, the study of the translation of a theatrical text as a cue for artistic creation, but also as an element strongly rooted in cultures of different eras, is a useful testing ground to implement the fundamental process of 'rewriting' as the engine of every socio-cultural experience.

communication skills: The careful and detailed study of texts, at the center of this type of course, also implies a refinement of the ability to reflect on the forms of one's own language of use even in a historical dimension (if related to the languages of the Indo-European stock that, like Greek and Latin, constitute its structural basis), leading the student to a greater mastery of the means of expression at the level of elaboration of written and oral texts that, compared to the current training at the secondary school level, must constitute a significant advancement in terms of competencies and related skills.

ability to learn: A course clearly devoted to the study of intertextuality and interculturality, based on the ancient roots of all the processes of research and creation that characterize contemporary culture, trains the student to a markedly interdisciplinary approach to the problems addressed. In the context of humanistic studies, this constitutes a set of basic skills that go beyond the specific theme of the course and allow the student to deal consciously and critically with the specialization of studies in any of the disciplines foreseen in the continuation at a higher level of humanistic studies, also and especially in the perspective of applying these skills to professions that have great need of these abilities, such as that of cultural information, of the coordination and organization of cultural activities, of the management of material and immaterial patrimonies that are closely connected to the great intercultural themes and problems, and of the management of working structures where it is important and necessary to be able to identify and manage cultural and linguistic differences.

Teaching Material

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Supporting Activities

Film screenings and seminars in collaboration with the Rossini Opera Festival and the Rossini Foundation.

Teaching, Attendance, Course Books and Assessment

Teaching: Frontal lessons, seminars and workshops.

Innovative teaching methods

Debate.

Problems highlighted in the course of lectures are regularly discussed in class by comparing the students' opinions, appropriately prepared with suggestions on the timing of the lecturer's reading of the texts on the syllabus.

Attendance

PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE OF LATIN.

The students of the Archaeological and Classical Philological-Literary and Modern Philological-Literary curricula must have an adequate knowledge of Latin

guaranteed by a written test, specific for the three-year degree, compulsory, to be taken only once, preparatory to this and all other exams that require knowledge of Latin (i.e. in the SSD L-FIL-LET/04 and L-FIL-LET/05), which cannot be taken if the student does not pass the test. The test will consist of questions on morphology and syntax of the Latin language and in the translation of a passage taken from the work of an author of Latin literature, with the possibility of using the vocabulary. Detailed information will be available both on the Blended Learning platform 'Assessment of knowledge of Latin' and on the website of the Scuola di Lettere Arti Filosofia [https://www.uniurb.it/it/portale/distum.php?mist_id=17450&lang=IT&tipo=DISTUM&page=02905]. There will be a single test for each exam session and the dates for taking the test will be placed on the first useful day of the exam session and communicated on the School's website and on the Blended Learning platform (Moodle). The results of the test will be made available on the Blended Learning platform (Moodle).

Attending and non-attending students will be able to take the exam with this syllabus within the extraordinary session of the a.y. 2022/2023; if they intend to take the exam afterwards, they will have to follow the syllabus of the course established for the a.y. in which they will take the test.

Course books

The course will be based entirely on the work with the teacher in the classroom, to which will be added, for the points of the program indicated, the following texts of study:

For points 1-4:

-Plautus, Pseudolus (original text with facing translation, any edition). The excerpts translated and commented during the lesson must be studied in the original language by the students enrolled in the Archaeological and Classical Philological-Literary and Modern Philological-Literary curricula; however, the students will have to read the entire play at least in translation (the integral reading in Latin is obviously recommended).

-R.M. Danese, Lo Pseudolus e la costruzione 'perfetta' della drammaturgia plautina, in R. Raffaelli - A. Tontini (a cura di), Lecturae Plautinae XVI. Pseudolus, Urbino, Quattroventi 2013, pp. 15-52 (this text will be available in the Moodle platform).

For points 5-6:

--C. Questa, Pseudolus, in C. Questa, Sei letture plautine, Urbino, Quattroventi 2004, pp.113-133 (this text will be available in the Moodle platform).

-watching of the film A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the forum (R. Lester 1966).

Knowledge of the general outlines of the history of Latin theater is required, for which we recommend T.J. Moore, Roman Theatre, Cambridge University Press 2012 and subsequent reprints

Assessment

Oral test: this test, which may be taken by students who have passed the Latin language proficiency test where it is prescribed (see the section Obligations), will ascertain:

1- the knowledge of the proposed ancient text and its historical-literary characteristics; for curricula where knowledge of Latin is prescribed, the test will also include translation and morphological-syntactic analysis of the passages in the program .

2- the influence of the ancient text on modern or contemporary rewritings.

3- the student's ability to use the acquired notions to deal critically and with independent judgment with the problem of intertextuality.

In general, the student's acquisition of the ability to use on the spot the acquired knowledge in a dialectical confrontation where he/she must demonstrate the ability to finalize the reading of texts to the explanation of a unitary thematic core in a clear and comprehensive way will be ascertained. This type of assessment is closely related to the verification of the student's ability to organize an oral exposition professionally related to the lecture or lesson and to argue consciously on the basis of stimuli and questions posed in the moment around an issue, on which individual work should have formed an adequate competence.

The final grade, expressed in thirtieths, and will be based on the following criteria:

(a) punctuality and active class attendance: 30% (less than 24 hours = 5 points; between 24 and 32 = 6-8 points; between 32 and 36 = 9-10 points)

(b) ability to argue with correct use of language: 30% (insufficient = 5 points; sufficient = 6-8 points; good or excellent = 9-10 points)

(c) knowledge and mastery of the topics in the syllabus 40% (insufficient = 5 points; sufficient = 6-8 points; good or excellent = 9-10 points).

The sum of the scores obtained based on the three criteria (a-b-c) returns the grade in thirtieths. Since (c) weighs more, this will determine any rounding up and/or honors.

Disabilità e DSA

Le studentesse e gli studenti che hanno registrato la certificazione di disabilità o la certificazione di DSA presso l'Ufficio Inclusione e diritto allo studio, possono chiedere di utilizzare le mappe concettuali (per parole chiave) durante la prova di esame.

A tal fine, è necessario inviare le mappe, due settimane prima dell’appello di esame, alla o al docente del corso, che ne verificherà la coerenza con le indicazioni delle linee guida di ateneo e potrà chiederne la modifica.

Additional Information for Non-Attending Students

Teaching

Individual study. The main topics of the course, developed in the course of the lectures according to a didactic methodology that is also laboratory-based, cannot be in toto corresponding to the basic bibliographical titles indicated in the program for frequent attendees. They will therefore have to be supplemented with in-depth readings that, in some way, provide the theoretical and methodological basis for proceeding independently to the analysis and understanding of the texts and topics in the program.

Complete and thorough knowledge of the topics listed under Program Information is required for passing the exam.

Attendance

PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE OF LATIN.

The students of the Archaeological and Classical Philological-Literary and Modern Philological-Literary curricula must have an adequate knowledge of Latin

Course books

For points 1-4:

-Plautus, Pseudolus (original text with facing Italian translation, any edition). The excerpts translated and commented during the lesson must be studied in the original language by the students enrolled in the Archaeological and Classical Philological-Literary and Modern Philological-Literary curricula; however, the students will have to read the entire play at least in translation (the integral reading in Latin is obviously recommended).

For points 5-6:

--C. Questa, Pseudolus, in C. Questa, Sei letture plautine, Urbino, Quattroventi 2004, pp.113-133 (this text will be available in the Moodle platform).

-watching of the film A Funny Thing Happend on the Way to the forum (R. Lester 1966).