Monash University Handbook 2010 Postgraduate - Unit

Synopsis

This unit will examine in detail a range of texts written during the late medieval and renaissance periods in Italy. Some may be canonical, for instance Dante's 'Divine Comedy' and Machiavelli's 'The Prince'. Others will represent literary genres popular at the time: vernacular letters, diaries and sermons etc. In particular, this unit will draw on the resources of the Archivio di Stato of Prato, and the 'Archivio Datini Online' making maximal use of the digitised documents available through this portal. Texts will be read from a variety of historiographical perspectives, and considered within the appropriate historical contexts.

Objectives

Students who successfully complete this unit:

1. Will have a thorough knowledge of the text(s) chosen for study.
2. Will have gained an understanding of different genres of text circulating in Medieval and Renaissance Italy (chronicle, letter, diary, tract, sermon, poem, play, dialogue, treatise, monument, visual representation).
3. Will have gained a grounding in core skills for Medieval and Renaissance Studies with respect to archives, manuscripts and palaeography.
4. Will have developed a capacity to analyze the processes which underpinned the construction of particular texts.
5. Will have developed the capacity to detect the resonances of language and code embedded in particular texts and their relationship to social context.
6. Will have developed the capacity to read 'against the grain' in relation to the Medieval and Renaissance Italian social, political and social contexts.
7. Will be able to engage in critical discussion of texts in relation to the urban context of Italian Medieval and Renaissance Society.

Assessment

Essay related work: 60%
Class related written work: 20%
Seminar preparation and presentation: 20%

Chief examiner(s)

Peter Howard

Contact hours

2 hour seminar per week

Prohibitions

HSY4840, HYM5840