Annotation
The course will explore some key concepts in hermeneutics, literary criticism and theory of reception, in order to rise student’s awareness concerning the communicative dynamics implicitly involved in any act of writing, publishing and reading. A brief introduction to the history of hermeneutics will be provided, in its relations to the Western traditions of exegesis, philology, and literary criticism. A reflexion on the importance of role played by metaphors of reading, writing, and books in the history of our culture will be suggested as well, and students will be introduced to the theory of reception as a model for some of our crucial communicationnal modes.
1. From the exegesis of sacred texts to philology: historical introduction.
2. From philology to hermeneutics: the German tradition of textual studies and its role in XIX century european culture.
3. Avant-guard and communication: the XXth century experimentation on language.
4. Literary criticism and theories of communication, from Symbolism to Structuralism.
5. The metaphor of reading.
6. The metaphor of writing.
7. Tradition as history of readings.
8. Theory of reception and theories of language.
9. Writing for somebody.
10. Editing one’s self.
11. Inventing the autor.
12. Writing for the present, writing for the future.