Fausto Cercignani

Fausto Cercignani ( born March 21, 1941 in Cagliari ) is an Italian literary scholar, poet, Anglist and German studies.

Life and work

Fausto Cercignani was born in 1941 of Tuscan parents in Cagliari. He studied in Milan English and German. His career as a university professor was first identified by philological studies in the field of English and German. After many years of teaching at the University of Bergamo (1971-1974), Parma (1974-1975) and Pisa (1975-1983), he returned back to Milan in 1983, initially as a professor of Germanic philology and then for German Literature at the University of Milan.

The Anglist

The philological interests Cercignanis were addressed since the beginning of the history of the English language, with special consideration of the Elizabethan age. His contributions over the pronunciation of English in the Age of Shakespeare (published in Studia Neophilologica, English Studies, and other journals ) anticipate his main work Shakespeare's Works and Elizabethan Pronunciation (Oxford, 1981), as " the best available work" in this area has been cited.

As a " leading authority " for Elizabethan pronunciation, Cercignani is frequently quoted on original puns, rhymes and spellings, in the more recent editions of Shakespeare's works, in most reference books on Shakespeare, and in all publications on linguistic and literary issues in historical perspective.

The German studies as a linguist

From the beginning, the philological interests Cercignanis were also directed to the historical phonology of the Germanic languages ​​and other aspects of historical linguistics. Specialized periodicals such as Journal of comparative linguistics, Indo-European studies, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Language, Contributions to the History of the German Language and Literature and The Journal of Indo- European Studies have published his articles about Protogermanisch, Gothic, English and German.

Some of his studies - for example, Early ' umlaut ' phenomena in the Germanic languages ​​, in Language, 56 /1, 1980 - are often used for alternative conceptions of linguistic changes cited (see a- umlaut ).

Cercignanis remarkable work, The Consonants of German: Synchrony and Diachrony ( Milano, 1979) " provides both an original contribution to German phonology as well as a first-class representation of the state of research on ".

The German studies as a literary scholar

The literary interests Cercignanis were first called to the lyric Karl Krolow, with contributions in periodicals such as Germanic and Romance monthly magazine, Scientific Literature Yearbook and other journals ( 1984-1986 ). His study of Christa Wolf's early novels ( existence and heroism in Christa Wolf. " Divided Heaven " and " Cassandra ", Würzburg, 1988) and subsequent papers on their later works have contributed to an awareness of the true essence of the narrative work of the East German writer to promote, regardless of their political and personal vicissitudes. Highlighting Cercignanis on Christa Wolf's heroism has cleared the way for the following contributions in this direction.

The numerous other authors, with their works, Cercignani has subsequently employed include: Jens Peter Jacobsen, Georg Trakl, Georg Büchner, Arthur Schnitzler, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Rainer Maria Rilke, Alban Berg, ETA Hoffmann, Robert Musil, Novalis, Joseph Roth, Richard Beer -Hofmann, Karl Kraus, Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann, August Stramm, Gerhart Hauptmann, Reinhard Jirgl, Friedrich Schiller.

Since 1992, Cercignani editor of the International Yearbook Studia austriaca ( ISSN: 1593-2508 ), dedicated to the culture and literature of today and yesterday Austria. The Yearbook is published in cooperation with the Austrian Cultural Forum in Milan.

Since 1994, Cercignani 's also the Studia theodisca: out, a yearbook, the published international articles on the German -language literature from all periods ( ISSN 1593-2478 ).

The poet

The lyric Cercignanis is collected in seven bands and also includes poems that were published in the Almanacco dello Specchio, Anterem and other magazines. In a discussion of his poetry speaks a critic of Orphic poetry, but " hard and shiny like steel " and another noted that the seals Cercignanis " maximum concentration reached thanks to an acceleration of thought or of feeling that the materiality means of abstraction restores ".

Fausto Cercignani also deals with the self- translation of poetic texts.

Works (selection)

English language and literature

  • Shakespeare's Works and Elizabethan Pronunciation, Oxford, University Press ( Clarendon Press ), 1981.
  • English Rhymes and Pronunciation in the Mid - Seventeenth Century, in " English Studies ", 56 /6, 1975, pp. 513-518.
  • The Development of * / k / and * / sk / in Old English, in "Journal of English and Germanic Philology ", 82/ 3, 1983, pp. 313-323.

German (linguistics)

  • The Consonants of German: Synchrony and Diachrony. Milano, Cisalpino, 1979.
  • The Development of the Gothic Short / Lax subsystem, in " Journal of Comparative philology ", 93 /2, 1979, pp. 272-278.
  • Early " umlaut " Phenomena in the Germanic Languages, in "Language", 56 /1, 1980, pp. 126-136.
  • For High German consonants. Phonological analysis and phonological change, in "Contributions to the History of German Language and Literature", 105 /1, 1983, pp. 1-13.
  • The elaboration of the Gothic Alphabet and Orthography, in " Indo-European research ", 93, 1988, pp. 168-185.
  • Saggi linguistici e filologici. Germanico, Gotico, inglese e inglese ( Linguistic and philological essays. Germanic, Gothic, English and German ), Alessandria, Edizioni dell'Orso, 1992.

German Studies ( literature)

  • F. Cercignani, existence and heroism in Christa Wolf. " The Divided Sky " and " Cassandra ", Würzburg, King & Neumann, 1988.
  • F. Cercignani, Memoria e Reminiscenze. Nietzsche, Büchner, Hölderlin an poemetti in prose di Trakl ( memory and reminiscences. Nietzsche, Büchner, Hölderlin and Trakl's prose poems), Torino, Genesi Editrice, 1989.
  • F. Cercignani ( ed. ), Studia trakliana. Georg Trakl 1887-1987, Milano, Cisalpino, 1989.
  • F. Cercignani ( ed. ), Studia büchneriana. Georg Büchner, 1988, Milano, Cisalpino, 1990.
  • F. Cercignani ( ed. ), Studia schnitzleriana ( Arthur Schnitzler 1991), Alessandria, Edizioni dell'Orso, 1991.
  • F. Cercignani - Mariano E. ( ed. ), Vincenzo Errante. La traduzione di poesia ieri oggi e ( Vincenzo Errante. Translating Poetry, yesterday and today), Milano, Cisalpino, 1993.
  • F. Cercignani ( ed. ), Novalis, Milano, CUEM, 2002.

Papers

  • Dark, green and paradise. Karl Krolow lyrical beginnings in " high Promised good life " in " Germanic- Romance monthly", 36/1, 1986, pp. 59-78.
  • Between earthly and nothing makes skies. Karl Krolow " Poems " 1948: disappointment and confusion, in " Literary Studies Yearbook ", 27, 1986, pp. 197-217.
  • Il "Faust" goethiano. Forma e sostanza ( Goethe's "Faust". Form and substance ), in Il "Faust" di Goethe. Antologia critica ( Goethe's "Faust". A critical anthology ), ed. by F. Cercignani and E. Ganni, Milano, Led, 1993, pp. 21-38.
  • " Nathan saggio il » e il settecento inglese ( " Nathan the Wise " and the German 18th century), in " ACME ", 47 /1, 1994, pp. 107-124.
  • Sul " Wozzeck " di Alban Berg ( About Alban Berg's " Wozzeck "), in Studia austriaca V, Milano, Edizioni minute, 1997, pp. 169-190.
  • ETA Hoffmann, Italy and the romantic conception of music, in the land of longing. E. T. A. Hoffmann and Italy, ed. SM Moraldo, Heidelberg, Winter, 2002, pp. 191-201.
  • Per una rilettura di " Salome ". Il dramma di Oscar Wilde e il libretto di Richard Strauss ( For a new reading of " Salome ." Oscar Wilde's drama, and Richard Strauss' text book), in Studia theodisca IX, Milano, CUEM, 2002, pp. 171-192.
  • Georg Büchner. Empatia e prospettivismo (Georg Büchner. Empathy and perspectivism ), in Il cacciatore di silenzi. Studi dedicati a Ferruccio Masini ( The Hunter of silences. Studies in honor of Ferruccio Masini ), vol. II, ed. of P. Chiarini, Roma, Istituto Italiano di Studi germanici, 2003, pp. 237-258.
  • ' Poesia filosofica ' o ' filosofia poetica '? Con alcune Osservazioni su Schiller ( ' Philosophical poetry ' or ' poetic philosophy '? With some remarks on Schiller), in La poesia filosofica ( The philosophical poetry ), ed. A. Costazza, Milano, Cisalpino, 2007, pp. 163-170.
  • Inganno e autoinganno. Il campagnolo di Kafka (fraud and self-deception. Kafka's countryman ), in Studia austriaca XVIII, Milano, PGreco, 2010, pp. 51-64.
  • Hofmannsthal fra teatro e filosofia. Con particolare riguardo a " L' uomo difficile " ( Hofmannsthal between theater and philosophy. With a special focus on " The Difficult "), in La filosofia a teatro ( Philosophy in the theater), ed. A. Costazza, Milano, Cisalpino, 2010, pp. 369-385.

Poetry

  • Fiore siglato ( initialed flower), Firenze 1988.
  • Fisicità svanite ( Missing materiality ), Torino 1988 - First Prize " Città di Moncalieri, 1989".
  • Omaggio a Shakespeare ( homage to Shakespeare), Ten Poems, introduced by R. Mussapi, in " Almanacco dello Specchio ", n 13 (1989).
  • Various texts in " Anterem ", nn. 40 (1989 ), 42 (1991), 44 (1992), 46 (1993) E 47 (1993).
  • Vein di trasparenza ( veins of transparency), Verona 1990.
  • Nella grafia di un'ombra (in handwriting, a shadow ), Alessandria 1991.
  • Pulviscoli rigati ( Scratched dust particles ), Napoli 1992.
  • Stelle di brina ( star of frost), Milano 1993.
  • Reticoli svagati ( Dreamy reticle), Milano 1996.
  • Shakespearean Fancies ( e-book), , 2012.

Stories

  • Five Women ( e-book), 2013.

Awards

  • Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class, Milan, 1996
Elizabethan era English phonology William Shakespeare Gothic language Germanic a-mutation Karl Kraus (writer)
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