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The New Philology of Michele Barbi and the Edition of Popular Texts

Received: 29 April 2021     Accepted: 2 June 2021     Published: 4 August 2021
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Abstract

Michele Barbi (1867 - 1941) can be considered the founder of the new Italian philology, based on a revision of Lachmann's method whose results are entrusted to the critical edition of De Vulgari Eloquentia, to the studies on Dante's Canzoniere and to the contributions later collected in the volume The new philology and the edition of our writers from Dante to Manzoni (1938). Using correspondence with other scholars and theoretical statements, the article investigates the contribution given to the birth of the new philological method from Barbi's interest in popular poetry, which constitutes the second 'horn' of Barbi’s studies, alongside Dante's. At first they are taken into consideration the scholar's training at the school of Alessandro D’Ancona (1835-1914), who was also an important scholar of popular literature, as well as of Dante, and was able to initiate a whole generation of his pupils to investigate folklore. After considering the main aspects of Barbi's studies on Dante, we examine, also in connection with the studies of other folklore researchers, the project, to which Barbi's fame as a scholar of popular poetry is linked: that is to say the Raccolta di canti popolari e melodie (‘Collection of popular songs and melodies’), which remains the largest and most important corpus of Italian popular literature. The Collection, the result of gathering and arrangement of the materials carried out over a period of 50 years, was never published by Barbi or by his students, except for a few samples. Third, attention will be paid in the speech to the methods that Barbi used in the collection of songs and to the theoretical problems he faced (how to publish a popular text, the relationship of the text with the music), that are still today the guiding criteria of research on folklore poetry.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.17
Page(s) 183-192
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Barbi, D’Ancona, Popular Song, Philology, Music

References
[1] D'Ancona-Rajna Correspondance, Florence, Marucelliana Library, ms. Carte Rajna, nr. 414, lett. CCLXIII, March 23, 1897.
[2] On D’Ancona’s school, cf. Ruggieri, R. M. (1973). Pio Rajna, in Letteratura Italiana. I Critici. Storia monografica della filologia e della critica moderna in Italia, directed by Grana, G., Milano, Marzorati, 543-564; Casella, M. Il magistero storico filologico del Rajna, ibidem, 564-574; Renzi, L. Napoleone Caix e Ugo Angelo Canello, ibidem, 595-616; Gonelli, L. M. (1986). Introduction to D’Ancona, Alessandro-Novati, Francesco Correspondence. Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore.
[3] Luca Curti (1978). Correspondence D'Ancona, Alessandro-Mussafia, Adolfo, Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore, XXXIV.
[4] Dionisotti, C. (1976). Appunti sul carteggio D'Ancona. Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Classe di Lettere e Filosofia, III, 3 (1), 213.
[5] Barbi, M. (1977). La nuova filologia e l’edizione dei nostri scrittori da Dante al Manzoni, Firenze, Sansoni, XXV.
[6] Cf. Cirese, A. M. (1958). La poesia popolare, Palermo, Palumbo, 61-65; Cocchiara, G. (1959). Popolo e letteratura in Italia, Torino, Einaudi, 423-429.
[7] Cf. Wesselofsky, A. N (1866). La Novella della Figlia del Re di Dacia, Testo inedito del buon secolo della lingua, Pisa, Nistri (“Collezione di antiche scritture italiane inedite o rare”, 5).
[8] D’Ancona, A. (1863). La rappresentazione di Santa Uliva, riprodotta dalle antiche stampe, Pisa, Nistri (“Collezione di antiche scritture italiane inedite o rare”, 1).
[9] St. Petersburg, Puškinskij Dom, Fund Veselovskij, Letters of D’Ancona to Veselovskij, II, c. 25r.
[10] Venturelli, G. (1988). Michele Barbi studioso della poesia popolare italiana. Farestoria: rivista quadrimestrale della Deputazione di Pistoia dell'Istituto storico della Resistenza in Toscana, 7 (1/2), 12-13; on the collaboration of Barbi with Giannini for the collection of popular songs of the Lucchesia, cf. Giancane, F. (2018). Per la raccolta di canti popolari di Michele Barbi, in Menozzi, M., and Torchiani, F. (edd.). Le carte e la Scuola. Lavori in corso nel Centro Archivistico della Normale di Pisa, Pisa, Edizioni ETS, 63-88.
[11] Spongano, R. (2011). Inediti o rari: schede per un Catalogo, ed. Campana, A., with the contribution of Sampaolesi, S.; introduction of Pasquini, E., Bologna, Commissione per i testi di lingua.
[12] Santoli, V. (1968). Il canto popolare e i canti popolari italiani, in Idem, I canti popolari italiani. Ricerche e questioni, Firenze, Sansoni, 7.
[13] Barbi, M. (1895). Poesia popolare pistoiese, Firenze, Carnesecchi, 5.
[14] Toschi, P. (1941). Michele Barbi maestro degli studi di poesia popolare. Lares, XII, October 5, 323-329 (then published in Idem (1958). “Fabri” del folklore. Ritratti e ricordi, Roma, Angelo Signorelli, 98-103): letter of February 10, 1933.
[15] Santoli, V. (1934). Problemi di poesia popolare, in Idem (1968). I canti popolari italiani, cit., 121.
[16] Cf. Barbi, M. (1911). Per la storia della poesia popolare in Italia, in Idem (1974). Poesia popolare italiana. Studi e proposte, Firenze, Sansoni, 11-64.
[17] Cf. Giancane, F. (2015). La «Raccolta Barbi», in Ciociola, C. (ed.). La «nuova filologia». Precursori e protagonisti, Pisa, Edizioni ETS, 65-68.
[18] Toschi, P. (1941), Michele Barbi maestro degli studi di poesia popolare, cit., 323.
[19] Barbi, M. (1977), Introduzione, in Idem. La nuova filologia e l’edizione dei nostri scrittori da Dante al Manzoni, cit., IX-X.
[20] Barbi, M. (1911). Per la storia della poesia popolare in Italia, cit., 38-39 and 43-45.
[21] Barbi, M. (1934), Poesia e musica popolare, in Idem. Poesia popolare italiana, cit., 147.
[22] Santoli, V. (1968). Il canto popolare e i canti popolari italiani, cit., 8.
[23] Barbi, M (1911). Per la storia della poesia popolare in Italia, cit., 29-30.
[24] Barbi, M. (1929). Scibilia Nobili e i canti popolari, in Idem, Poesia popolare italiana, cit., 65-66.
[25] Barbi, M. (1911). Per la storia della poesia popolare in Italia, cit., 45-46.
[26] Barbi, M. (1977), Introduzione, cit., XL.
[27] Barbi, M. (1977), Introduzione, cit., XVI.
[28] Barbi, M. (1977), Introduzione, cit., XXIII.
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    Renzo Rabboni. (2021). The New Philology of Michele Barbi and the Edition of Popular Texts. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(4), 183-192. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.17

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    Renzo Rabboni. The New Philology of Michele Barbi and the Edition of Popular Texts. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(4), 183-192. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.17

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    Renzo Rabboni. The New Philology of Michele Barbi and the Edition of Popular Texts. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(4):183-192. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.17,
      author = {Renzo Rabboni},
      title = {The New Philology of Michele Barbi and the Edition of Popular Texts},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {9},
      number = {4},
      pages = {183-192},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210904.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210904.17},
      abstract = {Michele Barbi (1867 - 1941) can be considered the founder of the new Italian philology, based on a revision of Lachmann's method whose results are entrusted to the critical edition of De Vulgari Eloquentia, to the studies on Dante's Canzoniere and to the contributions later collected in the volume The new philology and the edition of our writers from Dante to Manzoni (1938). Using correspondence with other scholars and theoretical statements, the article investigates the contribution given to the birth of the new philological method from Barbi's interest in popular poetry, which constitutes the second 'horn' of Barbi’s studies, alongside Dante's. At first they are taken into consideration the scholar's training at the school of Alessandro D’Ancona (1835-1914), who was also an important scholar of popular literature, as well as of Dante, and was able to initiate a whole generation of his pupils to investigate folklore. After considering the main aspects of Barbi's studies on Dante, we examine, also in connection with the studies of other folklore researchers, the project, to which Barbi's fame as a scholar of popular poetry is linked: that is to say the Raccolta di canti popolari e melodie (‘Collection of popular songs and melodies’), which remains the largest and most important corpus of Italian popular literature. The Collection, the result of gathering and arrangement of the materials carried out over a period of 50 years, was never published by Barbi or by his students, except for a few samples. Third, attention will be paid in the speech to the methods that Barbi used in the collection of songs and to the theoretical problems he faced (how to publish a popular text, the relationship of the text with the music), that are still today the guiding criteria of research on folklore poetry.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of Humanistic Studies and Cultural Heritage, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

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