Germanische Philologie und Sprachgermanistik: frühe Dokumente einer sprachwissenschaftlichen Beschäftigung mit der deutschen Sprache in Italien

This article traces the development of German Studies in Italy, with particular emphasis on the emergence of German linguistics as an academic discipline. It spans the period from the ‘Pan-Germanic’ self-conception of the 1930s, through the consolidation of historical Germanic philology in the 1970s, to the establishment of German linguistics as a clearly defined field of teaching and research in the context of the 2000-2001 university reform. Special attention is paid to the earliest linguistic studies published in «Studi Germanici» between 1938 and 1942, as well as to the institutional and epistemic shift around 1960 that led to the establishment of Filologia Germanica within German Studies as reflected in the publications of the two Italian journals that document this decisive period: «Annali. Sezione germanica» (since 1958) and «Studi Germanici» (New Series, since 1963).