Fausto Cercignani (; born March 21, 1941) is an Italian scholar, essayist and poet.

Biography

Born to Tuscan parents, Fausto Cercignani studied in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, where he graduated in foreign languages and literatures with a dissertation dealing with English at

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

’s time. His career as a university professor was at first characterized by philological investigations in the fields of

English studies English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries. This is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which is a dis ...

and Germanic studies. In 1983, after teaching at the Universities of

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

(1971–1974),

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

(1974–1975), and

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

(1975–1983), he returned to Milan and carried on his activity at the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

, where he intensified his researches on

German literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy ...

, a field that he had been cultivating for years. Cercignani was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class in 1996.

The student of English

Cercignani’s philological interests have been mainly directed towards the

history of the English language English language, English is a West Germanic language that originated from North Sea Germanic, Ingvaeonic languages brought to Great Britain, Britain in the mid-5th to 7th centuries AD by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo-Saxon migrants ...

, with especial regard to the

Elizabethan period The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the Golden age (metaphor), golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of ...

. His articles on English pronunciation at

’s time (published in “Studia Neophilologica”, “English Studies” and other specialized journals) anticipate his major work ''Shakespeare's Works and Elizabethan Pronunciation'' (Oxford, 1981), which has been cited as «the best work available» on the subject. As «the foremost authority» on Elizabethan pronunciation, Cercignani is often cited on puns, rhymes, and spellings in the more recent editions of Shakespeare's works, in most reference works on Shakespeare, and in various publications dealing with linguistic and literary questions from a historical point of view.

The student of Germanic

Cercignani's philological interests have also been directed towards the historical

phonology Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...

of the

Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...

and other aspects of

historical linguistics Historical linguistics, also known as diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of how languages change over time. It seeks to understand the nature and causes of linguistic change and to trace the evolution of languages. Historical li ...

. Specialized journals like “Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung”, “Indogermanische Forschungen”, “Journal of English and Germanic Philology”, “Language”, “ Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur”, and “The Journal of Indo-European Studies” have published his articles on

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

, Gothic, English and German. Some of these studies – e.g. ''Early 'umlaut' phenomena in the Germanic languages'', in “Language”, 56/1, 1980 – are frequently cited for alternative views on early linguistic changes (e.g. Germanic a-mutation). Cercignani's notable work on ''The Consonants of German: Synchrony and Diachrony'' (Milan, 1979) «offers both an original contribution to German phonology and a first-rate account of the state of the art».

The student of German

Cercignani's literary interests have at first been directed towards the poetry of Karl Krolow, with essays published in “Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift”, “Literaturwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch”, and other journals (1984–1986). His study of

Christa Wolf Christa Wolf (; Ihlenfeld; 18 March 1929 – 1 December 2011) was a German novelist and essayist. She is considered one of the most important writers to emerge from the former East Germany.Der geteilte Himmel» and « Kassandra»'', Würzburg, 1988) and subsequent essays on her later works have contributed to promote an awareness of the true essence of the narrative production of the East German writer, irrespective of her political and personal ups and downs. The emphasis placed by Cercignani on Christa Wolf’s heroism has opened the way to subsequent studies in this direction. The numerous other writers whose works Cercignani has subsequently studied include Jens Peter Jacobsen, Georg Trakl, Georg Büchner, Arthur Schnitzler,

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...

, Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder, Hugo von Hofmannsthal,

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Robert Musil,

Novalis Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (; ), was a German nobility, German aristocrat and polymath, who was a poet, novelist, philosopher and Mysticism, mystic. He is regarded as an inf ...

, Joseph Roth, Richard Beer-Hofmann, Karl Kraus,

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

, August Stramm, Gerhart Hauptmann, Reinhard Jirgl,

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

. Since 1992 Cercignani has been editor of the international periodical “Studia austriaca” (), a publication devoted to the culture and to the literature of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, past and present. This yearbook is published in collaboration with the ''Austrian Cultural Forum in Milan'' (''Österreichisches Kulturforum Mailand''). Since 1994 he has been editor also of “Studia theodisca” (), a periodical that accepts international essays on the literature of German-speaking countries.

The poet

Cercignani’s poetry is collected in seven booklets and includes also poems published in the “Almanacco dello Specchio”, “Anterem”, and other periodicals. Discussing his production, one critic speaks of orphic poetry, but «hard and shiny like steel» and another remarks that Cercignani’s poems «achieve a maximum of concentration thanks to an acceleration of the thought or feeling which reconstructs physicality by means of abstraction». Fausto Cercignani has also experimented with the self-translation of his poems.

An adagio

::::::::::::''Adagio'' (2004) ::::::::::::If you talk to the shadows, ::::::::::::at least you know them well ::::::::::::and the words, all of them, ::::::::::::unfold themselves with ease ::::::::::::on muddled walls and streets, ::::::::::::when dusk comes on. ::::::::::::They do not speak of boundless skies, ::::::::::::of passing loves like silver clouds. ::::::::::::They speak of cheerless towns, unwound: ::::::::::::on hazy moors of muffled music. ::::::::::::And if you talk to them, ::::::::::::you’ll find yourself ::::::::::::rocked in a stream of notes, ::::::::::::as if the town were truly ::::::::::::a shrubby land of music sheets. ::::::::::::Which rustle, ::::::::::::while fingered by the breeze, ::::::::::::in the sluggish progression of the adagio.

Selected works

Linguistics

* ''Some notes on phonemes and allophones in synchronic and diachronic descriptions'', in “Linguistik online”, 129/5, 2024, pp. 39–51
online

English studies

* ''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. * ''On the alleged existence of a vowel /y:/ in early Modern English'', in “English Language and Linguistics”, 26/2, 2022, pp. 263–277
online

Germanic studies

* ''The Consonants of German: Synchrony and Diachrony''. Milano, Cisalpino, 1979. * ''The Development of the Gothic Short/Lax Subsystem'', in “Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung”, 93/2, 1979, pp. 272–278. * ''Early «Umlaut» Phenomena in the Germanic Languages'', in “Language”, 56/1, 1980, pp. 126–136. * ''Zum hochdeutschen Konsonantismus. Phonologische Analyse und phonologischer Wandel'' (On High German Consonantism. Phonological Analysis and Phonological Change), in “Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur”, 105/1, 1983, pp. 1–13. * ''The Elaboration of the Gothic Alphabet and Orthography'', in “Indogermanische Forschungen”, 93, 1988, pp. 168–185. * ''Saggi linguistici e filologici. Germanico, gotico, inglese e tedesco'' (Linguistic and Philological Essays. Germanic, Gothic, English, and German), Alessandria, Edizioni dell'Orso, 1992. * ''The development of the Old High German umlauted vowels and the reflex of New High German /ɛ:/ in Present Standard German'', in “Linguistik online”, 113/1, 2022, pp. 45–57
online
* ''On the Germanic and Old High German distance assimilation changes'', in “Linguistik online”, 116/4, 2022, pp. 41–59
online
* ''A note on Middle High German lengthening and related developments in diachronic perspective'', in “Linguistik online”, 119/1, 2023, pp. 29–42
online

German studies

Books

* F. Cercignani, ''Existenz und Heldentum bei Christa Wolf. «Der geteilte Himmel» und «Kassandra»'' (Existence and Heroism in Christa Wolf. «Divided Heaven» and «Cassandra»), Würzburg, Königshausen & Neumann, 1988. * F. Cercignani, ''Memoria e reminiscenze. Nietzsche, Büchner, Hölderlin e i poemetti in prosa di Trakl'' (Memory and Reminiscences. Nietzsche, Büchner, Hölderlin and Trakl's Prose Poems), Torino, Genesi Editrice, 1989. * F. Cercignani (editor), ''Studia trakliana. Georg Trakl 1887-1987'', Milano, Cisalpino, 1989. * F. Cercignani (editor), ''Studia büchneriana. Georg Büchner 1988'', Milano, Cisalpino, 1990. * F. Cercignani (editor), ''Studia schnitzleriana'' (Arthur Schnitzler 1991), Alessandria, Edizioni dell'Orso, 1991. * F. Cercignani - E. Mariano (editors), ''Vincenzo Errante. La traduzione di poesia ieri e oggi'' (Vincenzo Errante. On Translating Poetry, in the Past and in the Present), Milano, Cisalpino, 1993. * F. Cercignani (editor), ''Novalis'', Milano, CUEM, 2002.

Essays

* ''Dunkel, Grün und Paradies. Karl Krolows lyrische Anfänge in «Hochgelobtes gutes Leben»'' (Dark, Green, and Paradise. Karl Krolow's Lyrical Beginnings in «Highly Praised Good Life»), in “Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift”, 36/1, 1986, pp. 59–78. * ''Zwischen irdischem Nichts und machtlosem Himmel. Karl Krolows «Gedichte» 1948: Enttäuschung und Verwirrung'' (Between Earthly Nought and a Powerless Heaven. Karl Krolow's «Poems» 1948: Disappointment and Bewilderment), in “Literaturwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch”, 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), edited by F. Cercignani and E. Ganni, Milano, Led, 1993, pp. 21–38. * ''«Nathan il saggio» e il Settecento tedesco'' («Nathan the Wise» and the German Eighteenth Century), in “ACME”, 47/1, 1994, pp. 107–124. * ''Sul «Wozzeck» di Alban Berg'' (On Alban Berg's «Wozzeck»), in ''Studia austriaca V'', Milano, Edizioni Minute, 1997, pp. 169–190. * ''E. T. A. Hoffmann, Italien und die romantische Auffassung der Musik'' (E. T. A. Hoffmann, Italy and the Romantic Conception of Music), in ''Das Land der Sehnsucht. E. T. A. Hoffmann und Italien'' (The Land of Yearning. E. T. A. Hoffmann and Italy), edited by S. M. Moraldo, Heidelberg, Winter, 2002, pp. 191–201. * ''Per una rilettura di «Salomè». Il dramma di Oscar Wilde e il libretto di Richard Strauss'' (For a Reappraisal of «Salome». Oscar Wilde's Drama and Richard Strauss's Libretto), 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 Honour of Ferruccio Masini), vol. II, edited by 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 ‘Poetical Philosophy’? With some remarks on Schiller), in ''La poesia filosofica'' (Philosophical Poetry), edited by A. Costazza, Milano, Cisalpino, 2007, pp. 163–170. * ''Inganno e autoinganno. Il campagnolo di Kafka'' (Deception and Self-Deception. Kafka's Landman), in ''Studia austriaca XVIII'', Milano, PGreco, 2010, pp. 51–64. * ''Hofmannsthal fra teatro e filosofia. Con particolare riguardo a «L’uomo difficile»'' (Hofmannsthal between Theatre and Philosophy. With special regard to «The Difficult Man»), in ''La filosofia a teatro'' (Philosophy in the Theatre), edited by A. Costazza, Milano, Cisalpino, 2010, pp. 369–385.

Poetry

* ''Fiore siglato'' (Initialled Flower), Firenze 1988. * ''Fisicità svanite'' (Vanished Physicalities), 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). * ''Vene di trasparenza'' (Veins of Transparence), Verona 1990. * ''Nella grafia di un’ombra'' (In the Graphs of a Shadow), Alessandria 1991. * ''Pulviscoli rigati'' (Scars on Dust Clouds), Napoli 1992. * ''Stelle di brina'' (Stars of White Frost), Milano 1993. * ''Reticoli svagati'' (Dreamy Reticles), Milano 1996. * ''Shakespearean Fancies'' (e-book), 2012
Amazon/Kindle
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iBookStore/iTunes
* ''Scritture. Poesie edite e inedite'' (Compositions. Published and Unpublished Poems), Torino 2015.

Short stories

* ''Five Women'' (e-book), 2013
Amazon/Kindle

Awards

Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst I. KlasseÖsterreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst I. Klasse, Wien, 1996
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Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, 1996.

References

External links

“Studia austriaca” and “Studia theodisca”

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cercignani, Fausto 1941 births Living people Shakespearean scholars People from Cagliari Italian essayists Italian poets Italian male poets University of Milan alumni Academic staff of the University of Milan Academic staff of the University of Bergamo Academic staff of the University of Parma Academic staff of the University of Pisa Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Italian male essayists