Author: Brenda Deen Schildgen
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1487558945
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
In Boccaccio Defends Literature, Brenda Deen Schildgen contends that Giovanni Boccaccio’s significant contribution to literary history remains underappreciated. The book asserts that Boccaccio refuted the detractors that condemned poetry as immoral, irrational, and even demonic, highlighting instead its aesthetic and cathartic ability to restore equilibrium, provoke thought, and provide solace and entertainment. The book explores how, despite often being dismissed for his morally dubious tales, Boccaccio dedicated himself to defending the legacy of the ancients, endorsing vernacular and secular literature, and cementing the reputations of Dante and Petrarch. It reveals how he forged a wholly new direction for literary prose fiction, driven by his commitment to humanistic studies and admiration for literary achievement. Without moral or spiritual hesitation, Boccaccio asserted that literature – whether pagan or Christian – was an autonomous form of knowledge, a stance he maintained from the 1350s to the end of his life. Contesting the arguments of moralists who sought to ban books, Schildgen demonstrates that Boccaccio advocated for the independence of readers, asserting that they, not writers, bore the responsibility for their responses to literature. Boccaccio Defends Literature thus unveils Boccaccio as a steadfast defender of the enduring relevance of literature.
Boccaccio Defends Literature
Author: Brenda Deen Schildgen
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1487558945
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
In Boccaccio Defends Literature, Brenda Deen Schildgen contends that Giovanni Boccaccio’s significant contribution to literary history remains underappreciated. The book asserts that Boccaccio refuted the detractors that condemned poetry as immoral, irrational, and even demonic, highlighting instead its aesthetic and cathartic ability to restore equilibrium, provoke thought, and provide solace and entertainment. The book explores how, despite often being dismissed for his morally dubious tales, Boccaccio dedicated himself to defending the legacy of the ancients, endorsing vernacular and secular literature, and cementing the reputations of Dante and Petrarch. It reveals how he forged a wholly new direction for literary prose fiction, driven by his commitment to humanistic studies and admiration for literary achievement. Without moral or spiritual hesitation, Boccaccio asserted that literature – whether pagan or Christian – was an autonomous form of knowledge, a stance he maintained from the 1350s to the end of his life. Contesting the arguments of moralists who sought to ban books, Schildgen demonstrates that Boccaccio advocated for the independence of readers, asserting that they, not writers, bore the responsibility for their responses to literature. Boccaccio Defends Literature thus unveils Boccaccio as a steadfast defender of the enduring relevance of literature.
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1487558945
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
In Boccaccio Defends Literature, Brenda Deen Schildgen contends that Giovanni Boccaccio’s significant contribution to literary history remains underappreciated. The book asserts that Boccaccio refuted the detractors that condemned poetry as immoral, irrational, and even demonic, highlighting instead its aesthetic and cathartic ability to restore equilibrium, provoke thought, and provide solace and entertainment. The book explores how, despite often being dismissed for his morally dubious tales, Boccaccio dedicated himself to defending the legacy of the ancients, endorsing vernacular and secular literature, and cementing the reputations of Dante and Petrarch. It reveals how he forged a wholly new direction for literary prose fiction, driven by his commitment to humanistic studies and admiration for literary achievement. Without moral or spiritual hesitation, Boccaccio asserted that literature – whether pagan or Christian – was an autonomous form of knowledge, a stance he maintained from the 1350s to the end of his life. Contesting the arguments of moralists who sought to ban books, Schildgen demonstrates that Boccaccio advocated for the independence of readers, asserting that they, not writers, bore the responsibility for their responses to literature. Boccaccio Defends Literature thus unveils Boccaccio as a steadfast defender of the enduring relevance of literature.
English and Italian Literature From Dante to Shakespeare
Author: Robin Kirkpatrick
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317898435
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 343
Book Description
This is the first comprehensive critical comparison of English and Italian literature from the three centuries from Dante to Shakespeare. It begins by examining Chaucer's relationship with Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, and then looks at similar relationships within the areas of humanist education, lyric poetry, the epic, theatrical comedy, the short story and the pastoral drama. It provides a detailed comparison of major works from both traditions including descriptive and critical readings of Italian works. It shows why English writers valued such works and demonstrates the ways in which they departed from or tried to outdo the Italian original. Assuming no prior knowledge of Italy or Italian literary history, this book introduces the student and general reader to one of the most important and fascinating phases in European literary history.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317898435
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 343
Book Description
This is the first comprehensive critical comparison of English and Italian literature from the three centuries from Dante to Shakespeare. It begins by examining Chaucer's relationship with Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, and then looks at similar relationships within the areas of humanist education, lyric poetry, the epic, theatrical comedy, the short story and the pastoral drama. It provides a detailed comparison of major works from both traditions including descriptive and critical readings of Italian works. It shows why English writers valued such works and demonstrates the ways in which they departed from or tried to outdo the Italian original. Assuming no prior knowledge of Italy or Italian literary history, this book introduces the student and general reader to one of the most important and fascinating phases in European literary history.
Boccaccio and the Invention of Italian Literature
Author: Martin Eisner
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107513081
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 261
Book Description
Giovanni Boccaccio played a pivotal role in the extraordinary emergence of the Italian literary tradition in the fourteenth century, not only as author of the Decameron, but also as scribe of Dante, Petrarch and Cavalcanti. Using a single codex written entirely in Boccaccio's hand, Martin Eisner brings together material philology and literary history to reveal the multiple ways Boccaccio authorizes this vernacular literary tradition. Each chapter offers a novel interpretation of Boccaccio as a biographer, storyteller, editor and scribe, who constructs arguments, composes narratives, compiles texts and manipulates material forms to legitimize and advance a vernacular literary canon. Situating these philological activities in the context of Boccaccio's broader reflections on poetry in the Decameron and the Genealogy of the Gentile Gods, the book produces a new portrait of Boccaccio that integrates his vernacular and Latin works, while also providing a new context for understanding his fictions.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107513081
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 261
Book Description
Giovanni Boccaccio played a pivotal role in the extraordinary emergence of the Italian literary tradition in the fourteenth century, not only as author of the Decameron, but also as scribe of Dante, Petrarch and Cavalcanti. Using a single codex written entirely in Boccaccio's hand, Martin Eisner brings together material philology and literary history to reveal the multiple ways Boccaccio authorizes this vernacular literary tradition. Each chapter offers a novel interpretation of Boccaccio as a biographer, storyteller, editor and scribe, who constructs arguments, composes narratives, compiles texts and manipulates material forms to legitimize and advance a vernacular literary canon. Situating these philological activities in the context of Boccaccio's broader reflections on poetry in the Decameron and the Genealogy of the Gentile Gods, the book produces a new portrait of Boccaccio that integrates his vernacular and Latin works, while also providing a new context for understanding his fictions.
The History and Anatomy of Auctorial Self-Criticism in the European Middle Ages
Author: Anita Obermeier
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004456147
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
This study outlines the history and anatomy of the European apology tradition from the sixth century BCE to 1500 for the first time. The study examines the vernacular and Latin tales, lyrics, epics, and prose compositions of Arabic, English, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Spanish, and Welsh authors. Three different strands of the apology tradition can be proposed. The first and most pervasive strand features apologies to pagan deities and-later-to God. The second most important strand contains literary apologies made to an earthly audience, usually of women. A third strand occurs more rarely and contains apologies for varying literary offenses that are directed to a more general audience. The medieval theory of language privileges an imitation of the Christian master narrative and a hierarchical medieval view of authorship. These notions express a medieval philosophical concern about language and its role, and therefore the role of the author, in cosmic history. Despite the fact that women apologize for different purposes and reasons, their examples illustrate, on yet another level, the antifeminist subtext inherent in the entire apology tradition. Overall, the apology tradition characterized by interauctoriality, intertextuality, and intratextuality, enables self-critical authors to refer not only backward but also-primarily-forward, making the medieval apology a progressive strategy that engenders new literature. This study would be relevant to all medievalists, especially those interested in literature and the history of ideas.
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004456147
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
This study outlines the history and anatomy of the European apology tradition from the sixth century BCE to 1500 for the first time. The study examines the vernacular and Latin tales, lyrics, epics, and prose compositions of Arabic, English, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Spanish, and Welsh authors. Three different strands of the apology tradition can be proposed. The first and most pervasive strand features apologies to pagan deities and-later-to God. The second most important strand contains literary apologies made to an earthly audience, usually of women. A third strand occurs more rarely and contains apologies for varying literary offenses that are directed to a more general audience. The medieval theory of language privileges an imitation of the Christian master narrative and a hierarchical medieval view of authorship. These notions express a medieval philosophical concern about language and its role, and therefore the role of the author, in cosmic history. Despite the fact that women apologize for different purposes and reasons, their examples illustrate, on yet another level, the antifeminist subtext inherent in the entire apology tradition. Overall, the apology tradition characterized by interauctoriality, intertextuality, and intratextuality, enables self-critical authors to refer not only backward but also-primarily-forward, making the medieval apology a progressive strategy that engenders new literature. This study would be relevant to all medievalists, especially those interested in literature and the history of ideas.
The Oxford Handbook of Chaucer
Author: Suzanne Conklin Akbari
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks
ISBN: 0199582653
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 689
Book Description
This handbook addresses Chaucer's poetry in the context of several disciplines, including late medieval philosophy and science, Mediterranean culture, comparative European literature, vernacular theology and popular devotion.
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks
ISBN: 0199582653
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 689
Book Description
This handbook addresses Chaucer's poetry in the context of several disciplines, including late medieval philosophy and science, Mediterranean culture, comparative European literature, vernacular theology and popular devotion.
Famous Women
Author: Giovanni Boccaccio
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674011304
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description
Giovanni Boccaccio devoted the last decades of his life to compiling encyclopedic works in Latin. Among them is this text, the first collection of biographies in Western literature devoted to women.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674011304
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description
Giovanni Boccaccio devoted the last decades of his life to compiling encyclopedic works in Latin. Among them is this text, the first collection of biographies in Western literature devoted to women.
The Eaten Heart
Author: Giovanni Boccaccio
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141964960
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 99
Book Description
Ten young Florentines take refuge in the countryside from the Black Death and tell stories to pass the time. From the unfaithful wife who unwittingly eats her lover’s heart to the sly peasant plotting to seduce a whole nunnery, these are tales of lust, adventure and unexpected twists of fate. United by the theme of love, the writings in the Great Loves series span over two thousand years and vastly different worlds. Readers will be introduced to love’s endlessly fascinating possibilities and extremities: romantic love, platonic love, erotic love, gay love, virginal love, adulterous love, parental love, filial love, nostalgic love, unrequited love, illicit love, not to mention lost love, twisted and obsessional love....
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141964960
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 99
Book Description
Ten young Florentines take refuge in the countryside from the Black Death and tell stories to pass the time. From the unfaithful wife who unwittingly eats her lover’s heart to the sly peasant plotting to seduce a whole nunnery, these are tales of lust, adventure and unexpected twists of fate. United by the theme of love, the writings in the Great Loves series span over two thousand years and vastly different worlds. Readers will be introduced to love’s endlessly fascinating possibilities and extremities: romantic love, platonic love, erotic love, gay love, virginal love, adulterous love, parental love, filial love, nostalgic love, unrequited love, illicit love, not to mention lost love, twisted and obsessional love....
Boccaccio on Poetry
Author: Charles G. Osgood
Publisher: Forgotten Books
ISBN: 9780365485810
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
Excerpt from Boccaccio on Poetry: Being the Preface and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth, Books of Boccaccio's Genealogia Deorum Gentilium in an English Version With Introductory Essay and Commentary Partly for the historic worth of these books, partly because the ideas which they contain may not be wholly unsalutary in this latter day, and partly because they lead to intimacy with that very engaging person, the author, this version has seemed worth the making. It had its origin more than twenty years ago in a suggestion of the late Professor Cook. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Publisher: Forgotten Books
ISBN: 9780365485810
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
Excerpt from Boccaccio on Poetry: Being the Preface and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth, Books of Boccaccio's Genealogia Deorum Gentilium in an English Version With Introductory Essay and Commentary Partly for the historic worth of these books, partly because the ideas which they contain may not be wholly unsalutary in this latter day, and partly because they lead to intimacy with that very engaging person, the author, this version has seemed worth the making. It had its origin more than twenty years ago in a suggestion of the late Professor Cook. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Chaucer's Knight's Tale
Author: Monica E. McAlpine
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 9780802059130
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 496
Book Description
As the first of the Canterbury Tales, the Knight's Tale has been the subject of a vast body of comment by scholars and lay readers. Monica McAlpine provides access to this material in the first of the Chaucer Bibliographies series to deal with a narrative portion of that author's best-known work.
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 9780802059130
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 496
Book Description
As the first of the Canterbury Tales, the Knight's Tale has been the subject of a vast body of comment by scholars and lay readers. Monica McAlpine provides access to this material in the first of the Chaucer Bibliographies series to deal with a narrative portion of that author's best-known work.
Boccaccio's Corpus
Author: James C. Kriesel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780268104498
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Boccaccio's writing about women and sexuality, in contrast to much of medieval literature, highlights the symbolic utility of erotic literatures to carry meaning and promote cultures associated with women.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780268104498
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Boccaccio's writing about women and sexuality, in contrast to much of medieval literature, highlights the symbolic utility of erotic literatures to carry meaning and promote cultures associated with women.