Department of French and Italian

“HIGH” AND “LOW” IN ITALIAN RENAISSANCE LITERATURE

The creative energy of the Italian Renaissance drew as much on instability and restlessness as on discovery and innovation. Its artistic and literary production grew out of a world shaped by constant political and military conflict and by a cultural environment defined by both fruitful exchanges and sharp contrasts: between antiquity and modernity, the aristocratic and the popular, the local and the global, center and periphery, inside and outside, “high” and “low.” Along with the forms and values of the canonical classical model (the “happy medium,” moderation, decorum, dialogue, and so forth), we find an alternative current, what we might call “anti-classicist” which will be the focus of this course. We will explore genres such as eclogue, epic, comedy, and lyric poetry, including works in macaronic and rustic dialects, by authors such as Folengo and Ruzante, among others. Particular attention will be devoted to parody and satire, whose techniques of degrading imitation and critical exposure of human flaws, often producing distortion and caricature, serve as powerful tools for laying bare the creaturely condition of human life: its frailty, suffering, and contradictions. The course will be taught in Italian or English; however, reading knowledge of Italian is required. All materials will be available on Canvas.

FRIT-M 504        #28814     M        4:00P-6:00P      BH 217     Prof. Massimo Scalabrini