Department of French and Italian

Note: Above class meets with REN-R502

In seminal texts such as Giovanni Pontano’s De sermone (‘The Virtues and Vices of Speech’) (1509), Baldassarre Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier (1528), Giovanni Della Casa’s Galateo (1558), and Stefano Guazzo’s Civil Conversation (1574), the Italian Renaissance created a new style of social conduct: the style of civility. This graduate seminar examines the classical genealogy, the social and historical milieu, and the rhetorical matrix of this new form of social interaction, which was governed by the values of moderation, convenience, conformity, adaptability, grace, and dissimulation, and which was to become the generative model of early modern European ethics. We will critically engage with how civility shaped notions of power, ethics, and identity in early modern Europe, in works by authors such as Erasmus, Antoine de Courtin, Lord Chesterfield, and Baltasar Gracián, among others. The course will be conducted in English. All readings will be available in English translation. No previous knowledge of Italian, French, or Spanish required.

FRIT-M 604        #29522          M        4:00 P-6:00 P           Prof Massimo Scalabrini