The Cambridge History of Italian LiteratureItaly possesses one of the richest and most influential literatures of Europe, stretching back to the thirteenth century. This first substantial history of Italian literature to appear in the English language for forty years provides a comprehensive survey of Italian writing from its earliest origins up to the present day. Leading scholars describe and assess the work of writers who have contributed to the Italian literary tradition, including Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, the Renaissance humanists, Machiavelli, Ariosto and Tasso, pioneers and practitioners of commedia dell'arte and opera, and the contemporary novelists Calvino and Eco. The Cambridge History of Italian Literature sets out to be accessible to the general reader as well as to students and scholars: translations are provided, along with a map, chronological chart and up-to-date and substantial bibliographies. |
Contents
The earliest evidence | 3 |
Prose | 28 |
Dante | 39 |
Florentine politics | 46 |
The amnesty | 54 |
The last years | 68 |
Petrarch | 89 |
Minor writers | 108 |
Leopardi | 418 |
Manzoni and the novel | 427 |
Other novelists and poets of the Risorgimento | 440 |
Opera since 1800 | 450 |
Writer and society in the new Italy | 459 |
Pirandello | 480 |
Poetry and the avantgarde | 493 |
Philosophy and literature from Croce to Gramsci | 509 |
Humanism | 131 |
Power patronage and literary associations | 144 |
IO Literature in the vernacular | 152 |
Prose | 181 |
Narrative poetry | 233 |
Lyric poetry | 251 |
Theatre | 277 |
Poetry Philosophy and Science | 301 |
Mockepic poetry and satire | 310 |
Treatises | 312 |
Narrative prose and theatre | 318 |
Theatre | 326 |
Opera | 336 |
The first half of the Settecento | 343 |
The theatre from Metastasio to Goldoni | 353 |
Opera | 363 |
The Enlightenment and Parini | 371 |
Alfieri and preRomanticism | 387 |
The Romantic controversy | 399 |
Monti | 406 |
Foscolo | 412 |
The novel | 515 |
The Aftermath of the Second World War 194556 | 531 |
History and the poets | 553 |
The late 1950s and the 1960s | 561 |
The 1970s | 581 |
The 1980s | 599 |
Bibliography | 607 |
| 611 | |
| 619 | |
| 622 | |
| 641 | |
| 652 | |
| 653 | |
| 659 | |
57 | 672 |
| 674 | |
| 679 | |
| 685 | |
| 692 | |
Common terms and phrases
Ariosto Baroque Bembo Boccaccio Boiardo cantos Canzoniere century characters Christian Cinquecento classical collection comedy comic commedia dell'arte composed contemporary court courtier critical culture Dante Dante's death Decameron dialect dialogue dramatic epic example Fascism favour Ferrara fiction Florence Florentine Francesco French genre Giovanni Goldoni Greek human humanist ideal important intellectual Italian Italy language later Latin letters linguistic literary literature living Lorenzo lover lyric Machiavelli Manzoni Medici Metastasio Milan modern moral Naples narrative narrator nature novel novella opera opera buffa original pastoral Petrarch philosophical Pietro plays poem poesia poet poet's poetic poetry political Poliziano popular prose published Pulci Quattrocento readers reality religious Renaissance rhetoric Rime Roman Rome satire Seicento Settecento Sicilian social society sonnet story structure style Tasso texts theatre theatrical theme Torquato Tasso tradition tragedy translation treatise Trecento Tuscan Venetian Venice vernacular verse vita women writing written wrote