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Literary Criticism Italian

Ariosto Today

Contemporary Perspectives

edited by Don Beecher, Massimo Ciavolella & Roberto Fedi

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Apr 2003
Category
Italian, General
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802029676
    Publish Date
    Apr 2003
    List Price
    $100.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442670983
    Publish Date
    Apr 2003
    List Price
    $97.00

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Description

Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso is one of the masterpieces of the Renaissance, a work which, many argue, signalled the apogee of Renaissance fancy on the precipice of irony and decline. This collection of essays brings together twelve noted Italian and American scholars to provide a complete picture of Ariosto and all his works, covering topics such as historical criticism relating to Ariosto's place and time; philological investigations into the varying literary styles of the author, especially outside of the Furioso; Ariosto's extrinsic relationships with other literary traditions; and formal and thematic excavations of the immanent aesthetics of the Furioso.

Each essayist acknowledges the fact that Ariosto's creations are charged with allusions and allegiances variously inviting recognition or demanding the status of record. This reading of his works reveals that Ariosto was not a writer who believed, as it was previously thought, that literature is something escapist or fantastic in nature, but one who, in writing and re-writing his works, tried to re-interpret literary tradition while incorporating the new literary instruments that were available to him at the time: Ariosto's literary production is an integration of tradition and invention. This new reading of his work will be essential to any Italianist's library.

About the authors

Donald Beecher is Chancellor’s Professor and a professor in the Department of English at Carleton University.

Don Beecher's profile page

Massimo Ciavolella taught for many years at Carleton University and at the University of Toronto before coming to his present positions as professor and chair, Department of Italian, and professor of comparative literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also assisted in the translation of The Scruffy Scoundrels.

Massimo Ciavolella's profile page

Roberto Fedi is Chair of Italian Literature at the University of Perugia.

Roberto Fedi's profile page