Reviews: Paese sera, luglio 18, 1975 (Salvatore Nigro); Orpheus 23 (1976), p.161-163 (P.M. Sipala); Paideia 32 (1977), 1-9, p.95-96 (C.F. Goffis); La fiera letteraria 51 (1975), p.21 (F. Gobbini)
Reviews: Studi e problemi di critica testuale 20 (1980), p.212-222 (Elio Melli); Rassegna della Letteratura Italiana 85 (1981), p.266-267 (Gabriele Muresu); Speculum 57 (1982), p.408-410 (Joan Ferrante); Forum Italicum 16 (1982), p.158-159 (Rinaldina Russel); Critica letteraria 11 (1983), p.405-408 (Bortolo Martinelli); Quaderni d'Italianistica 4 (1983), p.235-236 (Carla De Bellis); Romance Philology 37 (1984), p.382-384 (Teodolinda Barolini)
Cf. DSt 98 (1980): Examines the medieval search for the ultimate Meaning (God) of love as the central theme of Christian culture, love as the necessary way by which the mind can reach the realm of eternal truth and satisfy its thirst for the infinite The author treats of Dante's relationship to the various manifestations of this whole universe of love in the Romance tradition from the Troubadours to the Roman de la Rose, Guinizelli, and Cavalcanti and shows how Dante synthesizes all the prior elements in the Vita Nuova qualifying himself as a poeta and achieving the "privilege" of undertaking the ultimate itinerarium of the Divina Commedia. Contents: I. Lingua e poesia; II. La tradizione romanza; III. Dalla Pastorella alle donne dello schermo; IV. Per l'interpretazione del "gabbo"; v. Peregrinus amoris: la metafora finale; Bibliografia dei testi siglati; Indici analitici. (Parts of Chapter II represent adaptations from three previously published articles, as is duly indicated on page 27 n.)
From the Contents: Costanzo Di Girolamo & C. Lee, Writers and Reworkers. Forms of intertextuality in Medieval Narrative {reviewed in Le pratiche dell'intertestualità - Bibliografia ragionata}
Reviews: Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance 47 (1985), p.248-251 (Alfonso Paolella); Medioevo romanzo 10 (1985), p.291-296 (V. Marmo); Annali d'Italianistica 6 (1988), p.306-311 (M. Bregoli Russo)
Reviews: Filologia e critica 9 (1984), p.303-306 (Stefano Carrai); Rivista di Letteratura italiana 3 (1985), p.171-192 (Maria Cristina Cabani); Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie 101 (1985), p.465 (Albert Gier); Schede medievali 10 (1986), p.170-171 (Armando Bisanti); Italianistica 16 (1987), 289-295 (P. Baldan)
Reviews: Medioevo romanzo 11 (1986), p.289-292 (Margherita Lecco); Quaderni d'Italianistica 7 (1986), p.255-256 (Davide Bénéteau); Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie 102 (1986), p.504-505 (Albert Gier); Schede medievali 11 (1986), p.471-473 (A. Bisanti); Vox Romanica 51 (1992), p.233-234 (C. Wittlin)
Contents: Gian Carlo Alessio, L'allegoria nei trattati di grammatica e di retorica (p.21-41); Zygmunt G. Baranski, La lezione esegetica di Inferno I: allegoria, storia e letteratura nella Commedia (p.79-97); G. Caravaggi, Francisco Imperial e il ciclo della "Stella Diana"; Maria Corti, Il modello analogico nel pensiero medievale e dantesco (p.11-21); Elio G. Costa, Il Tesoretto di Brunetto Latini e la tradizione allegorica medievale; Antonio D'Andrea, L'"allegoria dei poeti". Nota a Convivio, II.1 (p.71-78) {cf. DSt 106 (1988): Although in Convivio II. 1. Dante explains his own allegory as allegory of poets and refers to its literal content as "bella menzogna," stressing the distiction with the historical thruth contained in the allegory of theologians, in important episods, such as the vision of the "donna gentile" (Conv. II, ii, 1-2) and the apparition of "Amore" (Vita nuova IX, 7), we assist to a contaminatio between the two exegetical models. In fact, these manifestations have a deep impact on the poet's feelings as though they were true happenings. Dante's allegory therefore cannot be simply referred to as allegory of the poets, since it oscillates between fiction and reality, creating a peculiar poetic expression [or medium]}; Joan Isobel Friedman, La processione mistica di Dante: allegoria e iconografia nel canto XXIX del Purgatorio (p.125-148) {cf. DSt 106 (1988): The author, after a critical analysis of the illuminations of four manuscripts of the Divine Comedy from Southern Italy finds no iconographic ties among them. The allegorical meaning of the procession is essentially Eucharistic, and this is supported by small, but significant details. The textual source for the symbols of the procession of Purg. XXIX may be the Gemma Animae of Honorius Augustodunensis, a voluminous treatise of the beginning of the twelfth century; however, the real inspiration may have come from the procession of Corpus Christi which received official ratification during the composition of the Divine Comedy. The procession of Purg. XXIX is intended to show the triumph of the Church, a meaning in harmony with one of the major functions of the procession of the Corpus Christi--to exhalt the office of the Church in the sacrament of the Eucharist.}; Amilcare A. Iannucci, Dottrina e allegoria in Inferno VII, 67 - IX, 105 (p.99-124) ) {cf. DSt 106 (1988): Argues with reference to several literary and iconographical documents that, even though a dependence on Virgil is evident in some aspects, the main cultural source of the episode of the "messo celeste" must be considered to be the Gospel of Nicodemus and the various Laude which illustrate the descent of Christ to Hell in a way so similar to Dante's.}; Michelangelo Picone, La Vita Nuova fra autobiografia e tipologia (p.59-69) {cf. DSt 106 (1988): The author notes a substantial dicotomy in current critical approaches to the Vita nuova, which stress either autobiographical or allegorical aspects, and offers the hermeneutical instruments for a unified reading of Dante's libello. Concentrating his attention on the title, of which he stresses the essential importance for the interpretation of a medieval text, he examines the semantic implications of its two words ("vita" and "nova") in the cultural background of Dante, and thus is able to justify the interrelation between the autobiographical level with the allegorical-typological one.}
Reviews: La Repubblica, 28 nov. 1987 (M. Corti); Annali d'Italianistica 6 (1988), p.306-311; Lectura Dantis 4 (1989), p.108-109 (C. Santangelo); Italianistica 17 (1988), p.565-567 (F. Romboli); Filologia e critica 14 (1989), p.150-151 (A. Paolella); Quaderni d'Italianistica 10 (1989), p.348-349; Aevum 67 (1989), p.396-400 (C. Paolazzi); Schede medievali 17 (luglio-dicembre, 1989), p.462 (F. Martines); Quaderni d'Italianistica 11 (1990), 1, p.146-147 (D. P. Bénéteau); Romance Philology 45 (1991), p.346-353 (G. Costa)
Reviews: Medioevo romanzo 14 (1989), p.288-289 (C. Calenda); Giornale storico della letteratura italiana 106 (1989), p.474 (M. Marti); Studi e problemi di critica testuale 39 (1989), p.220-221 (R. Spongano); Le Moyen Age 86 (1990), p.112-113 (L. Chalon); Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance 52 (1990), p.182 (L. Pertile); Vox Romanica 49-50 (1990-91), p.503-505 (J.C. Mühlethaler)
From the contents: Sergio Corsi, Per uno studio del 'modus digressivus' (p.75-89) {cf. DSt 107 (1989): "Digression," as a formal modus, exists in the Comedy more amply than is readily apparent to the modern reader. A brief survey including Cicero and Geoffrey of Vinsauf explores this rhetorical device in relation to others that similarly cause interruption in the fabula, such as amplificatio, descriptio temporis and descriptio loci. While the most easily identifiable examples of digression in the Comedy are few (e.g., the poet's apostrophe to Italy in Purg. VI), descriptions of time or place set formally in the text abound, and, while seeming less distinct, these should still be classified as true forms of the modus digressivus.}; Franco Masciandaro, The Good in Dantes's Selva Oscura: A Dramatistic Reading (p.67-73) {cf. DSt 107 (1989): The "selva oscura" of Inferno I, or the first "scene" of Dante's journey, provides the necessary force for his transformation and a place in which a goal is created. There is a change in perspective on the dark wood as the poet attempts to describe the "good" (v. 8) he found there. The moment in which the wayfarer awakens embodies the "other things" (v. 9) that constitute this good, giving the "selva oscura" and the first part of the journey a positive value.}; Aldo Scaglione, Dante's Poetic Orthodoxy: The Case of Pier della Vigna (p.56-66) {cf. DSt 107 (1989): Episodes of the Inferno in which the Wayfarer demonstrates feelings of admiration or sympathy have recently lent themselves to revisionistic readings. This spirit of reinterpretation is most notable in the canto of Pier della Vigna where the Poet's orthodoxy may be seen to be inconsistent with the will of God. Revisionist readings contend that Dante ultimately condemns this figure as he does Brunetto Latini, Ulysses and Francesca da Rimini as he gradually matures in the course of his journey and his understanding of God. By essentially subverting the letter of the text, such an approach has resulted in readings that are more confusing than convincing.}
Contents: Z. Baranski, Dante fra "sperimentalismo" e "enciclopedismo"; C. Beck, Approches du traitement de l'animal chez les encyclopédistes du XIIIe siècle. L'exemple de l'ours; P.G. Beltrami, Appunti su vicende del Tresor: composizione, letture, riscritture; J. Berlioz & M.A. Polo de Beaulieu, Les recueils d'exempla et la diffusion de l'encyclopédisme médiéval; C. Bremond & B. Darbord, Tawaddud et Teodor: les enjeux ludiques du savoir; F. Cardini, Parole introduttive; C. Cazalé-Bérard, Sistema del sapere e istanze narrative nella novellistica toscana medievale; P. Cherchi, L'enciclopedia nel mondo dei trovatori: il Breviari d'amor di Matfre Ermengau; M. Ciccuto, Le meraviglie d'Oriente nelle enciclopedie illustrate del Medioevo; V. Frandon, Les saisons et leurs représentations dans les encyclopédies du Moyen Age: l'exemple du De Universo de Raban Maur (1022-1023); J. Le Goff, Pourquoi le XIIIe siècle a-t-il été plus particulièrement un siècle d'encyclopédisme?; L. Moulinier, Une encyclopédiste sans précédent? Le cas de Hildegarde de Bingen; M. Oldoni, Giovanni da San Gimignano; M. Paulmier-Foucart, Une des tâches de l'encyclopédiste: intituler; M. Picone, Il significato di un convegno sull'enciclopedismo medievale; D. Ruhe, La roe d'astronomie. Le livre de Sidrac et les encyclopédies françaises du Moyen Age; M.H. Tesnière, Le Reductorium Morale de Pierre Bersuire; C. Vasoli, Il Convivio di Dante e l'enciclopedismo medievale; B.K. Vollmann, La vitalità delle enciclopedie di scienza naturale: Isidoro di Siviglia, Tommaso di Cantimpré e le redazioni del cosiddetto "Tommaso III"; B. Zimmermann, Osservazioni sulla "Enciclopedia" nella letteratura latina.
Reviews: see Dante argonauta
Reviews: Studi e problemi di critica testuale 49 (1994), p.153-162 (R. Manetti); Italianistica 25 (1996), p.140-146 (S. Sarteschi); Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana 5-6 (1995), p.165-171 (A. Stussi)
Contents: G. Cappello, Per un ordinamento delle Rimedi Dante; R. Castagnola, Becchina, Dante e il marescalco in un sonetto di Cecco Angiolieri; G. Gorni, La canzone "montanina"; G. Güntert, Le rime della Vita nuova; M. Picone, All'ombra della fanciulla in fiore: lettura semantica della sestina dantesca; M. Picone, Dante rimatore; L. Rossi, "Così nel mio parlar voglio esser aspro"; A. Stäuble, La tenzone di Dante con Forese Donati.
Quoted from the Publisher's info: Il nome di Scartazzini, in binomio con quello di Vandelli, è diventato nella cultura italiana del Novecento sinonimo di commento alla Commedia. Lo Scartazzini-Vandelli ha costituito in effetti il punto di riferimento obbligato per l'attività dei commentatori danteschi di questo secolo, e quindi per la nostra stessa lettura del poema sacro. Proiettata nella dimensione quasi mitica che le attribuiscono i ricordi scolastici, la figura del grande dantista grigionitaliano (nato il 31 dicembre 1837 a Bondo, in Val Bregaglia, e deceduto il 10 febbraio 1901 a Fahrwangen, nel canton Berna) ha finito per perdere i suoi connotati storici e scientifici più precisi e definiti. In realtà Scartazzini non è stato soltanto il commentatore principe della Commedia, ma anche lo studioso che ha cercato di fornire un'immagine di Dante che fosse al tempo stesso attendibile dal punto di vista filologico, e moderna dal punto di vista esegetico. Un simile ingente lavoro di mediazione culturale è stato affidato ad una serie di studi, di cui viene qui per la prima volta proposta una scelta antologica, limitata sì, ma si spera abbastanza rappresentativa e significativa. La rivisitazione di queste pagine, linguisticamente un po' appesantite e datate, ma stilisticamente così forti e vibranti, ci rivela un approccio straordinariamente innovatore alla problematica critica posta dall'opera dantesca. Possiamo dire che le posizioni romantiche (emblematizzate dalle lezioni zurighesi di De Sanctis) vengono superate da Scartazzini in una prospettiva ermeneutica che non distingue più fra poetica e poesia, o fra allegoria e storia, ma vede invece nella poetica e nell'allegoria (cioè nell'universo letterario e concettuale dell'autore) la base stessa per poter capire la poesia di Dante.
On Dante da Maiano, Rime. Introduzione, testo critico e commento di Rosanna Bettarini. Firenze: Le Monnier, 1969, xxxviii+270 pp.
Cf. DSt 96 (1978): Focuses on the two conspicuous structural elements of the Vita Nuova, the poems and the prose, in their respective and mutually related descriptive, functional, and semantic/tropological aspects, with constant reference to the culturalliterary matrix out of which they evolved. From his analysis, the author concludes that, while Dante's poems here are embedded firmly in the tradition, originality lies in the prose (without previous models) which Picone finds highly innovative and revolutionary. Functionally, it is precisely the prose of the libello that brings order and global meaning out of the raw matter, the "chaos," of the poems. What issues from this combination and coordination of prose and poems in the Vita Nuova is therefore a moral and philosophic essay which, through the prose, leads the personaprotagonist to recognize the true meaning of the poems, a significance that coincides with ultimate Truth, God. With this approach to the Vita Nuova, contends Picone, such aspects as the polemical chapter XXV, the attack on Guittone and even on Cavalcanti become clearer, while the fundamental reconciliation of the identity of amor mundi and amor Dei as the ground of moral life is restored.
Cf. DSt 96 (1978): Contends that to ascertain the historicocultural and literary value of the Vita Nuova, the work must be considered in the context of the Romance poetic tradition. The libello is seen as a direct attack on Guittone d'Arezzo's moralistic and illogical negative position visàvis courtly love and as a corrective on Cavalcanti's own negative view of love with his lack of eternal vision. Dante has, in short, demonstrated in the Vita Nuova, as in the Commedia later, the positive view of human love as a first stage on the way to divine love, thus resolving the impasse regarding love as staged by Cavalcanti's canzone considered as a codification summa of courtly love. The Vita Nuova is consistent with the courtly tradition on the "itinerarium mentis ad veritatem," and goes beyond courtly love culture of eros to agape. It thus achieves literary distinction both within its Italian framework and in the larger Romance context, thanks to Dante's elaboration of the female figure into an abstract essence which in the intellectual vision of poets enables the contemplation of the divine.
Cf. DSt 98 (1980): Associating the adaptation of the Narcissus myth in medieval Christian culture with the central concept of the Fall, to which the literary adaptations are related in terms of an existential queste for the Edenic reunion of the human creature with his divine origin as exemplified by Christ, the author examines the different manifestations of the myth in the two authors of the Roman de la Rose and in Dante. In Professor Picone's view, Narcissus reflects the mortal danger that man risks on his earthly pilgrimage to regain his former perfection in God. In the episode of the Lover at the Fountain (of Love) set in the Edenic garden, Guillaume de Lorris makes ambivalent use of the Narcissus myth, reflecting the courtly concept of love with the figure of the idealized Lady as elevated and unattainable; while Jean de Meung, in a similar episode at the Fountain (of Life), conceives of love in naturalistic terms and therefore attainable and realizable at the sensual level in an earthly paradise regained, reflecting the new ideology. For Guillaume's aristocratic conception of a mysterious, "distant" love in the tradition of fin'amors, Jean substituted a bourgeois conception of love as a strictly biological phenomenon. For the latter, therefore, to reflect oneself in the mirror of the Other meant simply to conquer it, to possess it. In the case of Dante, apart from two direct allusions to the Narcissus myth in Inferno XXX, 128129, and Paradiso III, 1718. the thematic crux of selfrecognition on the part of the lover and of valorization of the Other reappears at the top of Purgatory (Purg. XXVIIXXXIII), where Dante resolves the dilemma of Guillaume and Jean by retaining the creaturely Lady of courtly love tradition and going, beyond, as in her perfection she is made analogically to prepare the lover ritualistically for the ultimate journey to God.
Cf. DSt 102 (1984): Examines the symbolism of the myth in both poems and finds that Dante builds on meanings developed by both Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. He suggests, in particular, that in the cantos of the Earthly Paradise Dante establishes imagistic parallels with traditional aspects of the Narcissus story in order to present Dante as the antithesis of Narcissus. Dante is seen, in his quest as lover to reach the beloved Beatrice, to avoid repeating the tragic fate of his mythological counterpart.
Cf. DSt 99 (1981): Seeks to explain the change from Dante's favorable opinion of Bertran de Born in the De vulgari eloquentia as model poet of salus or armorum probitas and in the Convivio as exponent of liberality, to his later condemnation of him as sower of discord in the Commedia (Inf. XXVIII). Analysis of Bertran's poetry evidently led Dante at first to associate with it the highest level attainable by the vegetative soul in man. With a deepening of his philosophical and spiritual thought, Dante saw the limitations for human fulfillment and ultimate happiness in this life and radically revised his system of former models, and with this came the revaluation of Bertran. The author reinforces the final condemnation of Bertran by marshalling evidence of Dantean parody of his exaltation of the panoply and excitement of battle, and by pointing out how Dante has echoed much of the hacking and gore sung by Bertran in Canto XXVIII before presenting the figure of Bertran himself at the end. Bertran was a master of words, which should be used to foster communication and unity among men, but which he treacherously bent to the opposite purpose.
Cf. DSt 100 (1982): In light of Dante's triple categorization (in De vulgari eloquentia) of poetry as salus, Venus, and virtus, the author analyzes sample diction like salus and saluto/Salute, and cor/coratge and cuore/coraggio in Bertran de Born and Dante and more specifically the latter's use of saluto/salute (vs. salus) in the Vita Nuova to distinguish how Dante raises the sense of such terms and their lovecontext beyond the terrestrial plane of the Provencal poet.
Cf. DSt 101 (1983): Examines in the De vulgari eloquentia Dante's discussion of French (oil) and Provencal (oc), associating the first with prose narrative (ambages, difficult of interpretation in a second sensus) and the second with poetry (amorous lyric), and demonstrates that the Divina Commedia goes beyond Arthurian or Breton narrative as it too follows the adventure pattern of the quest, but now based on historical truth and clear moral intent, with the authorprotagonist representing every man as against the merely lovely, pleasing, secular character of the Arthurian world. Dante's rejection of the Breton ambages while utilizing its form even as he favors absolute significance and substance of divine "hystoria," is exemplified by the Francesca episode in Inferno V. The author elaborates by drawing an analogy between the general structuring of the Commedia and the adventures of Lancelot, and then focuses on the canto of Francesca and Dante's repeated use of the verb menare, a key word for characterizing the condition of the lustful driven by passion, and found also in Arthurian narrative. Thus two concepts of love--the profane love of Arthurian tradition and divine love in Dante's conception as a refinement of fin' amor--are contrasted and represented by the negative verb menare and the more positive muovere, respectively.
Cf. DSt 101 (1983): Offers a detailed, insightful reading of Paradiso IX which takes account of the vast array of Provençal characters (Folquet de Marseille, Sordello, Cunizza) and material that compose and underlie this episode.
Cf. DSt 106 (1988): The author notes a substantial dicotomy in current critical approaches to the Vita nuova, which stress either autobiographical or allegorical aspects, and offers the hermeneutical instruments for a unified reading of Dante's libello. Concentrating his attention on the title, of which he stresses the essential importance for the interpretation of a medieval text, he examines the semantic implications of its two words ("vita" and "nova") in the cultural background of Dante, and thus is able to justify the interrelation between the autobiographical level with the allegorical-typological one.
Cf. DSt 108 (1990): Examination of the episode of the "Malebranche" and the way in which it reflects the jongleur tradition in terms of thematic and poetic representation. Three main cultural traditions inform this episode: medieval folklore; medieval theatre, and in particular the "transalpine" theatre with its "diableries" (the exhibition of devils on the stage); and finally, the literary "comic style".
Cf. DSt 108 (1990): The article is divided into four sections. In the first the author examines the six wise princes in the eye of the Eagle and explains for what reasons Dante chose them. In the second part he focuses on the fact that Dante admits the salvation for pagans but only if they exercise "fede esplicita" in Christ, as it was accepted among the theologians. The third part is mainly a digression regarding the various traditions of the legend of Trajan; in this way Picone can ephasize the originality of Dante's interpretation. The last part focuses on the meaning of Ripheus' salvation. Differently from the Aeneid, in which this just man's death, and therefore his exclusion from the glorious foundation of Rome, is considered a sign of disfavor by the gods, in the Comedy his death is the gate to the true Rome, to his glorification. Doing this change Dante wants to stress the position of privilege in which a Christian poet is placed, while judging the facts of history.
Cf. DSt 109 (1991): Picone defends the view that the Comedy--and Inferno V in particular--represents Dante's rewriting and correcting of the Arthurian romances and their language of desire. The poet's intention is disclosed by his use of the word menare. In contrast to the ill-directed language of desire found in the romantic tradition and epitomized by Francesca, Dante's language of desire is correctly oriented toward its divine source, caritas.
Quoted from Le pratiche dell'intertestualità - Bibliografia ragionata: Chiaro esempio di applicazione concreta della teoria dell'intertestualità, il saggio interpreta la novella di Ghismonda al fine di illuminare, dall'esame del singolo caso, l'operazione culturale attuata dal Boccaccio: la novella "si afferma come sicuro bilancio letterio della civiltà medievale", mentre palesa la parallela, e inevitabile, esigenza di rinnovamento retorico e stilistico. L'analisi pertanto, ricorrendo all'opposizione interdiscorsivo/intertestuale definita da Segre, si articola in due sezioni: la prima evidenzia gli echi interdiscorsivi - "richiami indiretti ai topoi narrativi romanzi" -, la seconda segnala il coinvolgimento diretto dei testi della tradizione romanza, precisamente i lais Deus amanz e Chievrefoil di Marie de France, interagenti con il modello offerto dalla Commedia dantesca.
Quoted from Le pratiche dell'intertestualità - Bibliografia ragionata: Nelle pagine iniziali di questo studio, l'autore afferma esplicitamente d'intendere l'intertestualità secondo le coordinate critiche offerte dal celebre articolo di Giorgio Pasquali intitolato Arte allusiva, apparso nel 1942. Le due «tipologie estreme di implicazione testuale» sono quindi, giusta la terminologia del Pasquali, la "reminiscenza" e l'"allusione": se nel primo caso l'eco intertestuale può essere inconsapevole, nel secondo, al contrario, è certamente voluta. Una terza categoria di rapporti, intermedia tra le due precedenti, è l'"imitazione", che tende a mascherare il richiamo al testo di riferimento. Si deve inoltre distinguere, secondo il Picone, tra "intertestualità statica" (memoria passiva della reminiscenza) e "dinamica" ("partecipazione ermeneutica" richiesta dalle allusioni e dall'imitazione). Il Medioevo è l'epoca in cui l'arte allusiva giunge ad un alto grado di elaborazione teorica, tecnicizzandosi nell'opposizione fra imitatio ed aemulatio. Quest'ultima, già praticata nell'antichità, nel Medioevo «vuole dimostrare le carenze ideologiche del modello al fine di poterle colmare». In quest'ottica, l'autore analizza con finezza la riscrittura di alcuni miti ovidiani delle Metamorfosi nella Commedia, soffermandosi soprattutto sulle allusioni al viaggio degli Argonauti, interpretato come una sorta di modello di riferimento per il "viaggio" poetico di Dante.
See also the Protocols of the Conference