116-462 Italian Medieval and Renaissance Texts

Note

Available as 116-362 at 3rd-year level.

Availability

Credit Points

Coordinator

Prerequisites

Two sequential second-year Italian subjects (33.3 credit points) (3rd year) or admission to Italian Honours school (4th year).

Contact

Subject Description

The subject is concerned with two 'classics' of Italian and European literature. The first the Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in the period after 1350, is a masterpiece of prose writing, combining short stories of the greatest humour with other pieces that could be called tragic. Students will study the narrative structures of selected stories, examining in particular the themes of pleasure, sex and sexuality. The other text is the Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto, the final version of which was published in 1532. This epic poem relates the love of the hero Orlando for the elusive Angelica who finally falls in love with a common foot soldier. This results in Orlando going mad. His sanity is only regained when a knight, named Astolfo, goes to the moon on a flying horse to bring back Orlando's wits. The work is undercut by a comic irony which makes the meaning hard to pin down. Students will develop skills in the area of narratological analysis which can be applied to both texts.

Assessment

Written assignments totalling not more than 5000 words (3rd year) / 6000 words (4th year).

Prescribed Texts

See Italian Studies Course Handbook for details.