Overview

Chaucerian scholarship has long been intrigued by the nature and consequences of Chaucer’s exposure to Italian culture during his professional visits to Italy in the 1370s. In the eight chapters of Chaucer and Italian Culture, leading scholars take a fresh and holistic view of Chaucer’s engagement with Italian cultural practice, moving beyond the traditional ‘sources and analogues’ approach to reveal the varied strands of Italian literature, art, politics, and intellectual life which permeate Chaucer’s work. Each chapter unfolds, from a different lens, links between Chaucerian texts and Italian intellectual models, including poetics, choreography, visual art, classicism, diplomacy, and prophecy. Echoes of Petrarch, Dante, and Boccaccio reverberate throughout the book, across a rich and diverse landscape of Italian cultural legacies. Taken together, these eight chapters cover a wide range of theories and references while sharing a united understanding of the rich impact of Italian culture on Chaucer’s narrative art.

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9781786836786

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Reviews

The eight essays in this volume reinvigorate the study of Chaucer's reception and representation of Italian culture by reconceptualising the ways in which we might approach his work. Chaucer's relation to Petrarch gains depth and nuance . . . and his acquaintance with developments in Italian painting casts new light on both his political engagements and his interaction with Boccaccio's works. Chaucer and Italian Culture is a book anyone interested in cross-cultural translation will want to read. --Warren Ginsberg, University of Oregon Addressing important topics such as diplomacy, topography, vision, painting, and language, Chaucer and Italian Culture also offers unusual and illuminating approaches to subjects such as the poetics of haunting, prophecy, and civic ritual. With essays by established scholars alongside contributions from a new generation of medievalists, the collection is a timely addition to research on Chaucer's European identity. --Nick Havely, University of York

Addressing important topics such as diplomacy, topography, vision, painting, and language, Chaucer and Italian Culture also offers unusual and illuminating approaches to subjects such as the poetics of haunting, prophecy, and civic ritual. With essays by established scholars alongside contributions from a new generation of medievalists, the collection is a timely addition to research on Chaucer's European identity. --Nick Havely, University of York The eight essays in this volume reinvigorate the study of Chaucer's reception and representation of Italian culture by reconceptualising the ways in which we might approach his work. Chaucer's relation to Petrarch gains depth and nuance . . . and his acquaintance with developments in Italian painting casts new light on both his political engagements and his interaction with Boccaccio's works. Chaucer and Italian Culture is a book anyone interested in cross-cultural translation will want to read. --Warren Ginsberg, University of Oregon

“The eight essays in this volume reinvigorate the study of Chaucer’s reception and representation of Italian culture by reconceptualizing the ways in which we might approach his work. Chaucer’s relation to Petrarch gains depth and nuance . . . and his acquaintance with developments in Italian painting casts new light on both his political engagements and his interaction with Boccaccio’s works. Chaucer and Italian Culture is a book anyone interested in cross-cultural translation will want to read.”   -- Warren Ginsberg, University of Oregon “Addressing important topics such as diplomacy, topography, vision, painting, and language, Chaucer and Italian Culture also offers unusual and illuminating approaches to subjects such as the poetics of haunting, prophecy, and civic ritual. With essays by established scholars alongside contributions from a new generation of medievalists, the collection is a timely addition to research on Chaucer’s European identity.”   -- Nick Havely, University of York

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This study will appeal to students and academics who are interested in medieval history, history, Chaucer and contemporaries and medieval literature survey courses.

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