Description
Book SynopsisThe Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges, whose visionary poem Ariosto y los árabes inspired the title of this book, defined Ariosto's Orlando furioso as a dream: a dream that grew out of the medieval legends of Charlemagne and King Arthur to conquer the entire western world and become a collective fantasy, a mirror onto which for centuries countless readers have reflected their own dreams and aspirations. That dream reached its 500th anniversary in 2016 and, to mark the occasion, a group of 14 scholars, comprising internationally acclaimed specialists as well as younger researchers, came together in Oxford to reflect on Ariosto in what would turn out to be a memorable meeting of minds. This book contains their thoughts and ideas, and above all their dialogue, offering fresh perspectives on one of the most enigmatic works of European, and increasingly world literature. Divided into three parts (Tradition; Interpretation; Reception), it aims to establish what Ariosto's poem was in its own time, at key stages during its five-century history, and of course what it means today. In revisiting Ariosto's dream, it tries to answer the question: is it still alive?
