Description
Book SynopsisBeauty is a central concept in the Italian cultural imagination throughout its history and in virtually all its manifestations. It particularly permeates the domains that have governed the construction of Italian identity: literature and language. The Idea of Beauty in Italian Literature and Language assesses this long tradition in a series of essays covering a wide chronological and thematic range, while crossing from historical linguistics to literary and cultural studies. It offers elements for reflection on cross-disciplinary approaches in the humanities, and demonstrates the power of beauty as a fundamental category beyond aesthetics.
Table of ContentsList of Figures Introduction Harald Hendrix, Claudio Di Felice, and Philiep Bossier 1 Forms and Variations of Lemmata Indicating “Beauty” in Literary Italian and the Common Language Rosario Coluccia 2 “Bellezze ed adornezze e piacimento”: The Concept of Beauty in the Sicilian School Francesca De Blasi 3 Beauty as a Forma Mentis: Francis of Assisi Brigitte Poitrenaud-Lamesi 4 From Earthly Venus to Heavenly Venus: On the Evolution of the Concept of Beauty in Girolamo Benivieni Sergio Di Benedetto 5 The “True Form” of Beauty: Poetry and Portraits from Petrarch to the Sixteenth Century Veronica Pesce 6 “Love is Naught but a Certain Desire to Enjoy Beauty”: Castiglione and Raffaello* Pasquale Sabbatino 7 The Principle of Beauty in the Literary Criticism of the 16th Century Antonio Sorella 8 Beauty at the Limit Silvia Fabrizio-Costa 9 Words for Beauty: Giuseppe Parini between Ideal Cities and the Decadence of the World Marcello Ciccuto 10 Amorose e di galanteria: Considerations about the Language of Love, Beauty and Desire in some Unpublished Poems by Giulio Bajamonti Monica De Rosa 11 “The Profound Beauty is Greatness”: Itinerary in Giovanni Boine’s Aesthetics Enrico Riccardo Orlando 12 The Origins of Beauty in Leopardi’s Zibaldone Stefano Bragato 13 History of a Modest Beauty: Models of Woman’s Aesthetics from Fermo e Lucia to I promessi sposi Gavino Piga 14 The “Second Beauty”: Ideas of Politeness and Beauty in Italian Books of Manners Giovanna Alfonzetti 15 Fosca and her Sisters: Origins and Hypostases of the “Medusean Beauty” in the Narrative of the Scapigliatura Francesco Bonelli 16 Reconsidering Fin de Siècle Aestheticism: the Case of Gabriele D’Annunzio Filippo Fonio 17 Paradise Saved and Lost of Fin de Siècle Aesthetics: Matelda and Mariana in the Works of Giovanni Pascoli Francesca Irene Sensini 18 Eugenio Montale: for the “Incredible, Wonderful Face” of Clizia, between Photographs, Letters, the Palio and other Verses Epifanio Ajello 19 P.V. Tondelli and the Cannibals’ Generation in Search of the Lost Beauty Agata Pryciak
