The Italian Novella (garland Medieval Casebooks)

The novella was an important medieval and Renaissance prose narrative form that developed out of exempla and didactic literature and contributed to modern narrative forms. This is the first collection of essays dedicated to comprehensive scholarship on the Italian novella. The essays range from work on the Decameron , the epitome of the genre, to studies of sixteenth century authors who often utilized transgressive or sexual themes in their novellas. "The birth of the Italian novella - a short prose narrative with roots in medieval folk wisdom and didactic parables - was among the most significant events that shaped the course of European literature. From high tragedy to raucous ribaldry, from stories of love and adventure to tales of wit and cruelty, almost every modern literary genre draws inspiration from these Italian tales. The novella influenced later writers both in Italy and abroad; Chaucer, Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Lope de Vega reworked and retold basic novella plots and narrative situations.". "This volume comprises the first collection of comprehensive scholarship on the Italian novella, tracing its development from medieval Florence into the High Renaissance. The survey commences with a discussion of the Decameron, Boccaccio's fourteenth-century masterpiece and model of the new prose genre, which featured colorful narration and lively use of the Tuscan vernacular. The focus then moves beyond the medieval paradigm to present original analyses of tales by lesser-known authors, such as Sercambi, Masuccio, Firenzuola, and Straparola, whose work sustained the wit, vitality, and popularity of the novella well into the sixteenth century. Critical examination of representative texts highlights the lusty language and transgressive sexuality of the genre, showcasing pranks, monstrous characters, bestiality, and cross-dressing - among other eccentricities. The essays repeatedly demonstrate how the novella combines literary entertainment with probing psychological exposition and sharp critiques of human behavior. Although often dismissed as a marginal curiosity, the Italian novella launched a tradition of rich, multilayered storytelling that has commanded a vast readership through the ages. Its unique legacy, unfolded in this collection, deserves to be celebrated."--BOOK JACKET. 1. Lies My Father Told Me : Boccaccio's Novelletta Of Filippo Balducci And His Son / Ernesto Virgulti -- 2. The Crisis Of Word And Deed In Decameron V, 10 / Susan Gaylard -- 3. Master And Servant Roles In The Decameron / Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin -- 4. Telling Lies, Telling Lives : Giovanni Sercambi Between Cronaca And Novella / Myriam Swennen Ruthenberg -- 5. Sercambi's Novelliere And Croniche As Evidence For Musical Entertainment In The Fourteenth Century / Cathy Ann Elias -- 6. The Lover Praised By The Husband : A Courtly Tale Between Exemplum And Novella / Maria Bendinelli Predelli -- 7. Masuccio Salernitano's Gusto Dell'orrido / Michael Papio -- 8. Imitation And Subversion Of Models In Agnolo Firenzuola's I Ragionamenti / Manuela Scarci -- 9. Alterity And Sexual Transgression In The Sixteenth-century Tuscan Novella / Domenico Zanrè -- 10. Animal Anxieties : Straparola's Il Re Porco / Suzanne Magnanini -- 11. The Motif Of The Woman In Male Disguise From Boccaccio To Bigolina / Christopher Nissen. Edited By Gloria Allaire. Developed From Papers Presented At 'the World Of The Novella' Sessions ... Held At The Thirty-fifth And Thirty-sixth International Congresses On Medieval Studies In 2000 And 2001, Under The Sponsorship Of The Medieval Institute At Western Michigan University In Kalamazoo--pref. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.