Decameron And The Philosophy Of Storytelling

Author : Richard Kuhns
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2005-05-11
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 0231509820

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Decameron and the Philosophy of Storytelling by Richard Kuhns Pdf

In this creative and engaging reading, Richard Kuhns explores the ways in which Decameron'ssexual themes lead into philosophical inquiry, moral argument, and aesthetic and literary criticism. As he reveals the stories' many philosophical insights and literary pleasures, Kuhns also examines Decameronin the context of the nature of storytelling, its relationship to other classic works of literature, and the culture of trecento Italy. Stories and storytelling are to be interpreted in terms of a wider cultural context that includes masks, metamorphosis, mythic themes, and character analysis, all of which Boccaccio explores with wit and subtlety. As a storyteller, Boccaccio represents himself as literary pimp, conceiving the relationship between storyteller and audience in sexual terms within a tradition that goes back as far as Socrates' conversations with the young Athenians. As a whole, Boccaccio's great collection of stories creates a trenchant criticism of the ideas that dominated his social and cultural world. Addressed as it is to women who were denied opportunities for education, the author's stories create a university of wise and culturally observant texts. He teaches that comic, religious, sexual, and artistic themes can be seen to function as metaphors for hidden and often dangerous unorthodox thoughts. Kuhns suggests that Decameronis one of the first self-conscious creations of what we today call "a total work of art." Throughout the stories, Boccaccio creates a detailed picture of the Florentine trecento cultural world. Giotto, Buffalmacco, and other great painters of Boccaccio's time appear in the stories. Their works and the paintings that surround the characters as they prepare to leave the plague-ridden city, with their representations of Dante, Aquinas, and other thinkers, are essential to understanding the ways the stories work with other works of art and illuminate and enlarge interpretations of Boccaccio's book.

Author : Giovanni Boccaccio
Publisher : Good Press
Page : 510 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2019-11-22
Category : Fiction
ISBN : EAN:4057664634221

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The Decameron (Day 1 to Day 5) by Giovanni Boccaccio Pdf

'The Decameron' is a collection of short stories by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio. The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men; they shelter in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose.

Author : Areti Dragas
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2014-08-31
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781623561949

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The Return of the Storyteller in Contemporary Fiction by Areti Dragas Pdf

Focusing on the figure of the storyteller, this study breaks new ground in the approach to reading contemporary literature by identifying a growing interest in storytelling. For the last thirty years contemporary fiction has been influenced by theoretical discourses, textuality and writing. Only since the rise of postcolonialism have academic critics been more overtly interested in stories, where high theory frameworks are less applicable. However, as we move through various contemporary contexts engaging with postcolonial identities and hybridity, to narratives of disability and evolutionary accounts of group and individual survival, a common feature of all is the centrality of story, which posits both the idea of survival and the passing on of traditions. This book closely examines this preoccupation with story and storytelling through a close reading of sixteen contemporary international novels written in English which are about actual 'storytellers', revealing how death of the author has given birth to the storyteller.

Author : Olivia Holmes,Dana Stewart
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 452 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2018-06-12
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781487513955

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Reconsidering Boccaccio by Olivia Holmes,Dana Stewart Pdf

Reconsidering Boccaccio highlights the great Florentine writer Giovanni Boccaccio’s remarkable achievements in the fourteenth century as a cultural mediator; his exceptional social, geographic, and intellectual range; and the influence of his legacy on numerous cultural networks. Grounded in Boccaccio’s own writings, Reconsidering Boccaccio brings a variety of methodologies and critical approaches to the works of one of the ‘three crowns’ of Italian literature. Containing essays by scholars not only of Italian literature, but also history, law, classics, and Middle Eastern literature, this collection is part of a vital movement to open up a dialogue among researchers in various areas of study that touch on the works of Boccaccio. The volume highlights the necessity of a technical and historical framework when approaching Boccaccio studies, while also shedding new light on the lives of women and their role in the reception of Boccaccio’s works.

Author : David Lummus
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2021
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 9781487508715

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Decameron Sixth Day in Perspective by David Lummus Pdf

The expert readings in this collection explore the ten stories of Day Six of Boccaccio's Decameron - a day that involves meditations on language, narration, and meaning

Author : Jean Shepherd Hamm
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 389 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2009-11-25
Category : History
ISBN : 9780313359682

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Term Paper Resource Guide to Medieval History by Jean Shepherd Hamm Pdf

Help students get the most out of studying medieval history with this comprehensive and practical research guide to topics and resources. Term Paper Resource Guide to Medieval History brings key historic events and individuals alive to enrich and stimulate students in challenging and enjoyable ways. Students from high school to college will be able to get a jump start on assignments with the hundreds of term paper projects and research information offered here. The book transforms and elevates the research experience and will prove an invaluable resource for motivating and educating students. Each event entry begins with a brief summary to pique interest and then offers original and thought-provoking term paper ideas in both standard and alternative formats that often incorporate the latest in electronic media, such as the iPod and iMovie. The best primary and secondary sources for further research are annotated, followed by vetted, stable website suggestions and multimedia resources, usually films, for further viewing and listening.

Author : V. Ferme
Publisher : Springer
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2015-06-04
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781137482815

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Women, Enjoyment, and the Defense of Virtue in Boccaccio’s Decameron by V. Ferme Pdf

Providing new ways of reading Boccaccio's masterpiece, Decameron , Ferme analyzes the dynamics between the women who rule the first half of the story. Peeling back the many narrative layers within and outside of the framework, this book unearths the complications and trickery surrounding gender and death in Boccaccio's world and culture.

Author : Giovanni Boccaccio
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 437 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2016-04-04
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780393614664

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The Decameron (International Student Edition) (Norton Critical Editions) by Giovanni Boccaccio Pdf

This volume presents fifty-five stories, newly translated, of the hundred novelle that comprise Boccaccio’s masterpiece. Winner of the 2014 PEN USA Literary Award for Translation This Norton Critical Edition includes: · Fifty-five judiciously chosen stories from Wayne A. Rebhorn’s translation of The Decameron. · Introductory materials and explanatory footnotes by Wayne A. Rebhorn, along with three maps. · Biographical works by Filippo Villani and Ludovico Dolce along with literary studies by Francesco Petrarca, Andreas Capellanus, and Boccaccio. · Eleven critical essays, including those by Giuseppe Mazzotta, Millicent Marcus, Teodolinda Barolini, Susanne L. Wofford, Luciano Rossi, and Richard Kuhns. · A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography.

Author : Giovanni Boccaccio
Publisher : BoD - Books on Demand
Page : 1040 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2023-07-07
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9791041804757

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The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio Pdf

In the time of a devastating pandemic, seven women and three men withdraw to a country estate outside Florence to give themselves a diversion from the death around them. Once there, they decide to spend some time each day telling stories, each of the ten to tell one story each day. They do this for ten days, with a few other days of rest in between, resulting in the 100 stories of the Decameron. The Decameron was written after the Black Plague spread through Italy in 1348. Most of the tales did not originate with Boccaccio; some of them were centuries old already in his time, but Boccaccio imbued them all with his distinctive style. The stories run the gamut from tragedy to comedy, from lewd to inspiring, and sometimes all of those at once. They also provide a detailed picture of daily life in fourteenth-century Italy.

Author : Franco Masciandaro
Publisher : Firenze University Press
Page : 184 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2013
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9788866553601

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The Stranger as Friend by Franco Masciandaro Pdf

Author : Robert Pogue Harrison
Publisher : ReadHowYouWant.com
Page : 382 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2010-10
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 9781459606265

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Gardens by Robert Pogue Harrison Pdf

Humans have long turned to gardens - both real and imaginary - for sanctuary from the frenzy and tumult that surrounds them. Those gardens may be as far away from everyday reality as Gilgamesh's garden of the gods or as near as our own backyard, but in their very conception and the marks they bear of human care and cultivation, gardens stand as restorative, nourishing, necessary havens. With Gardens, Robert Pogue Harrison graces readers with a thoughtful, wide-ranging examination of the many ways gardens evoke the human condition. Moving from the gardens of ancient philosophers to the gardens of homeless people in contemporary New York, he shows how, again and again, the garden has served as a check against the destruction and losses of history. The ancients, explains Harrison, viewed gardens as both a model and a location for the laborious self-cultivation and self-improvement that are essential to serenity and enlightenment, an association that has continued throughout the ages. The Bible and Qur'an; Plato's Academy and Epicurus's Garden School; Zen rock and Islamic carpet gardens; Boccaccio, Rihaku, Capek, Cao Xueqin, Italo Calvino, Ariosto, Michel Tournier, and Hannah Arendt - all come into play as this work explores the ways in which the concept and reality of the garden has informed human thinking about mortality, order, and power. Alive with the echoes and arguments of Western thought, Gardens is a fitting continuation of the intellectual journeys of Harrison's earlier classics, Forests and The Dominion of the Dead. Voltaire famously urged us to cultivate our gardens; with this compelling volume, Robert Pogue Harrison reminds us of the nature of that responsibility - and its enduring importance to humanity.

Author : Albrecht Classen
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 330 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2018-03-05
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781351001069

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Toleration and Tolerance in Medieval European Literature by Albrecht Classen Pdf

Toleration and Tolerance in Medieval European Literature aims to examine and unearth the critical investigations of toleration and tolerance presented in literary texts of the Middle Ages. In contrast to previous approaches, this volume identifies new methods of interpreting conventional classifications of toleration and tolerance through the emergence of multi-level voices in literary, religious, and philosophical discourses of authorities in medieval literature. Accordingly, this volume identifies two separate definitions of toleration and tolerance, the former as a representative of a majority group accepts a member of the minority group but still holds firmly to the believe that s/he is right and the other entirely wrong, and tolerance meaning that all faiths, convictions, and ideologies are treated equally, and the majority speaker is ready to accept that potentially his/her position is wrong. Applying these distinct differences in the critical investigation of interaction and representation in context, this book offers new insight into the tolerant attitudes portrayed in medieval literature of which regularly appealed, influenced and shaped popular opinions of the period.

Author : Benjamin Bennett
Publisher : Fordham Univ Press
Page : 359 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780823229161

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The Dark Side of Literacy by Benjamin Bennett Pdf

A radical critique of the concepts of 'reading' and 'the' reader as they are commonly used in literary criticism. The book sketches in broad terms the historical provenance of 'the' reader, in an argument that includes discussions of Dante Boccaccio, Cervantes, Marlowe and German idealist philosophy.

Author : Thomas L. Cooksey III
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 255 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2006-03-30
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780313017957

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Masterpieces of Philosophical Literature by Thomas L. Cooksey III Pdf

Some works of philosophy also stand as significant contributions to literature, and some works of literature have profoundly influenced philosophy. Written expressly for high school and college students, this reference insightfully introduces ten widely studied works of philosophical literature. Individual chapters discuss Plato's Republic, Augustine's Confessions, Dante's Divine Comedy, More's Utopia, Voltaire's Candide, Goethe's Faust, Kierkegaard's Either/Or, Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Huxley's Brave New World, and Borges' Labyrinths. An introductory chapter considers such issues as the nature of philosophical literature, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography. Despite Plato's banning of poets from the ideal community, some works of philosophy also stand as significant contributions to literature, and some works of literature have profoundly influenced philosophy. Such works have the power to challenge, provoke, and move the reader, and they upset complacent assumptions and demand new thinking. They also draw on the resources of language and literature to explore enduring issues. Written expressly for high school and college students, this reference conveniently introduces ten widely studied works of philosophical literature.

Author : William Robins
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 293 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2020-07-09
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781487535131

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The Decameron Eighth Day in Perspective by William Robins Pdf

Divided into ten days of ten novellas each, Boccaccio’s Decameron is one of the literary gems of the fourteenth century. The Decameron Eighth Day in Perspective is an interpretive guide to the stories of the text’s Day Eight – a day dedicated to tales of tricks and practical jokes. By drawing on literary precursors such as fabliaux, epic, philosophy, exempla, Dante’s Commedia, and scripture, and by meditating on the dynamics of civic engagement in fourteenth-century Florence, Boccaccio develops in these stories of jests a self-consciously literary representation of the Florentine social imaginary. The essays in this volume, all written by prominent scholars, survey previous scholarship and open up new cultural and historical perspectives on Boccaccio’s sophisticated art of storytelling. They analyze both the literary sources that Boccaccio’s comic narratives transform, as well as the political, legal, and ethical contexts with which they engage. Each contributor tackles a single tale, yet their essays also register major themes and concerns that recur throughout Day Eight, allowing for close connections among the essays.