Dante as a Florentine lyrical author

2021 ◽  
pp. 001458582110226
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Indizio
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Dante Alighieri ◽  
Lyric Poetry ◽  
Medieval Literature ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Competitive Environment ◽  
Upper Class ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Ancient Source ◽  
Scholarly Attention

As one of the outstanding authors of medieval literature, Dante Alighieri has enjoyed seven centuries of close scholarly attention. 1 The immense success of his  Comedy has prompted some modern Dante scholars to assume that such success came easily during his life, even though the  Comedy was fully issued only after the poet’s death. Similar claims for rapid success are also made for the  Vita nuova and some of Dante’s lyric poetry. However, although much ancient source material has been lost, the surviving evidence does not support the view that success came to Dante during his life. Close scrutiny of the manuscript sources suggests a quite different scenario: Dante as an author had to survive in a dynamic and ruthlessly competitive environment (which, by analogy with the theory of natural selection, may have helped to elicit his finest achievements). His goal was to persuade the highly educated and affluent Florentine upper class to abandon its attachment to the prevailing lyrical school, represented by the authoritative and apparently indomitable Guittone d’Arezzo and his followers. Only then would Dante and the new poets (the  Stilnovisti) stand a chance of seeing their work collected in the prestigious and expensive  canzonieri. Probably, on the evidence of the surviving collections and other manuscripts (Escorialense, Laur. Martelli 12, etc), Dante did not fully achieve his goal — a situation which changed, dramatically, only after the  Comedy was published.

VIII.—The Romance Lyric From The Standpoint of Antecedent Latin Documents

PMLA ◽  
1911 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-314
Author(s):  
F. M. Warren
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Lyric Poetry ◽  
Medieval Literature ◽  
First Century ◽  
Chronological Order ◽  
Satisfactory Solution ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Natural Emotion ◽  
Definite Result ◽  
Relevant Material

The relation of Latin lyric poetry to the lyric poetry of the Romance peoples remains one of the interesting problems of medieval literature. It has already challenged the industry of generations of investigators with no definite result. And it may be doubted whether conclusions which are self-convincing will be reached in the immediate future. The chief hindrance to a satisfactory solution is presented, of course, by the incompleteness of relevant material. The examples of Latin lyrics which may be considered as expressive of natural emotion are few in number before the end of the eleventh century, and the poems of William IX are the first in Romance. There may be found here and there, to be sure, scattered hints of the existence of non-artistic poetry, whether in Latin or the vernacular, but the information so furnished by Latin writers is uncertain as well as meager. Widely different interpretations may be put on it. Contradictory theories find inconclusive support in it, further confusing an already perplexing problem. In view of all this doubt, and the difficulties with which the subject is still beset, it may not be unprofitable to go over the ground once more, and arrange the documents which allude to non-literary poetry, Latin or Romance, in their chronological order from the first century to the eleventh. While nothing new may be discovered from such a classification it will be useful to have at hand, grouped together, the texts from which the opposing factions draw their partisan arguments.

The Literature of Chartism

2014 ◽  
pp. 82-102
Author(s):  
Ian Haywood
Keyword(s):  
Political Reform ◽  
Upper Class ◽  
Radical Politics ◽  
Democratic Movement ◽  
Passionate Commitment ◽  
Thomas Cooper ◽  
Critical Interest ◽  
Scholarly Attention ◽  
Ernest Jones

This chapter surveys and assesses the growing critical interest in the literature of Chartism. One of the most remarkable aspects of Britain’s first mass democratic movement was its significant output of creative literature. From the late 1830s to the early 1850s Chartist newspapers and periodicals published thousands of poems and a substantial amount of shorter and longer fiction. All this literature—whether written by anonymous and forgotten supporters or by more established Chartist authors such as Thomas Cooper, Ernest Jones and George W. M. Reynolds—combined a passionate commitment to political reform with a striving for new imaginative forms, voices, and narratives. Chartism mounted a direct challenge to the middle- and upper-class domination of both politics and literature, and it is this interweaving of radical politics and aesthetics that has continued to attract scholarly attention.

DOGS OF WAR, OR DOGS IN WAR? THE USE OF DOGS IN CLASSICAL GREEK WARFARE

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-246
Author(s):  
Owen Rees
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
World War ◽  
Short Article ◽  
Ancient Source ◽  
Second World

In 1941, E. S. Forster wrote a short article, published in this journal, which compiled all of the instances he could identify in the ancient source material that described dogs being used in a military capacity. G. B. A. Fletcher, who had identified a few obscure references that Forster had not cited, responded to Forster's paper later that same year. The purpose of both papers was simply the compiling of a list, a purpose that had been inspired by Forster's interest in the French army's recruitment of dogs on the outbreak of the Second World War. The result was a thorough catalogue of known examples, showing the ancient dog being used for a variety of purposes such as patrol work or observation duties, or being used as combatants or despatch couriers. The primary aim, according to Forster was to ‘make a comparison with modern practice’ – that is, the French practice he had read about; the only exception for which he could find no ancient evidence was what he called ‘Red Cross’ work.

A Communication-Information Model of Competitive Response Timing

1991 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken G. Smith ◽  
Curtis M. Grimm
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Information Model ◽  
Competitive Environment ◽  
Competitive Response ◽  
Response Timing ◽  
Competitive Actions ◽  
Scholarly Attention ◽  
Interfirm Rivalry

Although issues of timing in interfirm rivalry are critical to strategic managers, rarely have they received scholarly attention. A model of competitive response timing is here proposed that contains three basic elements: competitive actions, responses, and response timing. The article discusses howfirms enhance performance by undertaking actions and responses; the speed with which one firm responds to another s action is explained by communication-information theory. Specifically, the speed with which afirm responds to a competitor's action is posited to be afunction of (a) characteristics of the actot; (b) characteristics of the action, (c) how the action is communicated, (d) the competitive environment, and (e) the characteristics of the potential respondingfirm. Hypotheses regarding the determinants of competitive response timing are developedfrom communication-information theory.

Augustus and Lares Augusti

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriet I. Flower
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Religious Reform ◽  
Ancient Source ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The City

This chapter explores the nature of Augustus' religious reform, its implementation by the princeps, and its impact in the city. It uses a combination of approaches to elucidate the variety of ancient source material and the intersections between the different pieces of surviving evidence. A consideration of Octavian/Augustus' role and image in the city before 8/7 BC serves to introduce a more detailed analysis of the moment of religious reform itself, as far as we can understand it from our slim evidence. The chapter also looks at lares augusti in their own right and in the context of their cult at the crossroads shrines, and argues that no cult of Augustus' genius was to be found at the crossroads in Rome or in the home during his lifetime.

A New Crassus as Roman Villain

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Conditioning Regimen ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Physical Conditioning ◽  
Ancient Source

This chapter examines the historical Crassus as reimagined in the STARZ Spartacus series by means of clever adaptations and modifications. It argues that Crassus undergoes a transformation, as he is sexualized by the addition of a tender romance with a slave woman, Kore—an affair turned bitter by the machinations of an invented son named Tiberius—and by his gladiator-style physical conditioning regimen. The result is a compelling characterization that is not a product of its literary and cinematic predecessors but is remarkably consistent with the ancient source material and respectful of at least some of the realities of period.

Romance Studies 3: Dante

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Deyermond
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Dante Alighieri ◽  
Medieval Literature ◽  
General Studies ◽  
Divina Commedia

This chapter examines British studies and research with regard to medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri. It explains that Dante and his Divina commedia have been a central preoccupation of British Italianists throughout the twentieth century and that it was the focus of the first two volumes of the influential Cambridge Studies on Medieval Literature series. Notable general studies of the Commedia include Sir Cyril Hinshelwood's article on its imagery, Sheila Ralphs' short book on allegorical patterns, and two longer books by Jeremy Tambling and Patrick Boyde.

Aspiration to the Extraordinary

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Marshik
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Upper Class ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Dorothy Sayers

Examines fancy dress, which was wildly popular wear for costume parties in the early twentieth century. In a range of popular publications, authors suggest that such costumes cannot change or transform the characters that wear it. In contrast, Woolf and Dorothy Sayers write fiction in which costumes can utterly change those who wear them but limit such powers to upper-class, highly educated characters

Introductory Remarks

1981 ◽  
Vol 293 (1063) ◽  
pp. 3-4 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Catalytic Activity ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Competitive Environment ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Anaerobic Conditions ◽  
Structure Activity ◽  
Evolution By Natural Selection ◽  
And Function ◽  
Regulatory Properties

The three aspects of the enzymes of glycolysis - structure, activity and evolution - are, of course, closely interlinked, because catalytic activity, as well as regulatory properties, depend on structure. As for evolution, a relevant general principle of evolution by natural selection states that the chances of survival in a competitive environment are greatest if optimal use is made of resources. From this principle arises the question: are the structures of enzymes optimal or can more effective enzymes be visualized? In attempting to answer this question one must bear in mind that the main physiological significance of glycolysis is to, provide energy under anaerobic conditions. To make clear what I have in mind about the relations between evolution, structure and function, I should like to illustrate my point by a recent experience in a neighbouring field, that of aerobic energy-providing processes.

Literary form, hierarchies and the meeting of two plots in Patrick Gale’s ‘A Slight Chill’

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Ue
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Literary Form ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Film Adaptation ◽  
Scholarly Attention

This article incorporates Gerald Prince’s and Caroline Levine’s work on form to reveal some of the innovations in Patrick Gale’s ‘A Slight Chill’ ([1996] 2018). This short story juxtaposes two antagonistic plots: the vampire Lotta Wexel’s gastronomic activities and her teacher Angel Voysey’s romance. By attending to, and drawing connections between, smaller forms (e.g. allusions and metaphors) and larger ones (plots and genre), I argue that we may better understand Gale’s project. Lotta’s plot effectively exposes and frustrates Angel’s. In foregrounding such interactions, he encourages the reader to reassess both the affordances and the inadequacies of the models and expectations that Angel inherits. This article goes on to analyse Gale’s screenplay for his upcoming film adaptation to show how he gives a new application to his earlier project. If the short story is particularly invested in the decisions before Angel, then the screenplay explores, even more so than its source material, how and why we categorize characters into hierarchical forms. This article contributes to knowledge, then, by examining Gale’s writing programme, which has received inadequate scholarly attention; by illuminating some of its complexities; and by demonstrating the value of thinking about the short story in terms of form.

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