Scribd
Upload
645 views

Italian Literature Written Report

The document provides an overview of Italian literature from ancient times to the present day. It discusses classical Italian literature from the Roman era including works by Virgil, Horace, Livy, and Ovid. It then covers the rise of literature written in the Italian language in the 13th-14th centuries, noting Dante's Divine Comedy as a seminal work. Renaissance literature in Italy is described as focusing more on art and architecture than literature. Major themes and authors throughout Italian literary history are examined.

Uploaded by

Lachica Dennis
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
645 views

Italian Literature Written Report

The document provides an overview of Italian literature from ancient times to the present day. It discusses classical Italian literature from the Roman era including works by Virgil, Horace, Livy, and Ovid. It then covers the rise of literature written in the Italian language in the 13th-14th centuries, noting Dante's Divine Comedy as a seminal work. Renaissance literature in Italy is described as focusing more on art and architecture than literature. Major themes and authors throughout Italian literary history are examined.

Uploaded by

Lachica Dennis
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

ITALIAN LITERATURE

 The rise of a literature , both written and spoken , in the vernacular


began in the 13th century ; a period of a great political and civil revival in
the Italian cities and a lively renaissance in art and culture after the
difficult centuries following barbarian domination. There were a great
number of trends in 13th- century literature ; religious poetry; the comic
satirical poetry of Cecco Angiolieri; chivalric literature; didactic and
moralistic prose and the most widespread , love poetry.
 The first Italian poetry written with literary pretensions emerged, and
flourished in Sicily at the court of the Emperor Frederick II, starting from
around 1220 and inspired by Provencal love lyrics. The poets of the
Sicilian school (Guido delle Colonne, Pier dela Vigna, Cielo Dalcamo)
treated their single theme of love according to the courtly model. In this
way poetic tradition was begun in which the vernacular Italian was
increasingly cleansed of dialectical excess. Later this trend spread to
central Italy especially Tuscany where the poets (Chiaro Davanzati,
Compiuta Donzella) expanded and enriched the Sicilian lyric by
confronting moral and political themes which reflected the ideals of
Communal life.
 Italy is in many ways viewed as the cradle of western civilization. It
comes as no surprise then that Italy has a vastly rich history of which
literature has always been an important part throughout the ages. Here
we’ve highlighted some of the most important contributors to literature in
Italy according to different literary periods.

Classical Italian Literature

 Ancient Rome was the military and cultural centre of the world discipline
in Italy during Roman times producing several classical works of
literature that are still read today. It is amazing to think that such great
works of literature were written in Italy as far back as 800BC. Some of
the biggest names in Italian literature from this period include Horace,
Virgil, Livy, and Ovid. Perhaps the single most memorable piece of
literature to come out of Italy from this time was Aenid written by Virgil.
This piece of literature from Italy can be viewed as the forefather of
many great heroic epics, and involves the protagonist of the story Troy
and eventually becoming the leader of Rome.

Literature in the Italian Language


 although the above mentioned classical literature was all written in Italy
by Italians , the Romans used to speak and write in Latin. The first
noteworthy examples of literature from Italy written in the Italian
language date back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Among the very best of
names in Italian literature from this period is Dante Alighieri who wrote
the divine comedy. This piece of literature is still widely read today and
involves a trip through heaven and hell. Other significant names in
literature in Italy from the same period include Francesco Petrarza and
Geovanni Boccaccio.

Renaissance literature in Italy

 although the renaissance is rightly credited as the birth of culture in


Europe, it is strange to note that relatively few advances took place in the
field of literature in Italy at this time. The renaissance in Italy was more
about art and architecture than literature.

 Peter Hainsworth and David Robey consider Italian literature from the
Middle Ages to the present day, looking at themes and issues which have
recurred throughout its history and continue to be of importance today.
Examining themes such as regional identities, political disunity, and the
role of the national language, they also cover a wide range of authors and
works, including Dante, Petrarch, Manzoni, Montale, and Calvino. They
explore some of the distinctive traditions of the literature, such as its
liking for theorizing its own position, its concern with politics, and its
secular orientation in spite of the Catholic beliefs and practices of the
Italian people. Concluding by looking at the ways in which Italian
literature has changed over the last thirty years, they examine the
influence of women's writing in Italian, and acknowledge the belated
recognition of its importance.

The arts

Italy was at the forefront of the artistic and intellectual developments of the
Renaissance, which drew their impetus from a reappraisal of the Classical
Greek and Roman world. Artists and scholars in Italy were especially well
placed to take the lead in such a revival, since they were surrounded by the
material remains of antiquity.

Visual arts

The great names in Italian art through the centuries make a long list that
includes, among many others, Giotto, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Michelangelo,
Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Bernini, and Tiepolo.

Italy is a world leader in high fashion, an industry centred in Milan, a haven for
models, designers, and photographers who come to work in the houses of
Versace, Gucci, Krizia, Ferragamo, Valentino, Dolce &Gabbana, Prada, and
Armani, among many others. Italian design houses such as Modigliani and
Alessi have also been strongly influential.
Music

Italian music has been one of the supreme expressions of that art in Europe:
the Gregorian chant, the innovation of modern musical notation in the 11th
century, the troubadour song, the madrigal, and the work of Palestrina and
Monteverdi all form part of Italy’s proud musical heritage, as do such
composers as Vivaldi, Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti, Rossini, Donizetti,
Verdi, Puccini, and Bellini.

Theatre

There are a large number of theatres in Italy, many of which are privately run.
A number of publicly operated permanent theatres (teatristabili) are funded by
the state and supervised by the Ministry for Tourism. Three public
organizations to promote theatrical activity in Italy are the Italian Theatre
Board (EnteTeatraleItaliano; ETI), the Institute for Italian Drama
(IstitutoDrammaItaliano; IDI), concerned with promoting Italian repertory, and
the National Institute for Ancient Drama (IstitutoNazionaledelDrammaAntico;
INDA). In 1990 the government tightened its legislation on eligibility for
funding, which severely affected fringe and experimental theatres. Financial
constraints in subsequent years led to an increasing number of international
coproductions.

Film

The heyday of the Italian film was in the 1950s. Neorealism, best represented
in the work of Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica, diverged from the
escapism favoured during the interwar years to take a candid look at prevailing
conditions in postwar Italy. This new style attracted world attention. Cinecittà,
the complex of film studios built by Mussolini near Rome, became known as
the Hollywood of Europe. Rome became the centre for the international jet set,
who frequented the grand hotels and smart cafés of the Via Veneto, attracting a
new breed of celebrity-hungry photographers known as paparazzi.

You might also like