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Italian Perspectives 41

Legenda

  Spring 2025

ISBN: 978-1-839542-17-6 (hardback)  •  RRP £95, $120, €120

ISBN: 978-1-839542-18-3 (paperback, forthcoming)

ISBN: 978-1-839542-19-0 (JSTOR ebook)

RenaissanceItalianPoetryLinguistics

Throughout the fifteenth century Italian humanists paradoxically refuse to consider the vernacular used by the masterpieces of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio as a cultural language. But throughout the sixteenth century the theorists of the vernacular codify its use and, supporting the action of the printing press, consolidate it as the literary language finally adopted by all Italian literati. In both cases, Italy exercises hegemony over the other European countries. While in France, Spain, Portugal and England vernacular languages become national languages thanks to the existence of the state, Italian becomes the common language of a politically divided nation thanks to its unique illustrious literary tradition. This, in turn, constitutes a reference, to emulate or to reject, for the other European languages. The different dynamics underlying the emergence of modern languages as cultural languages in the various countries of Western Europe are brought to light by examining their specific language debates comparatively.

Mirko Tavoni, formerly professor of Italian linguistics and Dante studies at the University of Pisa, is one of the pre-eminent authorities in the history of linguistic ideas in Dante and in the Renaissance. His published work covers both the comparative history of linguistic ideas in the Renaissance and on Dante, as well as the visionary aspects of Dante's works and his development and identity as an author. This volume brings together in English and for the first time his major contributions to comparative and historical linguistics in the Renaissance.

Permanent link to this title:

www.mhra.org.uk/publications/Renaissance-Linguistics-in-Italy-in-Europe
www.mhra.org.uk/publications/ip-41