Petrarch's 'Fragmenta': The Narrative and Theological Unity of 'Rerum vulgarium fragmenta' (Toronto Italian Studies) - Hardcover

Peterson, Thomas E

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1487500025 ISBN 13: 9781487500023

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2016

Synopsis

Petrarch's Rerum vulgarium fragmenta, a collection of lyric  poems on sacred and profane love and other subjects, has traditionally been viewed as reflecting the conflicted nature of its author. However, award winning author Thomas E. Peterson argues that Petrarch’s  Fragmenta is an ordered and coherent work unified by narrative and theological structures.

By concentrating on the poem’s reliance on Christian tenets and distinguishing between author, narrator and character, Peterson exposes the underlying narrative and theological unity of the work. Building on recent Petrarch scholarship and broader studies of medieval poetics, poetic narrativity, and biblical intertextuality, Peterson conducts a rigorous examination of the Fragmenta’s poetic language. This combination of stylistic and philological analysis recasts Petrarch’s poetry in a new light revealing its radically innovative and liberating character.

About this title

About the Author

Thomas E. Peterson serves on the Scientific Committee of the Centro Studi Franco Fortini at the University of Siena and is Professor of Italian at the University of Georgia.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1487500025
• ISBN 13: 9781487500023
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 344