What works are Italian. Italian literature: the best writers and works
Italy is a storehouse of art of Western civilization. This is not surprising, because Italy is a country with very rich history, in which literature has been an important part for centuries. Italian becomes a literary language relatively late - in the 13th century. Other Neo-Latin languages separated almost two centuries earlier. This phenomenon is explained by the stability of the Latin tradition in Italy. Nowhere was Latin so tenacious, nowhere was it so widely used as in Italy. The sources of knowledge of the Latin language in Italy were schools. They were of a relatively secular and practical nature: they were compiled practical guides writing in Latin (Ars dictaminis or Breviarium de dictamine of Alberich from Montecassino), paid more attention to the development of style and rhetoric than to grammatical knowledge of the language. German Latinists knew the language more clearly, while the Italians were content with mastering it in general terms.
Great Italian writers made the word an art. Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Livy and Cicero, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Fisino, Mirandola and Visari were from Italy. We will tell you on this page only about some of them.
The most outstanding poet of Ancient Rome, Virgil, was born in 70 BC in the ancient Roman town of Andes near the city of Mantua. Virgil's first significant work is Bucolica. After him, at the request of the same Patron, he wrote “Georgica” (Georgics). And after long and painstaking preliminary sketches, in 29 BC he began writing the triumphal “Aeneid,” on which he worked for several years. This is Virgil's greatest poem, it has a completely unique, incomparable reputation and historical destiny. And in Ancient Rome and in all subsequent centuries, it firmly and undoubtedly belonged to the greatest and most magnificent creations of world fiction. And at the same time, there was never a lack of fierce criticism, censure, and ridicule. The definition of “artificial” is firmly attached to the Aeneid. And yet there is something about Virgil's main work that allows it to pass through centuries, millennia, countries, empires and continents.
Ovid, Publius Ovid Naso, the great Roman poet was born in 43 BC. e. He lived in Rome and led the carefree life of a rich man, doing what he liked - poetry. His first known works are the erotic poems “The Science of Love” and “The Cure for Love.” They are not alien to naturalism and are a kind of instructions on various issues of love relationships. In his great epic poem “Metamorphoses,” Ovid used significant folklore and mythological material - 250 plots dedicated to the transformation of people, wild animals, domestic animals into plants and stones, objects, constellations, etc. In exile, he wrote two more books: “ Mournful Elegies" and "Pontic Epistles". The titles of these two books seemed to foreshadow the future of the poet. He was destined to die far from Rome, among the barbarians.
Quintus Horace Flaccus (December 8, 65 BC, Venusia - November 27, 8 BC, Rome) is an ancient Roman poet of the “golden age” of Roman literature. His work dates back to the era civil wars the end of the Republic and the first decades of the new regime of Octavian Augustus.
Horace left behind a significant literary heritage: satires, lyrics (odes), philosophical messages, reasoning and instructions on everyday life and philosophy in the spirit of Epicureanism and Stoicism), which had a great influence on the subsequent formation of classicism.
And his expression " Golden mean“became a catchphrase; it embodied the testament of ancient civilization to the New Age. This cult of measure and moderation was, of course, far from a complete expression of ancient humanism, but it contained a lesson in reasonable harmony, which became the most important component of both the aesthetic and ethical ideal of man. Horace was read a lot not only in antiquity, but also in modern times, so all of his works have come down to us: a collection of poems “Iambics” or “Epodes”, two books of satires (“Conversations”), four books of lyric poems known as “Odes”, the anniversary hymn “Song of the Century” and two books of messages.
Horace's pen also includes the following popular expressions:
Carpe diem - “seize the day” (Carmina I 11, 8). In full: “carpe diem quam minimum credula postero”, “take advantage of (every) day, relying as little as possible on the next.”
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - “It is beautiful and sweet to die for the fatherland” (Carmina III 2, 13). A slogan often used in World War I newspapers; also the title of the English poet Wilfred Owen's bitterly ironic poem "Dulce Et Decorum Est" about this war.
Sapere aude - “decide to be wise” (Epistulae I 2, 40). The saying was adopted by Immanuel Kant and became a kind of slogan of the Age of Enlightenment. This saying is the motto of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (option “dare to know”).
Titus Livius, the greatest historian of ancient Rome, was born in the city of Patavia (modern Padua; later some local flavor was found in his language). His hometown, which took part in the civil war on the side of Pompey, fostered the republican sympathies of the future historian. Became the founder of the so-called alternative history, rhetorically describing Rome's possible struggle with Alexander the Great if the latter had lived longer. Livy named Demosthenes and Cicero as examples of perfect style. Livy came from a wealthy family; in his early youth he came to Rome, where he received a good education, after which he took up philosophy, history and rhetoric. Although he had a close relationship with Augustus, Livy did not take an active part in political life.
"Annals" - the largest historical work contained the history of Rome from the legendary foundation of the city to 9 BC. e. The work on the Annals took 45 years. In the Annals, which comprise 142 books, Livy gave a detailed description of the history of Rome. Unfortunately, only 35 books (descriptions of events before 293 BC and 218-168 BC) have reached us fully preserved, while the rest are known in brief versions. But, despite this, the “Annals”, called “Roman history from the foundation of the city” during their later reproduction, represent the greatest value in the culture of antiquity.
Cicero Marcus Tullius was a Roman politician, orator, philosopher and writer. Supporter of the republican system. From his writings, 58 judicial and political speeches, 19 treatises on rhetoric, politics, philosophy and more than 800 letters have been preserved. The works of Cicero are a source of information about the era of civil wars in Rome.
Cicero was born on January 3, 106 AD, in Arpina (Italy), 120 km southeast of Rome, into a family of horsemen. From the year 90 he lived in Rome, studying eloquence from the jurist Mucius Scaevola Augur. In 76 he was elected quaestor and performed magistrate duties in the province of Sicily. As a quaestor, having completed his magistracy, he became a member of the Senate and went through all stages of his Senate career: at 69 - aedile, 66 - praetor, 63 - consul. As consul, Cicero suppressed Catiline's anti-Senate conspiracy, receiving, in recognition of his services, the honorary title of Father of the Fatherland (for the first time in the history of Rome, awarded not for military exploits). Marcus Tullius Cicero became a teacher of oratory for many generations of lawyers, who studied, in particular, such Cicero techniques as lamentation. More than 800 letters from Cicero also survive, containing a wealth of biographical information and a wealth of valuable information about Roman society at the end of the republic. His philosophical treatises, which do not contain new ideas, are valuable because they present, in detail and without distortion, the teachings of the leading philosophical schools of his time: the Stoics, Academicians and Epicureans.
Cicero's works had a strong influence on religious thinkers, in particular, St. Augustine, representatives of the Renaissance and humanism (Petrarch, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Boccaccio), French enlighteners (Diderot, Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu) and many others.
Dante was born and lived in Florence, and was elected to the city government. Later he had to learn how difficult the fate of an exile is, how bitter the bread is in a foreign land. For almost twenty years the poet wandered around different cities Italy, hoping and despairing, and died in 1321 in Ravenna, never having crossed the city limits of his native Florence. Dante Alighieri was a strictly religious man and did not experience those acute moral and mental fluctuations, the reflection of which was seen in his work.
When young Dante began to write poetry, poets old school they preferred Latin, which no one spoke anymore. Dante had the courage to make it his duty to write in the vernacular Italian. Twenty-six-year-old Dante wrote in poetry and prose about his love for Beatrice and called this book “ New life».
The last years of its difficult and hectic life Dante wrote a poem, which, according to the custom of that time, he called “Comedy.” In order to write such a huge poem in terzas, one had to master all the riches of one’s native language. Dante, expressing in the poem the thoughts that overwhelmed him about the fate of his homeland, used all possibilities - vocabulary, rhythm, musicality. Descendants appreciated the depth of the work and the talent of the author and, to express their admiration, called it “The Divine Comedy.” In an allegorical sense, the plot of the “Divine Comedy” is a person. And since a person acts righteously or unrighteously by virtue of his free will, then he is subject to rewarding or punishing Justice. The purpose of the poem is to “bring people out of their miserable state to a state of bliss.” This is what it says in the message to Can Grande della Scala, the ruler of Verona, to whom Dante allegedly dedicated the last part of his comedy, interpreting its literal and hidden allegorical meaning. This message is suspected of being Dantean. But already the oldest commentators on comedy, including Dante’s son, used it, although without naming the author.
“I am silent about your beauty in poetry. And, feeling deep embarrassment, I want to correct this omission And I fly to the memory of the first meeting.”. These beautiful lines, which every lover has the honor of reading to his beloved, were written 700 years ago by Francesco Petrarca, whom everyone knows as one of the most wonderful lyric poets of all times. This fame was brought to him by his poems about the beautiful Laura. She was married, but this did not stop the poet in love for 21 years from praising her beauty and mourning her death for many more years. Petrarch loved his country, his poems glorifying Italy became the anthem of Italian patriots for centuries. Petrarch is called the first humanist of the Renaissance, but few people know that the word “humanist” itself owes its origin to Petrarch. He was the first to contrast medieval science, which was then called “divine knowledge,” with the study of man, calling it “human knowledge.” In Latin it is pronounced "humana studio". Hence the word “humanism”. Petrarch's works fall into two unequal parts: Italian poetry(“Canzoniere”) and various works written in Latin. If Petrarch's Latin works have more historical significance, then his world fame as a poet is based solely on his Italian poems. Petrarch himself treated them with disdain, as “trifles”, “trinkets”, which he wrote not for the public, but for himself, striving “somehow, not for the sake of glory, to ease a sorrowful heart.” The spontaneity and deep sincerity of Petrarch's Italian poems determined their enormous influence on his contemporaries and later generations.
Boccaccio 
Giovanni Boccaccio was the illegitimate son of a Florentine merchant and a French woman and was born in the summer of 1313 (more precisely unknown). His family came from Certaldo, which is why he called himself Boccaccio da Certaldo. Giovanni's penchant for poetry manifested itself in early childhood. But when the boy turned ten, his father apprenticed him to a merchant.
Giovanni Boccaccio is the author of a number of historical and mythological works in Latin. The main work of Boccaccio, which immortalized his name, was his famous and notorious “Decameron”, which is a series of subtle, ironic short stories, imbued with humanistic ideas, the spirit of freethinking and anti-clericalism, and rejection of ascetic morality. Erotic pictures and life-affirming humor quite unexpectedly reveal to us the customs of the 14th century.
Boccaccio is the author of a number of historical and mythological works in Latin. These include the encyclopedic work “Genealogy of the Pagan Gods” in 15 books (“De genealogia deorum gentilium”, first edition around 1360, treatises “On mountains, forests, springs, lakes, rivers, swamps and seas” (“De montibus, silvis, fontibus, lacubus, fluminibus, stagnis seu paludibus et de nominibus maris", started around 1355-1357); 9 books “On the misfortunes of famous people” (“De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium”, first edition around 1360). women" ("De claris mulieribus", begun around 1361) includes 106 women's biographies- from Eve to Queen Joan of Naples.
Pico della Mirandola - Italian philosopher and humanist of the Renaissance, follower of Plato. He had the title of count and spoke several languages. In 1489 he published his “900 Theses”. 
Contemporaries called Pico “divine” and saw in him the embodiment of the high aspirations of humanistic culture. His personality and his works were known throughout educated Europe. Died at a young age, Pico became famous for his princely generosity, happy appearance, but most of all for his extraordinary variety of abilities, interests, and knowledge.
The assimilated diverse spiritual influences served as the starting point for developing our own philosophical system Pico della Mirandola. In December 1486, the 23-year-old philosopher compiled “900 theses on dialectics, morality, physics, mathematics for public discussion,” expecting to defend them at a philosophical debate in Rome. The debate, in which scientists from all over Europe were invited to participate (the author of the theses would pay for their round-trip travel), was to open with a speech by Pico, which was later given the title “Speech on the Dignity of Man” (published in 1496). Resembling more a manifesto than an introductory speech, the “Speech” was devoted to two main themes: the special purpose of man in the universe and the original internal unity of all positions of human thought. 900 theses contained in a condensed form the entire program of Pico’s philosophy, which he never had the chance to fully implement in the less than 8 years of his life that remained.
Italy is a fabulous country that has given the world many poets, writers and playwrights, whose work has become the standard of literary art.
Today a scientist and writer Umberto Eco(born 1932) is today the most widely read Italian author in the world. In addition to the well-known novels “The Name of the Rose” (1980), “Foucault’s Pendulum” (1988), “The Island on the Eve” (1995) and “Baudolino” (2000), he also wrote books on the cultural history of the Middle Ages, problems of semiotics, and a collection of essays “Travel into hyperreality" (1986).
The next generation of contemporary Italian prose writers represents Roberto Calasso(b. 1941), author of the novels “The Ruins of Kasha” (1963), “The Dirty Madman” (1974), “The Betrothal of Cadmus and Harmony” (1988) and Antonio Tabucchi(b. 1943), who wrote the novels “Black Angel” (1991) and “Three last days Fernando Pessoa" (1993).
Also currently operating in Italy a whole series talented writers who have gained fame not only in their homeland, but also abroad. Among them the most popular Alessandro Baricco(b. 1958), author of the novels “Castles of Fury” (1991), “Sea-Ocean” (1993) and Giuseppe Culicchia(b. 1965), author of the novels “It’s All the Same for You to Drive” (1994), “Paso Doble” (1995), “Chatter” (1997), “Barn” (2000), “For a Walk with Anselm” (2001).
We are confident that Italy will give the world hundreds more outstanding writers, poets and writers. And the treasures of her literature will forever delight people with their grace and beauty!
- works written in Italian primarily by Italians, as well as by authors of other nationalities living in the territory of modern Italy. Italian literature has a long and influential history. By this time, approximately all literary works of the Middle Ages were written in Latin. In addition, these works were mainly practical: their authors studied in theological schools. Literature in Italian developed later than French and Provençal literature (the languages of the north and south of France, respectively). Only small fragments of Italian folk poetry before the end of the 12th century have been found (although a number legal documents contained sections in Italian).Image from a 14th-century manuscript of Boethius teaching his students (1385). After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Latin tradition was supported by many writers and poets. The humanities flourished in Ravenna, and the Gothic kings surrounded themselves with masters of rhetoric and grammar.
Italians who were interested in theology flocked to Paris. Those who remained usually studied Roman law. This contributed to the creation medieval universities in Bologna, Padua, Naples, Salerno, Modena and Parma. They helped spread culture, and prepared the ground on which new folk literature could develop. Classical traditions did not disappear, and devotion to the memory of Rome, preoccupation with politics, and the primacy of practice over theory combined to influence the development of Italian literature.
Unlike other countries, Italy did not have enough legends, stories, epics and satires, so Italian literature was at first greatly influenced by foreign sources. Historia de excidio Trojae, which is attributed to Dares of Troy, who claimed that he was an eyewitness of the Trojan War. He gave inspiration to authors from other countries such as Benoit de Saint-Maur, Herbort von Fritzlar and Kondrad von Wurzburg. While Benoist wrote in French, he took his material from Latin history. Herbort and Conrad used the French source to make the almost original work their own language. Guido delle Colonna of Messina, one of the poets of the Sicilian School, composed a poem Historia destructionis Troiae. In his poem Guido imitated Provençal poetry, but in this book he turned the French romance of Benoit into a serious-looking Roman story.
Almost the same thing happened with other major legends. Qualicino Arezzo wrote a rhyming couplet based on the legend of Alexander the Great. Europe was filled with the legends of King Arthur, but the Italians satisfied themselves with the translation and abridgement of French novels.
The Latin language did not disappear in Italy. The use of native dialects in Italian literature was at first rare, mostly using French or Provençal. There were many Italians who wrote Provençal poems, such as Marquis Alberto Malaspina (12th century), Maestro Ferrari Ferrara, Cigala of Genoa, Zorzi of Venice, Sordello, Buvarelo Bologna, and others. Their love poetry accustomed people to new sounds and harmonies.
At the same time, epic poetry was written in a mixed language: a dialect of Italian mixed with French. Hybrid words were read according to the rules of both languages; these words had French roots and Italian endings. In short, epic poems were written in a hybrid language. All this preceded the emergence of exclusively Italian literature.
French influence
French prose and chivalric romances were popular in Italy in the 12th to 14th centuries. Stories from the Carolingian and Arthurian cycles were often read by literate people, and French minstrels recited poetry in public places throughout northern Italy.
By the 13th century, a "Franco-Venetian" literature developed, mostly anonymous; Italians copied French stories, often adapting and expanding some episodes, and sometimes creating new works based on French ones.
Although this literature was written in French, the authors often consciously or unconsciously introduced elements from their own northern Italian dialects, creating a linguistic hybrid. Authors of important prose works, such as the Venetian Martino da Canal and the Florentine Brunetto Latine (their most famous works "Les estoires de Venise " (1275; "History of Venice") and "Livres dou tresor" (1260; "Books of Treasures") accordingly) - were better acquainted with the French language than such poets as, for example, Sordello Mantua, who wrote poetry in Provençal. Provençal love poems were virtually as popular as French romances.
Sicilian school
Palazzo dei Normanni, one of the places where Frederick II held meetings of poets. In the cultural environment of the Sicilian court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, who ruled the Sicilian kingdom from 1208 to 1250, lyrics were written in a purified version of the local dialect. Poetry was considered a decoration for the courtyard and an escape from life's problems.
The most important of these poets was the notary Jacopo da Lentini, who is considered the inventor of a type of sonnet. Unfortunately, all the poetry of the Sicilian school was preserved only in late Tuscan copies, which bear a greater resemblance to the modern Italian language than was actually the case.
Tuscan poets
Sicilian poetry continued to be written after the death of Frederick II, but the center of literary activity moved to Tuscany, where interest in Provençal and Sicilian lyric poetry led the Tuscan poet Guittone d'Arezzo and his followers to imitate it. Although Guittone experimented with complex forms of verse, according to Dante in De vulgari eloquentia,"his speech mixed dialectal elements from Latinisms and Provencalisms and did not have the beauty of the southern school." In fact, Guittone was an energetic and complex poet whose reputation did not withstand the influence of Dante.
New style
While Guittone and his followers were still writing, a new direction appeared in love poetry, which was marked by a concern for accurate and sincere statements and new, serious attitude to love. It became generally accepted to call this school Dolce Stil Nuovo or novo ("sweet new style"), expression used by Dante Alighieri in The Divine Comedy (Purgatory, Canto XXIV, line 27), where he emphasized the delicacy of a statement appropriate to the object of love. The main poets of this school were Guido Guinitzelli from Bologna, Guido Cavalcanti, Dante, along with the lesser known poets Lapo Gianni, Gianni Alfano and Dino Frescobaldi.
These poets were influenced by each other's works. Guido Guinitzelli is best known for his canzone or poem called “Al cor gentil rempaira sempre amore” (“Love always finds refuge in good heart»), which formulated the question of the problematic relationship between the love of a woman and the love of God. His poetry was highly appreciated by Cavalcanti, a serious and extremely talented lyricist. Most of Cavalcanti's poems were tragic and denied the ennobling effect of love proposed by Guiniceli. Dante was very keen on Cavalcanti, whom he later called his "first friend", but his own concept of love, which inspired his love for Beatrice, who died young (in 1290), had little more in common with Guiniceli's concepts. Vita nuova Dante (1293; New Life) - a retrospective story of his love in previously composed poems linked together.
Comic verse
Poesia giocoso(realistic or comic verse) was a complete contrast to serious love poetry. The language was often deliberately crude, colloquial, and sometimes indecent. This type of poem belongs to an ancient European tradition that arose in the 12th and 13th centuries, when poets composed poems in Latin in praise of entertainment, denigration of women, their personal enemies, or the church. Although the characters of the poets of this school were often crude, even cruel, the comic poets, whose usual form of poetry was the sonnet, were cultured, literary men, and not the proletarian rebels as their critics believed.
The first poet in this genre was Rustic di Filippo, who wrote both exquisite love poetry and rough, sometimes indecent poems of the “realistic” type. The most famous poet who wrote comic poetry is Cecchi Angiolieri, whose beloved Becchina was a parody of the divine women of the new style.
Religious literature
In the 13th century there was a religious movement in Italy with the emergence of the Dominican and Franciscan orders. Francis of Assisi, a mystic and reformer in the Catholic Church, founder of the Franciscan Order, also wrote poetry. Although he was educated, Francis's poetry was less refined colloquial speech than the work of poets at the court of Frederick II. According to legend, Francis dictated a church hymn Cantico del Sole in the eighteenth year of his repentance, he is almost immersed in ecstasy, but doubts remain about the reliability of this legend. It was the first major poetic work of Northern Italy, written in a verse form that was marked by consonance, a poetic method that was widespread in Northern Europe. Other poems that were previously attributed to Francis are now recognized as insufficiently reliable.
Jacopone da Then was a poet who represented religious sentiments, who had great success in Umbria. Jacopone was obsessed with the mysticism of Saint Francis, but he was also a satirist who ridiculed the corruption and hypocrisy of the Church. When Jacopone's wife died, woe to him sudden death forced him to sell everything he owned and give the money to the poor. Jacopone covered himself with rags and entered the Third Order of St. Francis. On the way there, he was accompanied by a crowd of people who made fun of him and shouted Jacopone, Jacopone. He continued his delirium for years, subjecting himself to the most severe suffering, and giving vent to religious intoxication in his poems. Jacopone was a mystic who looked at the world through his hermit's cell.
In northern Italy, religious poetry was predominantly moralistic and steeped in pessimism, rooted in heretical ideas that stemmed from Manichaeism. Outstanding poets of this genre were Bonvensin de la Riva (Libro delle tre scritture, t. "The Book of the Three Sacred Scriptures"), Giacomino da Verona, author De Jerusalem celesti (“On Heavenly Jerusalem") and De Babilonia civitate infernali (“On Hellish Babylonian land »).
Early prose
Italian literary folk prose originated in the 13th century, although Latin continued to be used for writing works on theology, philosophy, law, politics and science.
The founder of the Italian artistic prose style, the Bolognese professor of rhetoric, the bay Faba, who illustrated his stories with examples translated from Latin. Guittone d'Arezzo, his most famous follower, leaned toward a lush style filled with rhetorical images. In contrast to Guittone's style, Ristori d'Arezzo wrote in clear scientific prose (Della composizione del mondo, T. "On Building the World") A masterpiece of 13th century prose – Vita nuova Dante. Dante combined simplicity with great grace and poetic energy.
The fourteenth century is considered the beginning of the Renaissance in Italy. The three main authors of this period are Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio.
Dante
Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri is one of the most important and influential names in all European literature, but he wrote all his works only after being expelled from his native Florence at the age of 37 (1302). Treatise Il convivio (1304-07; "Banquet") showed his detailed knowledge of scholastic philosophy and was the first major treatise written in the vernacular: its language avoided the openness of popular authors and the artificiality of translators from the Latin language. De vulgari eloquentia ("On the eloquence of the people")- a treatise written at the same time, but in Latin, contained the first theoretical discussion and definition of the Italian literary language. Both of these works remained unfinished. In a later dogmatic work, also in Latin, De monarchia(written in 1313), Dante outlines his political theories describing the coordination of two medieval powers, the pope and the emperor.
Divine Comedy
Dante's genius was fully demonstrated in his Divina Commedia(1308-21; Divine Comedy), an allegorical poem written in terzin (stanzas of three lines of 11 compositions each, rhyming aba, bcb, cdc, etc.), a literary masterpiece of the Middle Ages and one of best works throughout the entire history of mankind. The poem tells about the poet's journey through the three kingdoms of the dead - Hell, Purgatory and Paradise under the guidance of the Roman poet Virgil. Each section consists of 33 songs. Allegorical meaning hidden deep in the poem itself. Dante, traveling through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, is a symbol of humanity, with the goal of achieving temporary and eternal happiness. The forest in which the poet got lost symbolizes the social and religious unrest in a society deprived of two leaders, the emperor and the pope. A mountain illuminated by the sun is a universal monarchy. The three beasts are the three flaws and three forces that created the greatest obstacles to Dante's intentions. Virgil represents reason and empire. Beatrice is a symbol of supernatural help, without which man cannot reach the highest end, which is God.
The merit of the poem lies not in the allegory, which still connects it with medieval literature. Dante is renowned for the grandeur and delicacy of his art. He took materials for his poems from theology, philosophy, history and mythology, but especially from his own passions, from hatred and love. The period after the writing of the poem is considered to be the Renaissance period in Italian literature. This work was written during the Romantic period and continues to influence modern poets both in Italy and abroad.
Petrarch
Petrarch, in a fresco by Andre di Bartoli di Barghiglia (circa 1450) Francesco Petrarch's intelligent robots were literary and rhetorical rather than logical and philosophical, his political views were more adventurous than Dante's. Petrarch's influence on literature was enormous, from the Italian humanists of the next century to poets and scientists throughout western Europe. He rejected medieval scholasticism and took classical Roman authors as his model. This convergence of interests is evident in his ethical and religious works. Humanistic ideals inspired his poem "Africa" (1338) and historical works, but autobiographical dialogue Secretum meum(1342-58) is the most important for a full understanding of his conflicting ideals. Canzoniere is a collection of sonnets, songs, sestinas, ballads and madrigals on which he worked tirelessly from 1330 until his death. Although this collection of folk poems was intended to tell the story of his love for Laura, it was in fact an analysis not of true love, but of a passion that he had overcome. In addition to Canzoniere, Petrarch wrote an allegorical poem Trionfi(1351-74; Triumphs) in medieval tradition, but she lacked moral and poetic inspiration great poem Dante.
The literary phenomenon known as Petrarchism spread during the poet's lifetime and continued to grow over the next three centuries, profoundly influencing the literatures of Italy, Spain, France and England.
Boccaccio
Portrait of Giovanni Boccaccio Early works Boccaccio were purely literary, without any didactic meanings. His first prose work, Il filocolo ("Labor of Love"), came from a French novel Floire et Blancheflor and was an important literary experiment. The inability to write on an epic scale was evident in two of his poems Il filostrato (1338), "Sad with Love") And Teseida. Decameron (1348-53; "Decameron") a prose collection of 100 stories told by ten narrators - 3 men and 7 women over 10 days, was Boccaccio's most mature and most important work. His attitude towards modern urban society ranged from humorous to tragic. Stylistically, this is the most example of Italian classical prose, this collection also had a huge influence on the literature of the Renaissance.
As a follower of Petrarch, Boccaccio shared the interests of the humanists of his age, as shown in his Latin epistoles and encyclopedic treatises. As an ardent supporter of Dante, he also wrote "Treatise in Praise of Dante".
Day of humanism
The European Renaissance ("Rebirth" of the classical past) actually began in Italy in the 14th century with the coming of Petrarch and Boccaccio. The 15th century was very important, since it was the century in which a new vision of human life, embracing different concept human beings, as well as modern principles of ethics and politics, are gradually finding their expression. This was the result, on the one hand, of a political situation that was completely different from the political situation of the departed and, on the other, of the rediscovery of classical antiquity. Regarding the first point, nearly all Italian princes competed with each other in the 15th century: they supported culture by promoting research, offering hospitality and financial support to the literate people of their time, and founding libraries. As a consequence, their courts became centers of study and discussion, and therefore made possible a great cultural revival. The most famous courtyards were princely courts Florence, under Lorenzo de' Medici "The Beautiful"; Naples; Milan, first under the Viscount and later under the Sforza family, and finally the papal court in Rome, which provided protection and support to a large number of Italian and Byzantine scholars. Regarding the second point, the search for lost manuscripts of ancient authors, begun by Petrarch in previous century led to an extraordinary revival of interest in classical antiquity, in particular, much research was devoted to ancient philosophy, especially Plato, a fact that had a profound impact on thinking about the Renaissance in general.
At all, new culture The 15th century was a revaluation of man. Humanism opposed the medieval image of man as a being of relatively little importance. Renaissance artists praised her as the center of the universe, the power of her soul as the union of the temporal and spiritual, and earthly life as the kingdom in which the soul exercises its powers. These concepts, which mainly stemmed from the new interest in Plato, were the topic of many treatises, the main ones of Giannozzo Manetti De dignitate et excellentia hominis(completed in 1452, "On the Dignity of Man") by Giannozzo Menetti and Oratio de hominis dignitate(written in 1486; “Oration on the Dignity of Man”) by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. The humanist vision evolved during this period, condemning many of the religious views of the Middle Ages that were still widespread: monastic ideals of isolation and indifference to the affairs of the world, for example, were criticized by Leonardo Bruni, Lorenzo Valla and Gian Francesco Poggio Brachiolini. Despite these attacks, humanism was not essentially anti-Christian because it remained generally committed to the Christian faith.
In the first half of the 15th century, the humanists, with their enthusiasm for Latin and Greek literature, were disdainful of Italian vernacular dialects. They wrote mainly in Latin prose. Writing in a dead language and following the culture around, they rarely showed originality as poets. Towards the end of the 15th century, only the exceptions of Giovanni Pontano, Michele Marullo Tarcaniota and Jacopo Sannazzaro were known. These poets enjoyed success in creating true poetry in which new or less new themes were expressed with new intimacy and passion.
Development of literature in the vernacular
By the mid-15th century, Italian began to supplant Latin as the literary language. In 1441, a competition of poets was held in Florence with the intention of proving that the spoken Italian language was in no way inferior to Latin. In the second half of the century, many works were written there that inspired the knightly legends of the Middle Ages or the new humanistic culture.
The new ideals of the humanists were complete in the works of Angelo Poliziano, Jacopo Sannazzaro and Leon Battista Alberti, three outstanding figures who combined a wide knowledge of classical antiquity with deep inspiration. Poliziano's most important work is the unfinished S tanze cominciate per la giostra del Magnifico Giuliano de "Medici" (1475-78; "Vanzas Begun for the Tournament of the Beautiful Giulino de' Medici")– dedicated to Lorenzo, brother of Giulino de’ Medici.
Pietro Bembo from Venice published his Prose della volgar lingua ("Scripture in the vernacular") in 1525. In this work, which was one of the first historical Italian grammars, Bembo used an Italian literary language based on the 14th century Tuscan dialect, especially used by Petrarch and Boccaccio. He concluded that Dante's work was stylistically uneven and not decent enough. Bembo was opposed by those who believed that a literary language should be based on modern usage, especially Gian Giorgio Trissino, who developed Dante's theories about Italian as a literary language. In practice the problem was both linguistic and stylistic, and in the first half of the 16th century there were many other scholars who put forward their own versions, although it was Bembo's theory that finally won out in the second half of the century. This was largely due to the actions of the Florentine Accademia della Crusca and this more scientific approach to the question of language led to the first publication of a dictionary by the Academy French in 1612.
During the first decades of the 16th century, poetry textbooks were still composed according to the ideas of the humanists and the teachings of the Roman poet Horace. It was only after 1536 that the original classical text was first published in incomplete Greek Poetics Aristotle and gradual development becomes evident in aesthetic theory.
Political, historical, biographical and moral literature
The works of Niccolò Machiavelli reflected Renaissance considerations in original aspects, especially in the objective analysis of human nature. Machiavelli is considered the founder of a new political science: politics separated from ethics. His own political experience was at the core of his ideas, which he developed according to such general principles as the concept of virtu (“individual initiative”) and fortune. The famous treatise of Machiavelli Il principe (Prince) was written in 1513. In it he communicates his belief in the advantages of virtu and reveals his prophetic attitude, both based on reading history and observing contemporary political struggles. His description of an exemplary ruler became the code for the holders of unlimited power throughout Europe for two centuries. Seven Books of Machiavelli Dell'arte della guerra (1521), "The Art of War") concerned the creation modern army and were more specialized, while his historical works, in particular History fiorentine (1520-25, "History of Florence") illustrated the theories set forth in his scientific works. Machiavelli also wrote play literature, in particular his famous play La Mandragola(1518) is one of the greatest comedies of the century.
Although Francesco Gucciardini was a greater realist (or pessimist) than Machiavelli, he was only one 16th century historian who could be placed within the framework of the political theories he constructed. Gucciardini drew attention to the selfishness of those involved in political activity and made Machiavelli's theories seem idealistic in comparison to his. One of Gucciardini's main works Ricordi (1512-30; "Notes") is among the most original political writings of the century. Gucciardini was also the first to create a truly national history of Italy, placing it in a European context and attempting an impartial analysis of causes and consequences.
Vite de "piu eccellenti architetti, pittori et scultori italiani da Cimabue insino a" tempi nostri (1568, "The life of outstanding painters, sculptors and architects") by Giorgio Vasari contained more than 200 biographies, and was the first critical and historical assessment of Italian art.
The high moral aspirations of the Renaissance, expressed in Baldassare Castiglione Cortegiano(published 1528, "The Courtier"). This work tells the story of a perfect courtier, a noble lady and the relationship between a courtier and a prince. It was one of the most influential books of the century. Giovanni della Casa was also the author of another famous work, Galateo(1551-54; Galatea is the name of the main speaker). It was a book about courtesy, in which the witty mind of the author and the purification of modern Italian society are fully expressed.
Poetry
Lyric Poetry In the 16th century, almost all of the century's best authors wrote lyric poetry in the style of Petrarch. Amazing originality was only in the poems of Della Casa and Galeazzo di Tarsia, who were seen among their contemporaries with an energetic style. Also worthy of attention are the passionate sonnets of the Padua poet Gaspari Stampa.
The tradition of humorous and satirical poetry was also maintained during the 16th century. A famous poet of this genre at this time was Francesco Berni, whose parodic poems, which had obscene or trivial themes, showed his wit and stylistic skill. Didactic poetry, already developed by the humanists, was also popular during this period.
The most purifying expression classic taste Renaissance was in the work of Ludovico Ariosto Orlando Furioso(1516), "Orlando the Madman"), which combined many episodes taken from popular epics of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. The poem is actually a continuation Boiardo Orlando innamorato. Orlando furioso was a wonderful expression of literary trends Italian Renaissance, and it had a huge influence on the later literature of the European Renaissance. Ariosto also wrote comedies, which, imitating Roman comedies, laid the foundation for Italian drama.
There were also attempts to restore the genre of epic poems using Aristotle's "rules" for arranging poems. Language theorist Gian Giorgio Trissino wrote a poem Italia liberata dai Goti("Italy Liberated from the Goths") according to Aristotle's strict rules, while Almanni tried to concentrate the story on one character in Girone and Cortese(1548, "Girone the Polite") and Avarchide (1570)).
Over the course of the century, two parodic forms of mixed verse were invented. Fidenziana's poems took its name from the works of Camillo Scrofa, a poet who wrote parodies of the work of Petrarch, combining latin words and Italian syntax. Macaronic verse, on the other hand, is a term given to a verse consisting of Italian words and Latin syntax. Teofilo Folegnio, a Benedictine monk, was the best exponent of Macaroni literature. His masterpiece was a poem in 20 books Baldus (1517).
Torquato Tasso, son of the poet Bernardo Tasso, was the last great poet of the Italian Renaissance and one of the most famous in all of Italian literature. In his epic poem Gerusalemme liberata (1581), "Jerusalem Liberated") he summed up the literary tradition typical of the Renaissance: the classical epic revived according to the spiritual interests of his time. The theme of the poem is the First Crusade, the task of which was to recapture Jerusalem. The structure of the poem dramatizes the struggle. Its pathos lies in the enormous value of self-control. L"Aminta(1573), a joyful and unstreamable drama, was best example Tasso's young poetry and belonged to the new literary genre of pastoral (telling about an idealized life). Gerusalemme liberata, however, was the result of a balance in the poet's controversial aspirations. In the next poem Gerusalemme conquistata (1593, "Defeated Jerusalem") Tasso imitated Homer and remade his poem according to the rigid rules of Aristotle and the ideals of the reaction of the Roman Catholic Church against the Protestant Reformation, known as the Counter-Reformation. Tasso's conflict ended in the victory of the moralistic principle: the new poem was unsuccessful.
Drama
"Sofonisba" by Gian Giorgio Trissino (written in 1514-15; the title is the name of the main character) was the first tragedy in the Italian language, inspired by classical literature, its structure came from Greek models, but its poetic qualities were somewhat mediocre. In the mid-16th century, Gimbattista Giraldi opposed imitation Greek drama, offering the Roman tragedian Seneca as a new model, and in nine tragedies and tragicomedies written between 1541 and 1549 he showed some independence from Aristotelian rules. Giraldi greatly influenced European drama, especially English theater of the Elizabethan period.
Italian comedies of this century, which inspired Roman models, had greater artistic value than the tragedies, and they reflected the life of that time more fully. These comedies were the starting point of modern European drama.
Since the mid-20th century, actor Angelo Beolco has been recognized as one of the best playwrights of the 16th century. His works, often monologues written in rural Paduan dialect, deal with the problems of peasant oppression with realism and deep seriousness. Another famous playwright of this century is the Venetian André Calme, who showed great talent for creating characters in his comedies with complex love affairs.
The 17th century in Italian literature is traditionally portrayed as a period of "decline", in which unsentimental writers resorted to exaggeration and disguised the poverty of their themes under an excess of form. However, this period was extremely important.
Poetry and prose
The popularity of satire was a reaction to those conditions. Outstanding in this genre was the Neapolitan Salvador Rosa, who wrote seven satires about the vices and shortcomings of age. Alessandro Tasoni received great fame for his satirical pseudo-heroic poem La secchia rapita (1622; Stealing a bucket). The most poet of this period was Tommaso Campanella, a Dominican friar who spent much of his adult life in prison for anti-government activism. Campanella is perhaps less known for his humorous philosophical poems than for Citta del sole(1602; City of the Sun), a vision of a political utopia in which he championed the unification of humanity by a theocracy based on natural religion.
Italy is famous for the Giallo genre in literature and cinema. This is a kind of detective story with horror elements. In the 21st century, this genre has acquired new modern forms both the creation and the composition of the works themselves and their execution. One of the most famous writers and artists of modern Italian horror is Giovanni Budza. His works are full of numerous adaptations of folklore motifs, both ancient and modern. Anxiety and sadness permeate with horror every novel of the writer for every short story. Giovanni Budz is valued no less than Howard Lovecraft or Clive Barker. This is a true modern author with his own imperfect taste and strong aesthetics.
The genre of the best book so far by A. Baricco, the most titled debutant of the 90s, can be described as an adventure novel, a prose poem, a philosophical parable, and even a thriller. The discerning reader himself will select the keys to reading this multifaceted work, which has no analogues in native literature in terms of writing technique and the charm of metaphor.
2. Dante Alighieri - “The Divine Comedy”
The fruit of the entire life of “Severe Dante” (as Pushkin called the brilliant Italian), a creation that in the Middle Ages became a harbinger of the Renaissance, a work that ranks among the greatest achievements of human thought - this is what they said, they say and will talk about the work that Dante Alighieri himself called it simply “Comedy”, and its descendants called it “Divine”. More than seven centuries have passed since the appearance of the “Divine Comedy”, and historians and critics still do not stop arguing about what it is: a “guide” to the afterlife (in the minds of an ordinary earthly person) or something more, an attempt by human genius to cognize the unknowable, to find the rational in the irrational, to show people the path from darkness and sorrow to light and joy. Either way, The Divine Comedy is a classic that will live forever.
3. Niccolo Ammaniti - “I'm not afraid”
Niccolò Ammaniti is one of the most popular contemporary writers in Italy. Born in Rome in 1966. He made his debut in 1994 and immediately with a novel. Author of a book of essays, two collections of short stories and three novels, one of which, “I'm Not Afraid,” published at the end of 2001, formed the basis of a feature film of the same name, released in the summer of 2002.
“I'm not afraid” is a book about courage and friendship, about cruelty and love, about how sometimes the closest people are drawn into the most dangerous scrapes...
4. Italo Calvino - “If one winter night a traveler...”
Cult postmodern novel.
A landmark work in the history of world literature of the 20th century.
Amazing prose and a truly original idea.
A complex, fascinating structure of hypertext, woven from ten stories that make up the literary fabric of the work.
A sophisticated play with genres, allusions and reminiscences.
Such is this novel, the end-to-end heroes of which are to become the Reader and the Reader...
5. Paolo Giordano - “The Loneliness of Prime Numbers”
Mattia thought that he and Aliche were simple numbers, lonely and lost. Those numbers that are close, but not close enough to truly touch. But he never told her about it...
The most poignant novel about love and loneliness.
6. Umberto Eco - “Prague Cemetery”
The action takes place almost entirely in France, but the consequences of this intrigue will tragically strike the whole world. Russia will soon be at the center of events, where the famous literary forgery “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” was first published in 1905. The novel documents whose efforts this fake was created. The main character is very disgusting, and everything that happens to him is both terrible and interesting. The author, constructing a plot in the spirit of Alexandre Dumas, drags the breathless reader through the fetid Parisian sewers and gangster dens, recruits the hero into the Garibaldian army, forces him to spy on all the intelligence and counterintelligence agencies of the world, including the Russian secret police, to tame the hysterical women from the clinic Dr. Charcot, drinking beer with Sigmund Freud, marching side by side with Freedom on the barricades and even participating in a satanic mass. At the same time, as always, Umberto Eco gives the reader a huge charge of knowledge and ideas in the shell of an adventure novel.
7. Alessandro D’Avenia - “White like milk, red like blood”
He's only seventeen. And he loves her - his Beatrice. Hers is scarlet like blood, hers is white like milk. He dreams that they will always be together. He wants to give her eternity. He wants to take her away from eternity. But God, in whom he does not believe, decides otherwise...
Alessandro D'Avenia's novel is subtle, full of bitterness and hope, bright and romantic story about first love.
8. Dino Buzzati - “Tatar Desert”
The novel is written in the Kafkaesque style, using the method of endless deferment that the Eleatics and Kafka often used. But if the atmosphere in Kafka’s novels is gray, oppressive with meaninglessness and routine, smack of bureaucracy and boredom, then in “The Tatar Desert” anticipation is felt in everything, but this is anticipation of a gigantic battle, frightening and long-awaited. In his pages, Dino Buzzati returns the novel to its ancient source - the epic. The desert here is both reality and symbol. It is limitless, and the hero expects hordes as countless as sand.
9. Lorenzo Licalzi - “I am not”
Flavio and Francesco are brothers. Flavio has everything planned down to the minute. He always knows exactly how his future will turn out. And Francesco's life is an endless journey without a clear route.
One day, Flavio's wife, dreaming of finding a worthy match for Francesco, introduces him to her friend Elisa, and one meeting forever changes the fate of all four.
Where will this unexpected and, as it seemed to him, completely inappropriate in his life, love lead Francesco?
This book is about the love that has yet to be found, and about the love that is hidden in the heart.
10. Laura Sandi - “Tucci malt biscuits make the world a better place.”
Leda Rothko is very unusual girl. She remembers the moment of her birth, but does not know what television is, she lives in a rich family, but is always alone. And she finds her first love in an unusual way- on the phone...
The new novel in the series “The Loneliness of Prime Numbers” is a story about an individual who is always alone and always different from everyone else. This is a novel about everyone and for everyone. In little Leda, despite her young age, everyone can recognize themselves and their own experiences. This special book has already won recognition in its homeland in Italy - now in Russian.
The Italian peninsula attracted writers of the tsarist era with its favorable climate, and most importantly, artistic and historical heritage, evidence of which they found literally at every step. The obsession with Italy and the curse of Italy, desire and nostalgia. Whether calling to itself or causing a thirst for return, Italy remained a subject of passion that filled the souls and pages of Russian writers. Poets and prose writers, realists and romantics were connected by this red thread, crossing the entire 19th century and partly the beginning of the next century.
Russia, which was considered closed in Italy, began to open up to Europe under Peter the Great, who, by decree of 1696, invited children from wealthy families to receive an education in the West. And soon the Italian peninsula became a desirable destination for both fleeting trips - for example, the trips of Anton Chekhov, who visited the “land of wonders” three times, always stopping in Venice - the “beautiful city”, and long-term visits, for example, the socialist Maxim Gorky or the realist Nikolai Gogol , who said: “All of Europe is for watching, and Italy is for living” and “Whoever has been to Italy, say “forgive” to other lands. Whoever has been in heaven will not want to go to earth." They wanted to come here primarily for the sake of the climate and cultural monuments. Escaping from their unpleasant winters, Russian writers took refuge in Italy under the “face of the blue sky,” recovering their health, some undermined by tuberculosis or others by misfortune. And just like the sun, everything was imbued with history and art. Antiquities “scattered under your feet,” squares “covered in ruins,” art galleries “that you can look at all year long,” streets with “schools of painters and sculptors in almost every door,” and a multitude of churches like “nowhere else in the world.”
Unfortunately, Russia did not evoke the same strong admiration in Italy due to its geographical and political remoteness. The stronghold of the Holy Alliance, the Tsarist Empire was considered a symbol of Reaction, and in Italy there was a conviction that in an environment of political backwardness only cultural poverty could exist. Therefore, the literary work of Russian writers of that era did not arouse much interest. Despite the fact that Russian literature experienced its most significant historical rise, there are only occasional references to it in literary and cultural journals of the first half of the 19th century. Several literary salons became oases of interest in the desert of indifference and ignorance, for example, the Demidov salons in Florence and the salons of Princess Volkonskaya. The works of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy came into circulation only in the second half of the century, and then, in confirmation of the intellectual provincialism of that time, through the mediation of France.
Contrasting the inattention of the Italian intelligentsia to Russian culture and the closeness of writers Tsarist Russia to Italian culture causes surreal short circuits.
For example, it was in Italy that Gogol wrote the first part of " Dead souls"And it was Dante's works that inspired him to the idea of including the poem in the trilogy. However, Italy did not see the appearance of this masterpiece.
Pitti Square: the place where Dostoevsky finished his novel "The Idiot"
When in Florence, you simply need to follow the writer’s walking routes. Here his daughter Lyubov was born and it was here that he completed his most famous novel.
Florence, Piazza Pitti, Civico 22. Behind the brief solemnity of the memorial plaque lies one of the richest “Italian periods” of the Russian writer. In this house, the fruit of love between Fyodor Dostoevsky and his wife Anna was born - a daughter, whom they named Lyubov for a reason. In the same house, the author of “Crime and Punishment” completed a work that “had long tormented him, since the idea of depicting absolutely kind person", such a modern Jesus, who made the novel "The Idiot" one of the most famous novels of Russian literature. So, 1868, the era of the capital Florence. The Pitti Palace is the residence of the king of a united Italy. And Dostoevsky, who fled to Europe from Moscow creditors, finds the house precisely in the famous square where the Royal Palace rises. “The changes again had a beneficial effect on my husband, and we began to visit churches, museums and palaces together,” his wife writes in her memoirs of the year spent in Florence.
It was a happy period, the rhythm of which was set by daily walks to the Boboli Gardens and the strict deadlines of the Russian Messenger magazine, which published chapters from the novel. With Dostoevsky's return to St. Petersburg, Italy does not disappear from his life. In the articles published by Dostoevsky in the magazine "Citizen", there is a sense of nostalgia for Italy, which he no longer saw: that "two-thousand-year-old" country where the Italians "carried within themselves the universal... real idea of unifying the whole world." An idea that is absent in the “creature of Count Cavour,” which is just “a united minor kingdom that has lost all worldly encroachment,” having “not a spiritual, but a machine basis.”
Journey to Rome: “the birthplace of the soul” by Nikolai Gogol
The writer lived in the Italian capital between 1837 and 1841, here he was inspired and wrote “The Overcoat” and the first part of “Dead Souls.”
Every world inevitably reveals disappointing nuances that our imaginations have missed, but this was not the case with Nikolai Gogol's Italy. He was in love with her even before he saw her, dedicating to her the following lines from his first written work and only work in verse:
"Italy is a luxurious country!
The soul groans and yearns for her. She is all paradise, all full of joy,
And in it luxurious love springs... That garden where in the cloud of dreams
Raphael and Torquat still live! Will I see you, full of expectations?"
And when he finally saw her, he was not disappointed. On the contrary: he spoke of Italy as the “homeland of his soul,” the place where she lived even before him. Distressed by the insignificant success of the production of the comedy "The Inspector General" in St. Petersburg, Gogol, having visited Germany, Switzerland and France, moved to Italy in 1837. One of the reasons was the writer’s poor health. In Rome, he said, “a person is a mile closer to God” and the air is such that “there comes a frantic desire to turn into one nose, ... whose nostrils would be as big as buckets”, in order to feel like “at least seven hundred angels are flying in." Until 1841, Gogol lived at 17 Santo Isidoro Street, visiting Russian and Italian writers such as Gioachino Beli.
He loved Italy, admired its historical and artistic wealth - “everything that you read about in books, you see here before you” - its nature and its people, “who are gifted to such an extent with an aesthetic sense.” Here the writer, born in Ukraine, was happy, and Italy became a source of inspiration for him: here he wrote the first part of Dead Souls, Portrait and Overcoat, the pinnacle of his irreverent comedy. And here he began to develop the idea of purifying the soul, which then influenced a considerable part of Russian literature.
Italian literature occupies an important place in the culture of Europe. This happened despite the fact that the Italian language itself acquired literary shape quite late, around the 1250s. This was due to the strong influence of Latin in Italy, where it was most widely used. The schools, which were predominantly secular in nature, taught Latin throughout. Only when it was possible to free ourselves from this influence did authentic literature begin to take shape.
Renaissance
The first famous works of Italian literature date back to the Renaissance. When the arts flourish throughout Italy, literature tries to keep up. Several world famous names belong to this period - Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio, Dante Alighieri. At that time, Italian and French literature of the Renaissance set the tone for all of Europe. And this is not surprising.
Dante is rightfully considered the founder of the Italian literary language. He lived and worked at the turn of the XIII-XIV centuries. His most famous work was The Divine Comedy, which provided a comprehensive analysis of late medieval culture.
In Italian literature, Dante remained a poet and thinker who was constantly looking for something fundamentally new and different from everyday life. He had a muse that he worshiped named Beatrice. This love, in the end, received a mysterious and even some mystical meaning. After all, he filled each of his works with it. The idealized image of this woman is one of the key ones in Dante's works.
He became famous after the release of the story “New Life,” which told about love that renewed the main character and made him look at everything around him differently. It was composed of canzonas, sonnets and prose stories.
Dante also devoted a lot of time to political treatises. But his main work is still “The Divine Comedy”. This is an afterlife vision, a very popular genre in Italian literature at that time. The poem is an allegorical building in which the dense forest, where the main character is lost, represents human sins and errors, and the strongest passions are pride, voluptuousness and greed.
The character of The Divine Comedy, together with a guide, goes on a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise.
The most complete picture of the writers and works of this country can be obtained from the Mokulsky encyclopedia. Based on this study, Italian literature appears in all its glory.
One of the most famous lyric poets in Italy is Francesco Petrarca. He lived in the 14th century and was a prominent representative of the generation of humanists. It is interesting that he wrote not only in Italian, but also in Latin. Moreover world fame he acquired it precisely thanks to Italian poetry, which during his lifetime he treated with a certain degree of disdain.
In these works he regularly refers to his lover named Laura. The reader learns from Petrarch's sonnets that they first met in church in 1327, and exactly 21 years later she died. Even after this, Petrarch continued to sing her praises for ten years.
In addition to poems dedicated to love for Laura, these Italian cycles contain works of a religious and political nature. Italian literature of the Renaissance is perceived by many precisely through the prism of Petrarch's poetry.
Another bright representative period of the Italian Renaissance in literature - Giovanni Boccaccio. He had a significant influence on the development of all European culture with his works. Boccaccio wrote large number poems on subjects from ancient mythology, actively used the genre of psychological stories in his work.
His main work was the collection of short stories "The Decameron", one of the most striking works of Italian literature of the Renaissance. The short stories in this book, as critics note, are imbued with humanistic ideas, the spirit of freethinking, humor and cheerfulness, reflecting the full palette of Italian society contemporary to the author.
The Decameron is a collection of one hundred stories told to each other by seven ladies and 13 men. They flee during the plague that has swept the country to a remote estate in the village, where they hope to wait out the epidemic.
All stories are presented in an easy and elegant language, the narrative breathes diversity and life truth. Boccaccio uses a large number of artistic techniques in these short stories, depicting people of all kinds of characters, ages and conditions.
The love that Boccaccio depicts is radically different from the ideas about romantic relationships in Petrarch and Dante. For Giovanni, this is a burning passion, bordering on eroticism, rejecting established family values. The literature of the Italian Renaissance is largely based on the Decameron.
Writers from other countries also played a great influence. Italian and French literature of the Renaissance developed very quickly and dynamically, also represented by such names as Pierre de Ronsard and many others.
17th century
The next important stage is the development of Italian literature of the 17th century. At that time, there were two schools in the country - Pindarists and Marine painters. The Marinists are led by Giambattista Marino. His most famous work is the poem "Adonis".
The second school of literature in Italian was founded by Gabriello Chiabrera. He was a very prolific author, from whose pen a large number of pastoral plays, epic poems and odes came out. In this regard, it is necessary to mention the poet Vincenzo Filicaya.
Interestingly, the fundamental difference between these schools lies in technical tricks and issues related to the form of the work.
Around the same time, a circle appeared in Naples, from which emerged the Arcadian Academy, to which many famous poets and satirists of that period belonged.
In the 18th century, after a period of certain stagnation, a bright representative of Italian classical literature appeared. He was a playwright and librettist. He has more than 250 plays to his credit.
Goldoni's comedy "The Servant of Two Masters", which is still included in the repertoire of many theaters around the world, brought Goldoni worldwide fame. The events of this work take place in Venice. The main character is Truffaldino, a rogue and deceiver who managed to escape from the poor town of Bergamo to the rich and successful Venice. There he is hired as a servant to Signor Rasponi, who in reality is Beatrice's girlfriend in disguise. Under the guise of her deceased brother, she seeks to find her lover, who, by mistake and due to injustice, is accused of murder and forced to flee Venice.
Truffaldino, who wants to earn as much as possible, serves two masters at the same time and at first he succeeds in this.
Giacomo Leopardi
In the 19th century, Italian fiction continues to develop, but such big names as Dante or Goldoni are not found. We can mention the romantic poet Giacomo Leopardi.
His poems were very lyrical, although he left behind very little - several dozen poems. They were first published in 1831 under the single title “Songs”. These poems were completely imbued with pessimism, which colored the entire life of the author himself.
Leopardi has not only poetic, but also prosaic works. For example, "Moral Essays". This is the name of his philosophical essay, and he also formulates his worldview in the “Diary of Reflections.”
All his life he was in search and was always disappointed. He claimed that he needed love, desire, fire and life, but in all respects he was a wreck. Most of Throughout his life, the poet was disabled, so he could not fully cooperate with foreign universities, although they regularly offered this. He was also depressed by the idea that Christianity was just an illusion. And since Leopardi was mystical by nature, he often found himself faced with a painful emptiness.
In his poems, he portrayed a sense of true and natural beauty, being an adherent of the ideas of Rousseau.
Leopardi has often been called the incarnate poet of world sorrow.
Raffaello Giovagnoli
The classics of Italian literature begin to take shape towards end of the 19th century century. The Italian historian and novelist writes about the gladiator of the same name, who leads a slave revolt that occurred in Ancient Rome. It is noteworthy that this character is very real.
In addition, Giovagnoli’s narrative itself, in addition to historical truth and facts, interweaves lyrical plots that did not actually exist. For example, in the Italian writer Spartak falls in love with the patrician Valeria, who treats him favorably.
At the same time, a courtesan from Greece, Euthybides, falls in love with Spartacus himself, whose love the protagonist categorically rejects. As a result, it is the offended Euthybides who plays one of the decisive roles in the defeat of Spartacus’s army and in his further death.
The ending is very plausible. The slave revolt was indeed brutally suppressed, and Spartacus was killed.
Writers from the south of the country made a great contribution to the development of Italian children's literature. For example, journalist Carlo Collodi writes the famous fairy tale "The Adventures of Pinocchio. The Story of a Wooden Doll." In Russia, of course, it is better known in the interpretation of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy, who wrote “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio.”
Collodi himself, originally from Florence, volunteered to fight in the Tuscan army when the War of Independence was fought in Italy (1848 and 1860).
In Italian literature of the 20th century, he stands out clearly from the rest. This is the Italian playwright and writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934. Modern Italian literature, represented by Pirandello, represents a fascinating and inventive narrative, with the help of which the author simultaneously revives the art of stage and drama.
The absurd has a great influence on the author. This production demonstrates the contradictions that arise between everyday life and art; this example demonstrates the social tragedy of people who are powerless to resist the masks imposed on them by society. They themselves only demand from the author that he write a play for them.
The play is divided into real and fantastic planes. In the first, the characters of a play that has not yet been written act, and in the second, the viewer learns about the tragedy that befalls them.
Pirandello entered into literary activity as the author of the popular collection “Joyful Pain” in 1889. Many of his early poems combine the desire to demonstrate to others his inner world, as well as a spiritual rebellion that opposes the hopelessness of the surrounding life. In 1894, the writer published a collection of short stories, “Love Without Love,” and then a collection of “Short Stories for a Year,” in which he sought to combine demonstration inner world a little man with his spiritual inner rebellion against a hopeless life. Some of the works eventually became the basis for several of Pirandello's plays.
The writer entered literature as an author who talks about the life of small towns and villages in Sicily, depicting the social strata of the people living there. For example, in the famous short stories “Blessing” and “The Fortunate,” he ridicules representatives of the clergy who hide their greed behind ostentatious mercy.
In some of his works he deliberately departs from Italian traditionalism. Thus, in the short story “The Black Shawl”, it focuses on the psychological portrait and actions of the main character, who is an old maid who decided to arrange her life, regardless of the condemnation of others. At the same time, the author, at times, harshly criticizes social orders, when people are ready to do anything for the sake of profit. Public institutions are subjected to such criticism in the short story “Tight Tailcoat,” in which a professor is invited to his student’s wedding. He witnesses how the girl's future personal life is almost destroyed due to social prejudices.
A similar riot is described in the work “The Train Whistle.” At the center of the story is an accountant who feels dissatisfaction with his life under the influence of a momentary impulse. Dreaming of travel and wanderings, he realizes how unimportant the life around him is, he is carried away into illusory world, in which he finally loses his mind.
Political motives also appear in Pirandello’s work. Thus, the short stories “The Fool” and “His Majesty” demonstrate subtle political intrigues, while showing how petty they often are.
Social contradictions often become the object of criticism. In the short story "Fan" main character- a poor peasant woman who was abandoned by her loved one and simply robbed by her mistress. She reflects on what suicide is the only way solve all your problems.
At the same time, Pirandello remains a humanist, giving the main place in his work to the reality of human feelings. The short story “Everything is like decent people” tells how the hero conquers his beloved with his selfless love, forgiving even the betrayal she committed.
Pirandello himself often prefers to delve into the psychology of his heroes, criticizing social reality and using such a technique as the grotesque. The heroes are depicted with social masks, which they must discard in the course of the action. For example, in the short story “Some Obligations,” the main character is cheated on by his wife. Her lover is an official from the municipality, to whom he comes to complain about his wife’s infidelity. And when he finds out the whole truth, he not only forgives his wife, but also helps her lover. In reality, as the reader understands, he was never jealous of his wife, only putting on the social mask of an insulted and deceived husband. The lover also wore a mask, but this time of a respectable official.
Pirandello very unobtrusively uses the grotesque in his works. For example, in the short story "In Silence" he reveals the tragedy of a young man who has learned all the cruelty of the world, which leads him to sadness and even tragic ending. He is forced to commit suicide and kill his younger brother.
In total, Pirandello wrote six novels during his literary career. In Les Miserables, he criticizes social prejudice and society, portraying a woman who herself is trying to become an object of criticism from others.
And in his most famous novel, “The Late Mattia Pascal,” he demonstrates the emerging contradiction between the true face of a person living in modern society, and his social mask. His hero decides to start life from scratch, arranging everything so that those around him consider him dead. But as a result, he only takes on a new shell, realizing that life outside society is impossible. He simply begins to be torn between the real and the fictional, which symbolizes the gap between reality and human perception.
Italian literature of the 21st century is represented by the famous writer, our contemporary Niccolo Ammaniti. He was born in Rome, studied at the Faculty of Biology, but never graduated. It is said that his thesis formed the basis of his first novel, called "Gills." The novel was published in 1994. It tells the story of a boy from Rome who is diagnosed with a tumor. Almost against his will, he finds himself in India, where he constantly finds himself in all sorts of, often unpleasant, situations. In 1999, the novel was filmed, but the film great success didn't have.
In 1996, a collection of the writer’s stories was published under the general title “Dirt,” among which were such famous works as “ Last year of humanity", "To live and die in Prenestino". A film was also made based on the story "There Will Be No Holiday", main role in which Monica Bellucci performed. In general, many of Ammaniti’s works have been filmed several times.
In 1999, the modern Italian writer released another of his novels, “I’ll Pick You Up and Take You Away.” Its actions take place in a fictional city located in central Italy. But real fame came to him in 2001. His novel "I'm Not Afraid" thundered. Two years later, director Gabriele Salvatores filmed it.
The events of this work take place in the 70s of the 20th century. In a remote Italian province, 10-year-old Michele lives, who spends the whole summer playing with friends.
One day they find themselves near an abandoned house, where there is a mysterious pit covered with a lid on top. Without telling anyone about it, the next day Michele returns to his discovery, finding a boy sitting there on a chain. He supplies the mysterious prisoner with bread and water. The children get to know each other. It turns out that the boy's name is Filippo, he was kidnapped for ransom. Michele finds out that the crime was organized by a group of adults, including his own father.
Repeatedly, Ammaniti captivates readers with such captivating plots, illustrating what modern Italian literature can be. He writes not only books, but also scripts. So, in 2004, the film “Vanity Serum” was released, based on his story. In 2006, critics received contradictory reactions to his new novel “As God Commands.” But at the same time, the work receives the approval of the reading community and even the Strega award. In 2008, a film of the same name was released, again directed by Salvatores.
In 2010, Ammaniti wrote the novel “Me and You,” which was already brought to life on screen by Bernardo Bertolucci. Moreover, the maestro returns to filmmaking after a 7-year break, having become interested in the plot of Ammanity.
Among his latest works, it is necessary to highlight the popular collection of short stories “A Delicate Moment” and the novel “Anna”, which became the seventh in his creative biography.
