The Worlds of Petrarch (Duke Monographs in Medieval and Renaissance Studies) (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: contra medicum, otio religioso, vita solitaria, Middle Ages, Giovanni Colonna, Isidore of Seville (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Worlds of Petrarch ... treats all the major concerns of this pivotal figure: poetry, history, politics, religion, rhetoric, music, philosophy, his modernity and medievalism, his love for Italy and ancient Rome, and his fascination with classical antiquities ... [and] is of value not just to the Petrarchan specialist, but to the scholar of medieval and Renaissance culture in general." Angelo Mazzoco, Renaissance Quarterly "A very important study. Mazzotta not only gives us a dense and rich new portrait of a much-studied and absolutely major figure, but he also brings to the fore the abiding force and value of Petrarch's 'worlds' of discourse and thought to many of today's debates regarding, for example, the relation of aesthetics and rhetoric to the politico-historical realm, or the epistemological validity of poetry, or the constructedness of the self."--Rebecca West, University of Chicago "A richly textured, deeply learned, and broadly inclusive study of Petrarch's writing, his historical situation, and his contribution to our own cultural formation."--William Kennedy, Cornell University

Product Description

At the center of Petrarch's vision, announcing a new way of seeing the world, was the individual, a sense of the self that would one day become the center of modernity as well. This self, however, seemed to be fragmented in Petrarch's work, divided among the worlds of philosophy, faith, and love of the classics, politics, art, and religion, of Italy, France, Greece, and Rome. In recent decades scholars have explored each of these worlds in depth. In this work, Giuseppe Mazzotta shows for the first time how all these fragmentary explorations relate to each other, how these separate worlds are part of a common vision.
Written in a clear and passionate style, The Worlds of Petrarch takes us into the politics of culture, the poetic imagination, into history and ethics, art and music, rhetoric and theology. With this encyclopedic strategy, Mazzotta is able to demonstrate that the self for Petrarch is not a unified whole but a unity of parts, and, at the same time, that culture emerges not from a consensus but from a conflict of ideas produced by opposition and dark passion. These conflicts, intrinsic to Petrarch's style of thought, lead Mazzotta to a powerful rethinking of the concepts of "fragments" and "unity" and, finally, to a new understanding of the relationship between them.
Essential to students of Medieval and Renaissance literature, this book will engage anyone interested in the development of modernity as it has evolved in culture and is understood today.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press (November 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822313960
• ISBN-13: 978-0822313960
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,204,597 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars petrarca revieuw, September 18, 2007

By	Threeputt (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

Well writen and very understandable not a must read but a very nice read indeed.