The Courtier and the Courtesan in Renaissance Italy
ITAL 239
Spring 2014 not offered
|
This course will use the issue of gender as a lens through which to examine questions of power and authority in the Renaissance Italian court. We will study the self-fashioning of courtiers in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy, asking to what extent this role was exclusively "male" and what women's participation in the intellectual life of the court says about contemporary power relations. Then we will draw comparisons with the more traditional female figure of Renaissance courtly culture--the courtesan--investigating the status that these women sought to establish through their literary and amorous exchanges.
Our understanding of these figures will come from texts in a variety of genres written by and about courtiers and courtesans. We will read from female and male authors; we will also study closely two fundamental reflections on Renaissance courtly culture--Castiglione's Il cortegiano (The Book of the Courtier) and Machiavelli's Il principe (The Prince). Like our own culture, Renaissance Italy was steeped in visual media, and we will pay attention to the cross-fertilization between the texts we study and works by artists such as Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Tintoretto. Finally, we will also engage with some modern reflections on courtly culture and the Italian Renaissance. |
|
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA RLAN |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: (ITAL221 AND ITAL222) |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: (ITST)(RMST) |
Major Readings:
Works by Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio, Machiavelli (only selections)
Castiglione, Il Libro del Cortegiano; Aretino, Sei Giornate; La Cortegiana.
|
Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly readings in Italian (primary texts) and in English (secondary literature). Weekly reading reports (1-2 pages), and short oral presentations (5-10%). One midterm quiz; one final oral in-class presentations (20%); one final paper (10-15 pages) OR an oral exam Italian University style (30% discussion). Both final paper or exam require critical bibliography to be discussed in advance with the instructor. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
|
|