Speaking Spirits: Ventriloquizing the Dead in Renaissance Italy

Author:   Sherry Roush
Publisher:   University of Toronto Press
ISBN:  

9781487547585


Pages:   280
Publication Date:   22 June 2022
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Our Price $105.47 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

Speaking Spirits: Ventriloquizing the Dead in Renaissance Italy


Add your own review!

Overview

In classical and early modern rhetoric, to write or speak using the voice of a dead individual is known as eidolopoeia. Whether through ghost stories, journeys to another world, or dream visions, Renaissance writers frequently used this rhetorical device not only to co-opt the authority of their predecessors but in order to express partisan or politically dangerous arguments. In Speaking Spirits, Sherry Roush presents the first systematic study of early modern Italian eidolopoeia. Expanding the study of Renaissance eidolopoeia beyond the well-known cases of the shades in Dante’s Commedia and the spirits of Boccaccio’s De casibus vivorum illustrium, Roush examines many other appearances of famous ghosts – invocations of Boccaccio by Vincenzo Bagli and Jacopo Caviceo, Girolamo Malipiero’s representation of Petrarch in Limbo, and Girolamo Benivieni’s ghostly voice of Pico della Mirandola. Through close readings of these eidolopoetic texts, she illuminates the important role that this rhetoric played in the literary, legal, and political history of Renaissance Italy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sherry Roush
Publisher:   University of Toronto Press
Imprint:   University of Toronto Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.390kg
ISBN:  

9781487547585


ISBN 10:   1487547587
Pages:   280
Publication Date:   22 June 2022
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Rewriting the Auctor: Revising according to the Text’s Letter or Spirit? 2. Divining Dante: Scandals of His Corpus and Corpse 3. Genius Loci: Exile, Citizenship, and the Place of Burial 4. Habeas Corpus, Habeas Spiritum: Some (Not-So-) Final Thoughts

Reviews

"'Roush's rich study adds much to our understanding of the dynamics of literary authority, showing how authors can simultaneously worship their forbears while exploiting their power to sometimes contrary ends.' 'With a wealth of material to sustain the focus of her exploration and the clarity of style in which she presents the fruit of her research, Roush's most recent volume merits a place on the shelf of any Renaissance or Medieval Italianst's library.' ""[Speaking Spirits] is clearly written and generous with lengthy quotations and translations...this work is most relevant to Italianists. But even the general reader will find the work's capsule authorial autobiographies, literary backstories, and glimpses into peculiar concerns of Renaissance authors of interest. """


""[Speaking Spirits] is clearly written and generous with lengthy quotations and translations…this work is most relevant to Italianists. But even the general reader will find the work’s capsule authorial autobiographies, literary backstories, and glimpses into peculiar concerns of Renaissance authors of interest. "" -- Justine Walden * Sixteenth Century Journal vol. 49, no. 1 2018 * ‘With a wealth of material to sustain the focus of her exploration and the clarity of style in which she presents the fruit of her research, Roush’s most recent volume merits a place on the shelf of any Renaissance or Medieval Italianst’s library.’ -- Carlo Anneli * Annali D’Italianistica vol 35:2016 * ‘Roush’s rich study adds much to our understanding of the dynamics of literary authority, showing how authors can simultaneously worship their forbears while exploiting their power to sometimes contrary ends.’ -- George McClure * Renaissance Quarterly vol 69:02:2016 *


Author Information

Sherry Roush is an associate professor of Italian in the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese at Pennsylvania State University.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

Aorrng

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List