italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies

The following information is also available on the website of the
journal Annali d'italianistica (www.ibiblio.org/annali).
Wishing a happy spring to everybody.
Dino Cervigni


Francis Petrarch (1304-74) and the European Lyric Tradition 
March 18-20, 2004
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
Annali d'italianistica
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INDEX:
1) Description of the symposium;
2) List of plenary speakers;
3) Call for papers;
4) Publication of the symposium's selected proceedings in Annali
d'italianistica 22 (2004) to be published in the fall of 2004;
5) Possible electronic posting, on Annali d'italianistica's website, of
all essays presented at the symposium.

***
1) Description of the symposium:

Francis Petrarch was born from a Florentine exile in Arezzo on July 20,
1304; he died in Arquà, near Padua, during the night of July 18-19,
1374. Heralded as the first Renaissance man and one of the greatest
Humanists of all times, Petrarch exercised by far his greatest influence
by means of his Canzoniere, entitled: Francisci Petrarche laureati poete
rerum vulgarium fragmenta, a collection of 366 poems, on which Petrarch
worked through most of his adult life until his death, celebrating the
Petrarch-persona's alternating relationships with an idealized woman,
Laura. 
Petrarch's Canzoniere incorporates many of the previous songbooks'
technical and poetic characteristics, from the exploitation of virtually
all available metrical forms to the construction of his collection
following the bipartite structure typical of Dante's Vita nuova: namely,
the celebration of the beloved, first, when she is alive; and, second,
when she is dead and in heaven. The aspect in which Petrarch surpassed
all previous lyric traditions and which fascinated all poets for
centuries to come, is the poetic I's unremittingly introspective
analysis of all facets of the human psyche in its never-ending attempts
at bridging the gap between the self and the other, personified by the
beloved. The conclusion of the Canzoniere, however, seems to overturn
that seemingly impossible human endeavor of connecting with the feminine
other. The Petrarch-persona, in fact, turns himself wholly to the
Christian Godhead through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin,
thereby placing a religious and sacred seal on a poetic creation that is
characterized more by the personal, individualistic, and earthly pursuit
than by a supernatural search. 
Petrarch's Canzoniere influenced, modified, and shaped all lyric poetry
for the next three centuries, until the middle of the 17th century, and
constituted a constant point of reference for many poets throughout the
18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The unparalleled literary phenomenon
that swept through most of Western Europe, particularly Italy, France,
Spain, and Great Britain, became known as Petrarchism and constituted
one of the most revolutionary and innovative trends in modern poetry. 
Insofar as poetry, in all its manifestations, according to Mikhail
Bakhtin, has shaped and shapes humans' way of thinking and relating to
each other more so than philosophy and technology, one can appreciate
the importance of Petrarch in Europe's literary and cultural history.
The seventh centenary of Petrarch's birth, therefore, is an appropriate
moment for reflecting on Petrarch and Petrarchism especially in Italy,
France, Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain.
With the support of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department
of Romance Languages and Literatures, Annali d'Italianistica intends to
celebrate the seventh centenary of Petrach's birth in two ways: first,
by organizing a symposium on Petrarch and the European lyric tradition
in the Spring of 2004 on the campus of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill; second, by publishing selected papers of the Convention
in the 2004 issue of AdI, scheduled to appear in the fall of the same
year, with the possibility of posting electronically on the journal's
website all papers presented at the Symposium. 
The Convention organizers have invited internationally known scholars
from North America and Europe in order to analyze the multiple
influences and reactions to Petrarch and Petrarchism in Europe. In
addition to several keynote speakers, the Convention intends to gather
also scholars who are interested in sharing their views on the literary
and cultural phenomenon created by Petrarch.

***

2) List of plenary speakers:

PETRARCH, ANTIQUITY, AND ITALIAN POETRY
Giuseppe Velli, University of Milan, Italy
Some of his major studies include:
Petrarca e Boccaccio: tradizione, memoria, scrittura. Padova: Antenore,
1979. 1995. 
Tra lettura e creazione: Sannazaro, Alfieri, Foscolo. Padova: Antenore,
1983.

Michelangelo Picone, University of Zürich, Switzerland
Some of his major studies include:
Dante e le forme dell'allegoresi. Ravenna: Longo, 1987.
Der Antike Roman und seine mittelalterliche Rezeption. (Ed.) Basel:
Birkäuser, 1997.
L'enciclopedismo medievale. (Ed.) Ravenna: Longo, 1994.
International Dante Seminar 1997 (Ascona, Switzerland): mito e poesia.
(Ed.) Firenze: Cesati, 1999.
International Dante Seminar 2000: Florence, Italy. Dante, da Firenze
all'aldilà. (Ed.) Firenze: Cesati, 2001.
Ovidius Redivivus: von Ovid zu Dante. (Ed.) Stuttgart: M & P, 1994.
Vita nuova e tradizione romanza. Padova: Liviana, 1979.
Inferno. (Ed.) Firenze: Cesati, 2000.
Purgatorio. (Ed.) Firenze: Cesati, 2001.
Paradiso. (Ed.) Firenze: Cesati, 2002.

Karlheinz Stierle, University of Constance, Germany
"A Manifesto of New Singing: The Canzoni-Group 125-129 in Petrarch's
Canzoniere."
Some of his major studies include:
Dunkelheit und Form in Gérard de Nervals "Chimères". München: Fink,
1967.
Text als Handlung. München: Fink, 1975.
Petrarcas Landschaften: Zur Geschichte ästhetischer
Landschaftserfahrung. Krefeld, 1979.
Der Mythos von Paris. (French translation: La capitale des signes. Paris
et son discours). München: Hanser, 1993.
Ästhetische Rationalität. Kunstwerk und Werkbegriff. München: Fink,
1997.
Petrarca. Fragmente eines Selbstentwurfs. München: Hanser, 1998.

Sara Sturm-Maddox, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA
Some of her major studies include:
Froissart across the Genres. Gainesville: UP of Florida, 1998.
The Medieval French Alexander. (Ed.) Albany: SUNY P, 2002.
Melusine of Lusignan: Founding Fiction in Late Medieval France. (Ed.)
Athens: U of Georgia P, 1996. 
Lorenzo de' Medici. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1974.
Petrarch's Laurels. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1992.
Petrarch's Metamorphoses: Text and Subtext in the Rime sparse. Columbia:
U of Missouri P, 1985.
Ronsard, Petrarch and the Amours. Gainesville: UP of Florida, 1999. 

Paul Colilli, Laurentian University, Canada
Some of his major studies include:
The Angel's Corpse. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.
The Idea of a Living Spirit: Poetic Logic as a Contemporary Theory.
Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1997.
Petrarch's Allegories of Writing. Napoli: N. De Dominicis, 1988. 

PETRARCH AND BRITISH POETRY
Gordon Braden, University of Virginia, USA
"Petrarch and Wyatt."
Some of his major studies include:
The Classics and the English Renaissance Poetry: Three Case Studies. New
Haven: Yale UP, 1978.
Petrarchan Love and the Continental Renaissance. New Haven: Yale UP,
1999.
Renaissance Tragedy and the Senecan Tradition: Anger's Privilege. New
Haven: Yale UP, 1985.
The Idea of the Renaissance, co-authored with William Kerrigan.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1989. 

PETRARCH AND OCCITAN POETRY
William D. Paden, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
"Petrarch and the Troubadours."
Some of his major studies include:
Bertran de Born, seigneur de Hautefort, 1140?-1215. The Poems of the
Troubadour Bertran de Born. Berkeley: U of California P, 1986.
The Future of the Middle Ages: Medieval Literature in the 1990s.
Gainesville: UP of Florida, 1994.
Medieval Lyric: Genres in Historical Context. Urbana: U of Illinois P,
2000.
The Medieval Pastourelle. New York: Garland, 1987. 
An Introduction to Old Occitan. New York: MLA, 1998.
The Voice of the Trobairitz. Perspectives on the Women Troubadours.
Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1980.


PETRARCH AND SPANISH POETRY
Anne J. Cruz, University of Illinois, Chicago
Some of her major studies include:
Disciplines on the Line: Feminist Research on Spanish, Latin American,
and US Latina Women.  Newark, DL: Juan de la Cuesta Press, 2003.
Cervantes and His Postmodern Constituencies. New York : Garland, 1999.
Cultural Encounters: The Impact of the Inquisition in Spain and the New
World. Berkeley: U of California P, 1991. 
Culture and Control in Counter-Reformation Spain. Minneapolis : U of
Minnesota P, 1992. 
Discourses of Poverty: Social Reform and the Picaresque Novel in Early
Modern Spain. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1999. 
Imitación y transformación: el petrarquismo en la poesía de Boscán y
Garcilaso de la Vega. Amsterdam; J. Benjamins, 1988. 
Renaissance Rereadings: Intertext and Context. Urbana: U of Illinois,
1988. 


PETRARCH AND MUSIC: 1350-1600
1) Chair: Tim Carter, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
James Haar, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
John Nádas, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

2) Petrarch Concert:
Hill Hall Auditorium 8 p.m., Friday 19, March 2004

"At Looser Hours in the Shade: Petrarchan Songs and Echoes" 
A Programme of Seventeenth-Century Virtuoso Solo Songs for Bass Voice
and Chitarrone with music by Claudio Monteverdi, Sigismondo d'India,
Jacopo Peri, Giovan Domenico Puliaschi, Henry Purcell, John Blow, and
William Lawes.

Performers:
Richard Wistreich (bass); Nigel North (chitarrone, lutes)

Richard Wistreich (University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK) is one of the
leading bass singers of his generation, well known for his work and
recordings, with the Consort of Musicke and, more recently, as an
exponent of songs and operatic roles for solo bass.  
Nigel North (Indiana University, Bloomington, IN) is perhaps the finest
exponent of plucked string instruments of the sixteenth and early
seventeenth centuries, and also renowned as a continuo accompanist.


3) Call for papers:
Papers and sessions on the Symposium's topic ? Petrarch and the European
Lyric Tradition ? will be considered, including essays on the presence
of the lyric Petrarch in all Romance literatures, and English
literature.
Scholars interested in participating are invited to submit a brief
abstract (ca. 250 words) to Dino S. Cervigni at the following electronic
address: [log in to unmask]
Deadline for the submission of abstracts is November 1, 2003. 
Acceptance will be promptly acknowledged.
The papers that will be read at the Symposium should not exceed 2250
words (9 pages). The final version of the papers to be submitted for
publication in Annali d'italianistica may be longer.



4) Publication of the symposium's selected proceedings in Annali
d'italianistica 22 (2004) to be published in the fall of 2004:
All papers presented at the symposium may be submitted for publication
in the 22nd volume of Annali d'italianistica, scheduled to appear in the
fall of 2004. To be considered for this refereed publication, the paper
should be submitted to the journal's Editor no later than April 30,
2004, in accordance with the norms of the journal
(www.ibiblio.org/annali). 


5) Possible electronic posting, on Annali d'italianistica's website, of
all essays presented at the symposium:
The Editors of Annali d'italianistica are considering the possibility of
posting electronically the entire volume of the 2004 issue of the
journal, including those papers worthy of publication that may not be
included in the volume because of space limitations.

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