The length and liveliness of the sprezzatura thread is evidence that that ‘je
ne sais quoi' (not a concept so much as a practice, though not of the sort that
will get you to Carnegie Hall) is close to the heart of what many of us value
in Renaissance culture.  And it's something that we are interested in carrying
over, if not into our own behavior, then to what we enjoy in our own times.  In
spite of the strictures I've expressed against any simple link to
what's ‘cool,' now and in the recent ‘then,' there's a lot to be gained from
pondering the alterities.  Attention to the ways in which sprezzatura arose
from acute awareness of differences in status (some historians, I believe,
prefer ‘status' to ‘class' in descriptions of early modern social orders) can
complicate a student's already intense interest in status issues, and
demonstrate the efficacy of art, and education in general, in showing marginal
individuals a way out of the status quo.  To the extent that Castiglione's book
was read by those who were not born courtiers but fashioned themselves for that
status, it opened new possibilities in a world where, at one time, only princes
could pretend to be shepherds.  Actors, as we know from Shakespeare, can play
princes, for what is a prince but a player?  So there are precedents within the
Renaissance for the ‘cool' self-possession and self- transcendence that we
admire in many more modern performers, from Oscar Wilde to Cassandra Wilson.

It hasn't been said, I think, that sprezzatura is a characteristic of
improvisatory performance: it is something revealed at the spur of the moment,
not bound by rules although it involves mastery of elaborate conventions.
Hence the relevance of Hemingway's ‘grace under pressure' (modeled on the bull-
fighter's risk-taking); hence the pertinence of certain dancers (I think of
Merce Cunningham, and of Mikhail Barishnikov).  And jazz musicians, most
obviously: for instance,  Miles Davis before he became the Prince of Darkness.
Against Keith Jarrett, often though not always guilty of ‘affetazione,' the
opposite of sprezzatura, I would put Tommy Flanagan, always dignified, and as
detached as Feste.  And Red Mitchell, the great bassist, whose playing was
always fluid and spontaneous: the title track of one of his recordings
is ‘Simple Isn't Easy.'

William Empson famously defined ‘pastoral' as ‘putting the complex into the
simple': that strikes me as a good instance of sprezzatura, and incidentally a
good definition of it too.

Jon Quitslund (Geo. Washington Univ., emeritus)
> Adding to the difficulty is the fact that "sprezzatura" only works if the
> audience is aware of the difficulty involved in the act, and this is where
> class comes in. In other words, only those who know how hard it is to
> control a horse can appreciate the "sprezzatura" of dressage, and generally
> speaking, only the privileged ride horses in that fashion. Part of the
> problem with translated "sprezzatura" today is that many
> performers/virtuosos make what they do *look* hard. Compare, for example,
> the dignity of Artur Rubenstein at the keyboard with the grunting and
> groaning of Keith Jarrett (whose works, I want to make clear, I reverence).
> Or the stillness of Segovia compared to the gyrations of, say, Jimmy Page,
> or even Eric Clapton (who is much less histrionic on stage).
>
> Peter Herman
>
> At 12:26 PM 6/3/03 -0500, you wrote:
> >The other problem with translating sprezzatura is that it encodes the
> >studied erasure of the external evidence of elaborate patterning
> >(rhetorical, social, philosophical, poetic, etc.).  In our culture we wish
> >to simplify everything, even when complexity does exist -- and
> >simplification is certainly not the same thing as the careful concealment
> >of the evidence of complexity.  When I teach the word I emphasize that this
> >is one reason why we can't translate the word; because as with a number of
> >other borrowed words -- schadenfreude, savoir faire -- the fact that we
> >borrow it points the fact that we lack the concept; and missing concepts
> >point to essential building blocks of imagining cultural alterity.
> >
> >Michael Saenger
> >
> >At 12:51 PM 6/3/2003 -0400, you wrote:
> >>I too have struggled with this. As Jon Quitslund says, the problem with
> >>"cool," good though it is, is class: Gladys Brooks has a devastating
> >>little first ironic and then tragic poem about ghetto kids that starts "We
> >>real cool"--not what Castiglione had in mind, of course, even if one
> >>eliminates Brooks's irony. My problem with "yuppie" is also class unless
> >>one thinks of Castiglione's readers as merely *trying* to be
> >>courtiers--which of course is often the case but only in real life, not in
> >>the text, or not overtly. I have no word of my own to offer except
> >>"aplomb," sort of, which isn't even English. I write the Italian on the
> >>board and at least a few years ago was able to define it by its opposite:
> >>sprezzatura is *not* having the sound that the then tennis top seeds made
> >>as they hit the ball (you remember--"UNNGGHH"). Or "never let them see you
> >>sweat." Anne Prescott
> >>
> >> > At times I have used Hemingway's "grace under pressure" as a modern
> >> > equivalent to 'sprezzatura'.  The 'pressure' being one's desire to impress
> >> > the social group watching the performance, while making them believe that
> >> > no effort at all was used in making the presentation.
> >> >
> >> > To draw upon popular culture, the writers of 'The West Wing' write with
> >> > this concept in mind. Josh, CJ, and Sam (before he resigned) can
> >> > extemporize a speech, a news-bite or a quip with apparent aplomb (yuppie,
> >> > I guess).  What makes the ease of response possible (we are meant to
> >> > believe) is years of education, a native intelligence and a fervently
> >> > passionate belief in the justness of their cause.  All are part of the
> >> > 'spezzaturian' package; as true for Duke Urbino's court as Jeb Bartlett's
> >> > (not George W's) White House.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Linda Vecchi    Dept. of English        Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Mon, 2 Jun 2003, Charles Butler wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> I was asked by a student what the English for 'sprezzatura' is. Having
> >> >> explained that it was one of those notoriously untranslatable words, it
> >> >> struck me that 'cool' comes pretty close. It has the same implications
> >> >> of
> >> >> effortless accomplishment, unfazedness, caring deeply about impressing
> >> >> people while affecting not to care, etc. But it seems such a
> >> >> quintessentially 20th century word that I hesitate to suggest it. Any
> >> >> thoughts?
> >> >>
> >> >> Charlie Butler
> >> >>
> >> >> "Run mad as often as you chuse, but do not faint!"
> >> >>
> >> >
> >
> >Michael Baird Saenger, Ph.D.
> >Assistant Professor, Department of English
> >Mood-Bridwell # 212
> >Southwestern University
> >Georgetown, TX
> >
> >(512) 863-1787
> >
> >Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 4pm - 5pm
> >