Welcome to

ItalyPrepared by:
Group 3
Quebec, DC Neil A.
Rivera, Vangie R.
Sagayap, Joseph C.
Italian
LITERATURE
ITALY AS A NATION
Italy, a European country with a long Mediterranean
coastline, has left a powerful mark on Western culture and
cuisine. Its capital, Rome, is home to the Vatican as well as
landmark art and ancient ruins. Other major cities include
Florence, with Renaissance masterpieces such as
Michelangelo's "David" and Brunelleschi's Duomo; Venice,
the city of canals; and Milan, Italy's fashion capital.
·Italy was also the Homeland of the Romans and the
metropole of the Roman Empire.
EARLY DAYS OF
LITERATURE
• Italian Literature is written in the Italian language, particularly
within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in
Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are
closely related to modern Italian.

·Began in the 12th Century

·Early example of Italian Literature is the tradition of Vernacular

Lyric poetry performed in Occitan.
EARLY DAYS OF
LITERATURE

·Using vernacular language or the language of ordinary

speech rather than formal writing.

·Lyric poetry - is a formal type of poetry which expresses

personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first
person.
RENAISSANCE HUMANISM
·Renaissance Humanism developed during the 14th and
the beginning of 15th centuries. Humanists sought to
create a citizenry able to speak and write with
eloquence and clarity.

·it also awakens the man's love of learning and a true

love for books. Where Humanists built book
collections and libraries.
SIX CHARACTERS IN
SEARCH OF AUTHOR

is an Italian play by Luigi Pirandello, written

and first performed in 1921.
1. An absurdist metatheatrical play about the relationship among
authors;
2. their characters and theatre practitioners;
3. it premiered at the Teatro Valle in Rome to a mixed reception;
4. with shouts from the audience of "Manicomio!" ("Madhouse!");
5. and "Incommensurabile!" ("Incommensurable!");
6. a reaction to the play's illogical progression.

GREATEST ITALIAN POET

Dante Alighieri one of
the greatest Italian
poet and is Notable for his Divine Comedy

He is described as the "father" of the Italian

language and in Italy he is often referred to a
sil Sommo Poeta ("the Supreme Poet"). Dante,
Petrarch, and Boccaccio are also called the tre
corone ("three crowns") of Italian literature.
THE DIVINE COMEDY
1.1 is a long Italian narrative poem by Dante
Alighieri, begun c, 1308 and completed in 1320, a
year before his death in 1321. It is widely
considered to be the pre-eminent work in
Italian literature and one of the greatest works
of world literature. The poem's imaginative
vision of the afterlife is representative of the
medieval world-view as it had developed in the
Western Church by the 14th century.
THE DIVINE COMEDY
1.2 The narrative takes as its literal subject the state
of souls after death and presents an image of divine
justice meted out as due punishment or reward, and
describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and
Paradise or Heaven, while allegorically the poem
represents the soul's journey towards God.
·Sin (inferno)
·Penitent Christian life (purgatorio)
·Soul's ascent to God (paradiso)
 WOMEN IN ITALIAN
LITERATURE
Italian women writers have always been underrepresented in
academia. In many collections of prominent and influential Italian
literature, women's works are not included. "A woman writer,"
Anna Banti once said, "even if successful, is marginalized. They
will say that she is great among women writers, but they will not
equate her to male writers."
 WOMEN IN ITALIAN
LITERATURE
The work of Italian women writers is both progressive and
penetrating: through their explorations of the feminine psyche,
their critiques of women's social and economic position in Italy,
and their depiction of the persistent struggle to achieve equality
in a "man's world," they have shattered traditional
representations of women in literature.
 Decameron/Tale of the
Falcon (Giovanni Boccaccio)

https://youtu.be/K8Z36ZiEJSk

https://youtu.be/W70XKQMQVSU
 Characters:
·Federigo Alberighi - is the son of Signor Fillippo Alberighi (Fillippo
Alberighi does not appear in the story. He is mentioned only to
draw attention to the prestigious reputation of the Alberighi
family.) Federigo falls in love with the lady Giovanna. Despite
Giovanna’s continued ambivalence toward Federigo’s advances,
Federigo continues to spend his fortune extravagantly.
 Characters:
·Monna Giovanna - is the noblewoman with whom Federigo is in
love. (The word monna, short for ‘‘madonna,’’ is Italian for the title
of ‘‘lady,’’ a title used in Boccaccio’s day.) She is described as the
most beautiful woman in all of Florence. Despite her beauty and
her other reputed virtues, such as her honesty, Giovanna ignores
Federigo and all the ostentatious displays of his affection.
 who is giovanni boccacio?
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) was one of the most influential
Italian writers of the Middle Ages and before the Renaissance.
After failing in his studies as a merchant and in canon law, he
devoted himself to literature. He lived in cities such as Florence
and Naples and gradually became a recognized writer.
 who is giovanni boccacio?
In 1350 he met Petrarch, another Italian writer who would become
a great friend and influence his life and work. Along with him,
Boccaccio formed a new philosophical and literary movement
called humanism. This way of thinking exalted the human being
and human qualities.
 who is giovanni boccacio?
Boccaccio's masterpiece is Decameron. It is a collection of stories
that he wrote inspired by the events related to the bubonic plague
that struck Florence and much of Europe. He uses the literary
technique of telling a story within a story. His work relates the
story of 10 young people who flee from Florence due to the plague
to make a new life.
 who is giovanni boccacio?
While they take refuge in a village, each one narrates 10 stories
over 10 days. Boccaccio wrote dozens of works, such as prose,
poems, novels, biographies, compilations, and pastorals. However,
none were as successful as Decameron. His masterpiece inspired
Geoffrey Chaucer to write The Canterbury Tales.
 who is giovanni boccacio?
According to historian William Caferro, Giovanni Boccaccio was “a
man of substantial political influence and financial means, who
was deeply involved in Florentine affairs.”
 who is giovanni boccacio?
While he was writing the Decameron, Boccaccio was also the
chamberlain of the camera del comune in Florence, the most
prominent financial office in the city.
 who is giovanni boccacio?

He also acted as an ambassador to other Italian city-states and

oversaw income from public properties in Florence.
 decameron influences
to the culture, Politics,
Economy and Society
The Decameron attacks the lack of just action in society,
connecting it to the divine punishment of the plague and the
ensuing profound societal disruption. Boccaccio uses the
plague as a means of causing societal change through his
condemning critique of those in positions of authority,
calling for more just leadership from secular and religious
figures.
The Decameron offers valuable criticisms of
contemporaneous societal values and argues for the
introduction of humanist values to establish a more just
society. Though it was ultimately unable to affect immediate
societal change, it influenced the development of both
humanism and anticlericalism in Europe.
As historians have shown, the Black Death caused physical,
emotional, and social devastation that fundamentally
changed society in numerous ways. Historians have
addressed many of the ways that the Black Death changed
European society in the long run. Art, religion, economics,
politics. Each of these fields were fundamentally challenged
by the plague and forced to adapt as a result.
·It has a big impact on Italian society, it developed the
viewpoint of Renaissance humanism towards those in
positions of authority.
Boccaccio establishes the degree to which society has fallen
apart through a dedicated description of several immediate
effects of the plague. These effects include a complete loss of
class distinction, the dissolution of professional and familial
relationships, and the removal of functional ability from
those in positions of authority.
·Boccaccio was able to critique the immoral practices of
those in authority, thereby establishing the opportunity for
others to do the same.

The Decameron was the first prose masterpiece to be

written in the Tuscan vernacular,
“The Decameron” marked a shift toward literature about
everyday people.

Boccaccio uses the plague as a means of causing societal

change through his condemning critique of those in
positions of authority, calling for more just leadership from
secular and religious figures.
His humanism comprised not only classical studies and the
attempt to rediscover and reinterpret ancient texts but also
the attempt to raise literature in the modern languages to
the level of the classical by setting standards for it and then
conforming to those standards.
The Decameron has emerged as an important historical
record of the physical, psychological, and social effects of the
aggressive spread of the previously unknown Yersina pestis
bacteria.
The Decameron is dedicated to all women suffering from
love, the writer claiming to have himself recently been
released from such pains. The stories are told over ten days
by seven women and three men.
The Decameron is dedicated to all women suffering from
love, the writer claiming to have himself recently been
released from such pains. The stories are told over ten days
by seven women and three men.
Federigo loves Monna Giovanna, a
young woman of nobility who is
already married and has a son.
After her wealthy husband dies,
Monna and her son travel to their
country estate near the farm where
Federigo lives. The boy becomes
friends with him and covets the
prized falcon.