Renaissance Literary Theory Research Articles

Poems, portraits, and paper: Raphael’s sonnets and the fabric of friendship

In this essay, I argue that Raphael’s double portrait of Agostino Beazzano and Andrea Navagero formed the painter’s fullest response—made in purely pictorial terms—to Renaissance prosody as it was then being developed by his friends, especially the portraits’ sitters and Pietro Bembo. The drafts of Raphael’s own sonnets on drawings made while he was painting the Stanza della Segnatura are visualizations of the intellectual labor his poetic compositions entailed. A close looking at their placement across the paper on these “ekphrastic sheets” (to use Francesco Di Teodoro’s term) as well as changes in the sonnets’ texts offer tools for understanding the double portrait of Raphael’s poet-friends. Raphael’s often dismissed efforts at poetry made on these study drawings thus blossomed half a decade later in the contribution to Renaissance literary theory he made as a painter.

Heroic Forms: Cervantes and the Literature of War by Stephen Rupp

Reviewed by: Heroic Forms: Cervantes and the Literature of War by Stephen Rupp Eduardo Olid Guerrero Rupp, Stephen. Heroic Forms: Cervantes and the Literature of War. Toronto: Toronto UP, 2014. Pp. 251. ISBN 978-1-4426-4912-5 Stephen Rupp informs us that Heroic Forms: Cervantes and the Literature of War centers on Cervantes’s “presentation of warfare and soldiers’ lives in a range of literary genres, both the canonical kinds explicated in Renaissance literary theory and such non-official forms as romance and picaresque fiction” (xi). In general, Rupp’s readings of Cervantes’s works demonstrate a keen eye for generic motifs, classical, Renaissance, and even contemporary intertextualities. Even though there is no rationale for the specific selection of texts and scenes, each of them is discussed at length; most often with special attention given to their relationship with the literary genres with which they have been traditionally associated. Most scholars now accept and assume Cervantes’s manipulation of a multiplicity of literary genres. Rupp challenges and also confirms this perception in relation to war and heroism, and expands his analysis to other literary influences, theories, and interpretations. He manages an interesting theoretical framework, quoting classical thinkers and contemporary theorists, and incorporating them without forcing the interpretation. However, for a book published in 2014, there is a lack of updated sources available (2009–12) on the topic. Perhaps due to the excessive focus on the position of Cervantes’s works within contemporary theory of literary genres, recent bibliography and Spanish scholarship on the topic of early modern war is not well represented (e.g., Estudios sobre cultura, guerra y política en la corona de Castilla: Siglos XIV–XVII by Fernando Castillo Cáceres, or La violencia en el mundo hispánico en el Siglo de Oro by Juan Manuel Escudero y Victoriano Roncero). Furthermore, in this monograph Rupp’s previous work comparing English and Spanish theatre, and his study on Calderón de la Barca and the anti-Machiavellian tradition, would have been useful to complete [End Page 352] his criticism. Machiavelli’s influence seems almost unavoidable not only with Il Principe, but even more with Dell’arte della guerra (1521), for it was a well-known treaty at the time (with an earlier Spanish version by Diego Salazar titled Tratado de re militari in 1536). The first chapter, titled “Warriors: Epic and Tragedy” dedicated to La Numancia, is his best. Rupp stresses that his main focus is to study how this play “combines the patterns of epic and tragedy to examine the challenges of heroic conduct in siege warfare and the instability of the rewards of fame and glory that classical epic offers to its exemplary warriors” (27). His conclusion on how this play looks for an epic catharsis in its Spanish audience by contrasting the practicality of military strategy is very convincing. Still, it would have been interesting to establish parallelism with two well-known samples: Lope de Vega’s El asalto de Mastrique (1579), and Calderón de la Barca’s El sitio de Breda (1640). Chapter 2, “Defenders: Pastoral and Satire,” examines three episodes in Don Quixote. The first one is the trip that the knight and his squire make to El Toboso looking for Dulcinea (DQ II). For Rupp, it is a good sample of Don Quixote’s concern with his legacy and his idea of reaching fame through military deeds. In the second selection that explores the attack on the sheep flocks transformed into two armies by Don Quixote, Rupp sees it as an intrusion of epic violence into pastoral peace (DQ I). Here is Rupp’s only mention of the comedian type of the miles gloriosus that arguably deserved its own subchapter in Heroic Forms. Rupp’s study of Don Quixote’s description of the two armies, with references to Ariosto’s Orlando furioso is very rewarding and insightful. The chapter ends exploring the adventure of the braying regidores and their mocking neighbors (DQ II). Once more, Rupp shows a fine eye for critical analysis when he centers his argument on the concept of casus belli, referring to Francisco de Vitoria’s On the Law of War (1539), to conclude...

David D. Hall, Ways of Writing: The Practice and Politics of Text-Making in Seventeenth-Century New EnglandWays of Writing: The Practice and Politics of Text-Making in Seventeenth-Century New England. David D. Hall. Philadephia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. Pp. 248.

<i>David D. Hall</i>, Ways of Writing: The Practice and Politics of Text-Making in Seventeenth-Century New England<i>Ways of Writing: The Practice and Politics of Text-Making in Seventeenth-Century New England</i>. David D. Hall. Philadephia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. Pp. 248.

Homer, Heliodorus, and Cervantes: Some Observations on Anagnorisis in Los Trabajos De Persiles Y Sigismunda (1617)

For the contemporary reader, Aristotle’s concept of anagnorisis , or “recognition,” probably conjures thoughts of a hackneyed narrative tack by which an author might structure his fiction with a view to a “marvelous” if predictable conclusion. Yet, anagnorisis enjoyed privileged status in Renaissance literary theory and practice, being referred to as “the most important part” of the plot by one neo-Aristotelian. Closely reading Cervantes’s final work, a neo-Byzantine romance entitled Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda , one discovers two divergent approaches to writing recognition. For example, one observes Cervantes closely imitating specific scenes and techniques from Homer and others whose recognitions had become paradigmatic in neo-Aristotelian poetics. Quite the opposite, in the episode of Feliciana de la Voz, one observes Cervantes deconstruction of the recognition process. Recognition’s move “from ignorance to knowledge” is rendered problematic, as Cervantes obscures the reader’s access to the “truth” of things, an exegetical problem not unfamiliar to readers of Don Quijote .

Review: Defending Literature in Early Modern England: Renaissance Literary Theory in Social Context

1University of Leeds Defending Literature in Early Modern England: Renaissance Literary Theory in Social Context Robert Matz xii + 188 Cambridge (Cambridge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture 37) Cambridge University Press 2000 £35

Defending Literature in Early Modern England: Renaissance Literary Theory in Social Context

Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: 'aut prodesse ... aut delectare' 2. Recreating reading: Elyot's Boke Named the Governour 3. Heroic diversions: Sidney's Defence of Poetry 4. A 'gentle discipline': Spenser's Faerie Queene 5. Epilogue: from text to work? Notes Bibliography Index.

:Defending Literature in Early Modern England: Renaissance Literary Theory in Social Context

:<i>Defending Literature in Early Modern England: Renaissance Literary Theory in Social Context</i>

Political Revolution and Literary Experiment in the Spanish Romantic Period (1830-1850) by Andrew Ginger (review)

MLR, 96. , 200I MLR, 96. , 200I MLR, 96. , 200I will eventually allow individuals to create concordances for their own purposes (p. 321), whether they are literarycriticism, textual criticism,linguistic analysis or the investigationof authorship.Don Pedrowould have been astonished,but, given his concern for the correctnessof his texts, and for correct attributions,he would surelyhave approved. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN D. W. CRUICKSHANK Lossonetos deFrancisco dela Torre.By SOLEDAD PEREZ-ABADIN BARRO.(Manchester Spanish and Portuguese Studies, 5. Cafiada Blanch Monographs, 2) Manchester :Department of Spanishand Portuguese. 1997. 224 pp. ?I9.95. The poetry of Francisco de la Torre, first published by Quevedo in 1631, has attracted the attention of several recent scholars, among them Soledad PerezAbadin Barro,who has alsowrittenstudiesof his odes and his canciones. In thisbook, a substantial addition to the Manchester Series, she turns her attention to his sonnets, in the belief that he is not a minor poet but a major figure, worthy to be placed alongside Garcilaso and Herrera. The seven chapters provide a general overview of de la Torre's poetry as well as a detailed analysis of the sixty-four sonnetsin his Obras. Afterconsideringcriticalviews of hiswork(Chapter i), and the place of the sonnet in Renaissance literarytheory(Chapter2), they examine in turn the topoi and codes of amorousdiscourseon which he draws,the structuringdevices he employsto create thematiccycles, his technique and style,and the waysin which he tends to constructindividualpoems. They conclude with some general remarks on his achievement. Perez-Abadin Barro is a careful scholar with an eye for detail, and her study, which provides an exhaustive description of its subject, is packed with data and bibliographicreferencesthat open up furtherlines of enquiry.In these respectsit is faithful to the methodology in which she believes: 'aportar datos especificos que proporcionen una caracterizaci6nemancipada de criteriosvalorizanteso clasificatorios '(p. 8). It is doubtfulthat she succeeds in provingthat de la Torrewas a major poet: to do this, she would have had to avail of the 'criterios valorizantes o clasificatorios'that her method eschews. She does show, however, that he was a versatile sonneteer, entirely at home in the Italianate conventions that shape his verse, and that his lyricsare worthy of the close examination to which she subjects them. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK TERENCE O'REILLY Political Revolution andLiterary Experiment intheSpanish Romantic Period (1830-1850). By ANDREW GINGER. (Hispanic Literature Series, Volume 47) Lewiston, Queenston and Lampeter:The EdwinMellen Press. 1999. 406 pp. $109.95. Ever since the publication of Javier Herrero's splendid Losorigenes delpensamiento reaccionario espafol(Madrid:Edieusa, 1971) followed by his now classic article 'El naranjo romantico: esencia del costumbrismo' (HR 46 (I978), 343-54, alas, not included in Ginger's bibliography,where the book title also is incomplete, among sundryothererrorsand omissions),we have been able to understandone side of the intellectual/political backgroundto Spanish Romanticism and, up to a point, how it manifested itselfin creative writing.What Ginger attemptsto do here is to carry on theinvestigationby examiningaspectsofModerado (Conservative)andProgressive Liberal thought in Spain between 1830 and I850, and relating them to certain will eventually allow individuals to create concordances for their own purposes (p. 321), whether they are literarycriticism, textual criticism,linguistic analysis or the investigationof authorship.Don Pedrowould have been astonished,but, given his concern for the correctnessof his texts, and for correct attributions,he would surelyhave approved. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN D. W. CRUICKSHANK Lossonetos deFrancisco dela Torre.By SOLEDAD PEREZ-ABADIN BARRO.(Manchester Spanish and Portuguese Studies, 5. Cafiada Blanch Monographs, 2) Manchester :Department of Spanishand Portuguese. 1997. 224 pp. ?I9.95. The poetry of Francisco de la Torre, first published by Quevedo in 1631, has attracted the attention of several recent scholars, among them Soledad PerezAbadin Barro,who has alsowrittenstudiesof his odes and his canciones. In thisbook, a substantial addition to the Manchester Series, she turns her attention to his sonnets, in the belief that he is not a minor poet but a major figure, worthy to be placed alongside Garcilaso and Herrera. The seven chapters provide a general overview of de la Torre's poetry as well as a detailed analysis of the sixty-four sonnetsin his Obras. Afterconsideringcriticalviews of hiswork(Chapter i), and the place of the sonnet in Renaissance literarytheory(Chapter2...

Los sonetos de Francisco de la Torre (review)

MLR, 96. , 200I MLR, 96. , 200I MLR, 96. , 200I will eventually allow individuals to create concordances for their own purposes (p. 321), whether they are literarycriticism, textual criticism,linguistic analysis or the investigationof authorship.Don Pedrowould have been astonished,but, given his concern for the correctnessof his texts, and for correct attributions,he would surelyhave approved. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN D. W. CRUICKSHANK Lossonetos deFrancisco dela Torre.By SOLEDAD PEREZ-ABADIN BARRO.(Manchester Spanish and Portuguese Studies, 5. Cafiada Blanch Monographs, 2) Manchester :Department of Spanishand Portuguese. 1997. 224 pp. ?I9.95. The poetry of Francisco de la Torre, first published by Quevedo in 1631, has attracted the attention of several recent scholars, among them Soledad PerezAbadin Barro,who has alsowrittenstudiesof his odes and his canciones. In thisbook, a substantial addition to the Manchester Series, she turns her attention to his sonnets, in the belief that he is not a minor poet but a major figure, worthy to be placed alongside Garcilaso and Herrera. The seven chapters provide a general overview of de la Torre's poetry as well as a detailed analysis of the sixty-four sonnetsin his Obras. Afterconsideringcriticalviews of hiswork(Chapter i), and the place of the sonnet in Renaissance literarytheory(Chapter2), they examine in turn the topoi and codes of amorousdiscourseon which he draws,the structuringdevices he employsto create thematiccycles, his technique and style,and the waysin which he tends to constructindividualpoems. They conclude with some general remarks on his achievement. Perez-Abadin Barro is a careful scholar with an eye for detail, and her study, which provides an exhaustive description of its subject, is packed with data and bibliographicreferencesthat open up furtherlines of enquiry.In these respectsit is faithful to the methodology in which she believes: 'aportar datos especificos que proporcionen una caracterizaci6nemancipada de criteriosvalorizanteso clasificatorios '(p. 8). It is doubtfulthat she succeeds in provingthat de la Torrewas a major poet: to do this, she would have had to avail of the 'criterios valorizantes o clasificatorios'that her method eschews. She does show, however, that he was a versatile sonneteer, entirely at home in the Italianate conventions that shape his verse, and that his lyricsare worthy of the close examination to which she subjects them. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK TERENCE O'REILLY Political Revolution andLiterary Experiment intheSpanish Romantic Period (1830-1850). By ANDREW GINGER. (Hispanic Literature Series, Volume 47) Lewiston, Queenston and Lampeter:The EdwinMellen Press. 1999. 406 pp. $109.95. Ever since the publication of Javier Herrero's splendid Losorigenes delpensamiento reaccionario espafol(Madrid:Edieusa, 1971) followed by his now classic article 'El naranjo romantico: esencia del costumbrismo' (HR 46 (I978), 343-54, alas, not included in Ginger's bibliography,where the book title also is incomplete, among sundryothererrorsand omissions),we have been able to understandone side of the intellectual/political backgroundto Spanish Romanticism and, up to a point, how it manifested itselfin creative writing.What Ginger attemptsto do here is to carry on theinvestigationby examiningaspectsofModerado (Conservative)andProgressive Liberal thought in Spain between 1830 and I850, and relating them to certain will eventually allow individuals to create concordances for their own purposes (p. 321), whether they are literarycriticism, textual criticism,linguistic analysis or the investigationof authorship.Don Pedrowould have been astonished,but, given his concern for the correctnessof his texts, and for correct attributions,he would surelyhave approved. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN D. W. CRUICKSHANK Lossonetos deFrancisco dela Torre.By SOLEDAD PEREZ-ABADIN BARRO.(Manchester Spanish and Portuguese Studies, 5. Cafiada Blanch Monographs, 2) Manchester :Department of Spanishand Portuguese. 1997. 224 pp. ?I9.95. The poetry of Francisco de la Torre, first published by Quevedo in 1631, has attracted the attention of several recent scholars, among them Soledad PerezAbadin Barro,who has alsowrittenstudiesof his odes and his canciones. In thisbook, a substantial addition to the Manchester Series, she turns her attention to his sonnets, in the belief that he is not a minor poet but a major figure, worthy to be placed alongside Garcilaso and Herrera. The seven chapters provide a general overview of de la Torre's poetry as well as a detailed analysis of the sixty-four sonnetsin his Obras. Afterconsideringcriticalviews of hiswork(Chapter i), and the place of the sonnet in Renaissance literarytheory(Chapter2...

GREVILLE'S POETIC REVISITED

The traditional understanding of Greville's poetic as one preoccupied with the concept of "plainness" of expression is strictly the result of persistent misapprehensions. It hardly accords with Greville's exposition of his views on poetry and of his own practice of the art (in A Treatie of Humane Learning and The Life of Sidney, respectively). Essentially, Greville's poetic squarely addresses the most fundamental of the aesthetic issues that Renaissance literary theory is concerned with, and, more particularly, deals with them in a markedly individual fashion. It ultimately represents a vigorous departure from, or revision of, the substance of the poetic of the period. As such, it is of considerable interest both as part of Greville's thought and as a moment in the evolution of early modern thinking about literature in England.

The concept of invention and its role in Renaissance literary theory

The concept of invention and its role in Renaissance literary theory

Hardison O. B.Jr. The Enduring Monument: A Study of the Idea of Praise in Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1962. xvi+240 pp. $6.

Hardison O. B.Jr. The Enduring Monument: A Study of the Idea of Praise in Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1962. xvi+240 pp. $6. - Volume 17 Issue 4

The Enduring Monument: A Study of the Idea of Praise in Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice

The Enduring Monument: A Study of the Idea of Praise in Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice

The Enduring Monument: A Study of the Idea of Praise in Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice

The Enduring Monument: A Study of the Idea of Praise in Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice

Lopez Pinciano's Philosophia antigua poetica and the Spanish Contribution to Renaissance Literary Theory: A Review Article

Lopez Pinciano's Philosophia antigua poetica and the Spanish Contribution to Renaissance Literary Theory: A Review Article

Some Meanings of "Nature" in Renaissance Literary Theory

Some Meanings of "Nature" in Renaissance Literary Theory

Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice

Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice

Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice. Classicism in the Rhetoric and Poetic of Italy, France, and England, 1400–1600Studies in Early Tudor Criticism, Linguistic and Literaryoratio in Laudem Artis Poeticae by John Rainoldsrhetoric in Spenser's Poetry

Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice. Classicism in the Rhetoric and Poetic of Italy, France, and England, 1400–1600Studies in Early Tudor Criticism, Linguistic and Literaryoratio in Laudem Artis Poeticae by John Rainoldsrhetoric in Spenser's Poetry

Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice: Classicism in the Rhetoric and Poetic of Italy, France, and England 1400-1600.

Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice: Classicism in the Rhetoric and Poetic of Italy, France, and England 1400-1600.

Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice: Classicism in the Rhetoric and Poetic of Italy, France, and England, 1400-1600. Charles Sears Baldwin , Donald Lemen Clark

<i>Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice: Classicism in the Rhetoric and Poetic of Italy, France, and England, 1400-1600</i>. Charles Sears Baldwin , Donald Lemen Clark