Ovid and the Renaissance Body ed. by Goran Stanivukovic (review)

378 letters in canada 2001 university of toronto quarterly, volume 72, number 1, winter 2002/3 and (in the translation of Premierfait) Boccaccio=s compendium was a strong influence on the work of Christine de Pizan. De claris mulieribus, in Brown=s fine translation, would make an excellent addition to courses centred on the changing image of women in literature, or on the (often contested) transition from >medieval= to >Renaissance= modes of thought. In a curious sense, the extraordinary virtue of the book B its combination of well-edited text and fluent translation B creates a problem as well. Because these volumes are intended for use by non-specialists, the translation does not correspond to the Latin text word for word, but rather strives for a natural flow of modern English. For the reader whose Latin is competent, however, the translation can sometimes be a source of frustration, for the same Latin word is sometimes translated using different English terms, while different Latin words are sometimes translated using the same English term. Perhaps the most interesting example of this phenomenon occurs in the opening sentences of the Dedication, where the volume is offered by Boccaccio to Andrea Acciaiuoli, Countess of Altavilla. >A short time ago, gracious lady,= he writes, >I wrote ... a slim volume in praise of women. ... Since women are the subject of the book, I saw that it ought to be dedicated, not to a prince, but to some distinguished lady.= In the Latin text, however, one notices the seamless relationship between the subject of the book (>mulieribus=) and the dedicatee (>mulierum=); the variable translation, sometimes >lady= and sometimes >women,= introduces a distinction based on class, working against Boccaccio=s emphasis on the similarity of women ranging through the social strata (an emphasis which would be embraced by Christine de Pizan). The same variability appears throughout the Dedication. Similarly, >honestate= is rendered sometimes as >probity,= sometimes as >integrity.= These slight inconsistencies make it somewhat difficult to move smoothly between translation and text; they are, however, a small price to pay for the pleasure of reading this elegant translation, accompanied by a strikingly clean text and intelligent notes. (SUZANNE CONKLIN AKBARI) Goran Stanivukovic, editor. Ovid and the Renaissance Body University of Toronto Press. viii, 288. $65.00 In his introduction, Goran Stanivukovic says that the thirteen essays in this book are united by >their aim to historicize the multiplicity of Renaissance uses of Ovid by arguing for a diversity of discourses on body and sex in the Renaissance.= By this criterion, Ovid and the Renaissance Body is clearly a success, although it could be objected that as only one essay (Carla Freccero=s discussion of Louise Labé) deals with a writer who is not both male and English, the full diversity of these discourses is not represented. Still, the contributors cover quite a wide range of works and authors; humanities 379 university of toronto quarterly, volume 72, number 1, winter 2002/3 Thomas Peend=s fans will be especially pleased to find two articles (by Jim Ellis and Michael Pincombe) with substantial discussions of his work. Of course, the essays also cover the usual suspects (Jonson, Marlowe, Spenser, Shakespeare, and so on). There is even some consideration of translations: Gina Bloom looks at Sandys=s handling of the Narcissus and Echo episode from the Metamorphoses, while Ian Frederick Moulton looks at Harington=s translation of Ariosto. Part of the book=s range is chronological. The golden age of English Renaissance Ovidianism is probably the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth, and most of the essays deal with texts from this period. Among these, I would single out Jim Ellis=s theoretically sophisticated look at the epyllia, Mark Dooley=s subtle look at Lyly, and Lori Humphrey Newcomb=s interesting and densely argued, if not always convincing, discussion of The Winter=s Tale. But there are some essays that deal with slightly later work: Morgan Holmes has a stimulating look at Marvell=s Ovidianism in The Nymph Complaining for the Death of her Faun, although the poem itself gets rather short shrift, and Elizabeth Sauer contributes a brilliant discussion of Milton. Despite the book=s...