Petrarch and Dante: Anti-Dantism, Metaphysics, Tradition

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since the beginnings of Italian vernacular literature, the nature of the relationship between Francesco Petrarch and his predecessor Dante Alighieri has remained an open and endlessly fascinating question of both literary and cultural history.In this volume nine leading scholars of Italian medieval literature and culture address this question involving the two foundational figures of Italian literature. The authors examine Petrarch’s contentious and dismissive attitude toward the literary authority of his illustrious predecessor; the dramatic shift in theological and philosophical context that occurs from Dante to Petrarch; and their respective contributions as initiators of modern literary traditions in the vernacular.Petrarch’s substantive ideological dissent from Dante clearly emerges,a dissent that casts in high relief the poets’radically divergent views of the relation between the human and the divine and of humans’ capacity to bridge that gap. zygmunt g. barański is Serena Professor of Italian, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of New Hall. theodore j. cachey, jr., is Albert J. and Helen M. Ravarino Family Director of Dante and Italian Studies and professor of Italian at the University of Notre Dame. contributors: Albert Russell Ascoli, Zygmunt G. Barański, Teodolinda Barolini, Theodore J. Cachey, Jr., Ronald L. Martinez, Giuseppe Mazzotta, Christian Moevs, Justin Steinberg, and Sara Sturm-Maddox. the william and katherine devers series in dante studies Theodore J. Cachey, Jr., and Christian Moevs, Editors; Simone Marchesi, Associate Editor; Ilaria Marchesi, Assistant Editor Petrarch & Dante Anti-Dantism, Metaphysics, Tradition edited by zygmunt g. barański and theodore j. cachey, jr. “An absolute A-list of contributors here considers all that falls, all forms of regard and disregard, between two of the great poets and cultural legislators of the western world.Timely, original, and highly recommended.” david wallace, University of Pennsylvania “A collection of sparkling essays exploring Petrarch’s efforts to conceal his enormous debt to Dante while seeking to replace Dante’s authority with his own. I found it hard to stop reading.” ronald witt, Duke University “Petrarch and Dante is a magnificent volume of uniformly superb essays. Instead of surveying Petrarch’s variety or his influence upon later culture, the authors have ingeniously focused on shifting relationships with the poet’s most formidable Italian predecessor, Dante; in so doing, they have produced scholarship that teases out the issues with great subtlety and nuance.” william j. kennedy, Cornell University University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, IN 46556 • undpress.nd.edu Petrarch & Dante Anti-Dantism, Metaphysics, Tradition Edited by Zygmunt G. Barański and Theodore J. Cachey, Jr. with the assistance of Demetrio S. Yocum Petrarch & Dante Baranski 000.FM 2/24/09 3:43 PM Page i the william and katherine devers series in dante studies Theodore J. Cachey, Jr., and Christian Moevs, editors Simone Marchesi, associate editor Ilaria Marchesi, assistant editor —————— v o l u m e 9 The Ancient Flame: Dante and the Poets Winthrop Wetherbee v o l u m e 8 Accounting for Dante: Urban Readers and Writers in Late Medieval Italy Justin Steinberg v o l u m e 7 Experiencing the Afterlife: Soul and Body in Dante and Medieval Culture Manuele Gragnolati v o l u m e 6 Understanding Dante John A. Scott v o l u m e 5 Dante and the Grammar of the Nursing Body Gary P. Cestaro v o l u m e 4 The Fiore and the Detto d’Amore: A Late 13th-Century Italian Translation of the Roman de la Rose, attributable to Dante Translated, with introduction and notes, by Santa Casciani and Christopher Kleinhenz v o l u m e 3 The Design in the Wax:The Structure of the Divine Comedy and Its Meaning Marc Cogan v o l u m e 2 The Fiore in Context: Dante, France,Tuscany edited by Zygmunt G. Barański and Patrick Boyde v o l u m e 1 Dante Now: Current Trends in Dante Studies edited by Theodore J. Cachey, Jr. Baranski 000.FM 2/24/09 3:44 PM Page ii ...