Fantastic Creatures in Italian Literature
From the Age of Dante to Modernity
Fantastic Creatures in Italian Literature
From the Age of Dante to Modernity
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Description
This volume explores the mysterious relationship between imagination and creatures-be they animals or hybrids- through the field of Italian literary history from its origins through the early modern period.
Animals and fantastic beings have become transfer figures, charged with signifying and expressing symbolic moments and emotional states. Some of these creatures have achieved such fame that they have become true literary tropes. The essays gathered in this volume explore the allegorical, cultural, or philosophical significance that specific creatures have assumed in the works of some of the most important authors of the Italian premodern tradition, from Chiaro Davanzati, through Dante and Boccaccio, all the way to Leopardi. Though grounded in different genres and historical contexts, each essay reveals how the animal or demonic figure becomes a site of philosophical reflection.
Table of Contents
About the Contributors
Introduction
Giulia M. Cipriani (University College Dublin, Ireland) andPaolo Rigo (Rome Tre University, Italy)
1. Chiaro Davanzati's Bestiary Sonnets
Eduard Vilella (Autonoma University of Barcelona, Spain)
2. Cino and the Fantastic Beasts: The Antiliosa and the Others
Paolo Rigo (Rome Tre University, Italy)
3. An Intercultural Journey of Dante's Phoenix in China: Symbolism, Transformation, and Translation
Deng Yang (Jilin International Studies University, China)
4. Dante's Siren: Femmina, Serena, Strega
George Rayson (University College Cork, Ireland)
5. Fantastic Traces Within the Decameron's Bestiary
Serena Mauriello (University of Rome, La Sapienza, Italy)
6. Between Horror and Humor: The Demonic Body in Pulci and Boiardo
Giulia M. Cipriani (University College Dublin, Ireland)
7. Shape-shifters: Animal Metamorphoses in Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato
Anna Carocci (Rome Tre University, Italy)
8. The Myth of Medusa's Petrification and the Danger of Oblivion: Literary Reflections from Dante to Giordano Bruno
Eleonora Buonocore (University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
9. The Terrible Tarantula and Its Venom: Two Literary Interpretations from the Baroque Era
Silvia Argurio (Link Campus University, Italy)
10. The Rooster between Earth and Sky: Giacomo Leopardi's Cantico del gallo silvestre
Dario Marcucci (City University of New York, USA)
Product details
| Published | Jan 08 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 224 |
| ISBN | 9781978771260 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 4 b/w illus |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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