The Epic Rhetoric of Tasso: Theory and Practice / Edition 1

by Maggie Gunsberg

Overview

Maggie Gunsberg examines the "poetica" and "poesia" of Tasso in the context of the historical and cultural climate in which he lived. His epic theory is explored from the point of view of three rhetorical faculties current in 16th-century poetics: "inventio", "dispositio" and "elocutio". His discussion of "dispositio" reveals a fascinating similarity with ideas on art expressed by the Russian Formalists in the 1920s, a coincidence that can be attributed to the lasting influence of Aristotelian writings on plot. In her textual analysis of "Gerusalemme liberata", Dr. Gunsberg uses modern methodologies drawing on Freud, Lacan and the ideology of body language to develop new ways of reading the epic text. The two parts of this study, dealing with Tasso's theory and practice respectively, offer complementary aproaches that together illuminate his epic contribution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781900755054
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/01/1998
Series:	Legenda Main Series
Pages:	253
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Maggie Gunsberg is the author of Patriarchal Representations: Gender and Discourse in Pirandellois Theatre, Gender and the Italian Stage: from the Renaissance to the Present, and The Epic Rhetoric of Tasso: Theory and Practice, and is currently working on a book entitled Bellissima: Gender, Genre and Italian Cinema. She is Professor of Italian at the University of Manchester.

Table of Contents

Introduction PART I Poetica: Tasso’s Epic Theory and the Rhetorical Tradition 1 Inventio 2 Dispositio 3 Elocutio PART II Poesia: Rhetorical Practice in the Gerusalemme liberate 4 Negation 5 The Mirror Episode 6 The Ideology of the Look