Sections offered SPRING 2023:
#31315 |
MASSIMO SCALABRINI |
TuTh 3:00 PM–4:15 PM |
HU 108 |
CLASS NOTES: IUB GenEd A&H credit; COLL (CASE) A&H Breadth of Inquiry credit
Class meets In Person. For more information visit https://covid.iu.edu/learning-modes/index.html
What advice did the “murderous” Machiavelli give to the prince of Florence? Was the Renaissance courtier obliged to obey the prince even when asked to do shameful and dishonorable things? How do we protect ourselves from a cruel tyrant? Should we run as far as we can, or should we fight back? Must we always tell the truth, or can we legitimately conceal our secret thoughts?
These are some of the questions addressed in this course, which focuses on the culture of the Italian Renaissance courts and the modern European national states. We will examine the complex relationship between literary creation and political power in an age that witnessed the origin of modern Absolutism in European history. How is poetry to preserve its freedom as well as its access to truth in the context of absolute and ruthless political power? The dilemmas of caution and resoluteness, simulation and dissimulation, heroism and conformity will be considered as some of the forces shaping early modern European literature.
The goal of the course is to read some of early modern Europe’s most representative works and understand them in their diverse historical contexts. We will analyze the cultural and political circumstances in which these works were produced and read, as well as the thematic and formal features indispensable for an accurate understanding of them. A selection of relevant introductory and critical essays will also be discussed.