The Decameron Eighth Day in Perspective

by William Robins (Editor)

Overview

Divided into ten days of ten novellas each, Boccaccio’s Decameron is one of the literary gems of the fourteenth century. The Decameron Eighth Day in Perspective is an interpretive guide to the stories of the text’s Day Eight – a day dedicated to tales of tricks and practical jokes. By drawing on literary precursors such as fabliaux, epic, philosophy, exempla, Dante’s Commedia, and scripture, and by meditating on the dynamics of civic engagement in fourteenth-century Florence, Boccaccio develops in these stories of jests a self-consciously literary representation of the Florentine social imaginary.

The essays in this volume, all written by prominent scholars, survey previous scholarship and open up new cultural and historical perspectives on Boccaccio’s sophisticated art of storytelling. They analyze both the literary sources that Boccaccio’s comic narratives transform, as well as the political, legal, and ethical contexts with which they engage. Each contributor tackles a single tale, yet their essays also register major themes and concerns that recur throughout Day Eight, allowing for close connections among the essays.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487506902
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	07/09/2020
Series:	Toronto Italian Studies
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.75(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

William Robins is president of Victoria University and associate professor of English and Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto.

Table of Contents

Introduction
William Robins

1. The Tale of Gulfardo and Ambruogia (Decameron VIII.1)
K.P. Clarke

2. Obscene Exchanges (Decameron VIII.2)
Maggie Fritz-Morkin

3. The Artist and the Police: Calandrino’s Invisibility and the Legal Fictions of Decameron VIII.3
Justin Steinberg

4. Monna Piccarda, Ciutazza, and the Provost of Fiesole: An Absence of Beauty (Decameron VIII.4)
Katherine A. Brown

5. The Jokesters and the Judge (Decameron VIII.5)
William Robins and Leah Faibisoff

6. The Tale of Calandrino and the Stolen Pig (Decameron VIII.6)
Rhiannon Daniels

7. The Scholar and the Widow: Corrupt Appetite and Moral Failure in Society’s Intellectual Elite (Decameron VIII.7)
Teodolinda Barolini

8. Doing Unto Others, or Sienese Polyamory (Decameron VIII.8)
Olivia Holmes

9. The Three Faults of Master Simone (Decameron VIII.9)
Elisa Brilli

10. The Tale of Salabaetto and Iancofiore (Decameron VIII.10)
Roberta Morosini

Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

Martin Eisner

"The Decameron Eighth Day in Perspective offers a serious advance in state-of-the-art research. Given the challenges of the tales of trickery in Day Eight, this is no small accomplishment. Almost all of the contributors offer intriguing new perspectives on stories that, in the wake of these analyses, should receive more critical attention. Situating the work in historical contexts, these essays provide these stories new and richer meanings, and encompass the full range of Boccaccio's world: legal, philosophical, social, Biblical, literary, mercantile. The strong scholarship will help other scholars and students to understand the complexities of Boccaccio and his world."

Kristina Marie Olson

"This collection of fine essays breaks new ground in our critical understanding of the tales belonging to Day Eight in the Decameron. The contributions are independently rigorous and original and many will serve as the definitive treatments of these individual stories. Several of the essays draw upon fields outside of literary studies, such as legal and judicial history, social history, visual arts, and even geography. As a result, readers will have a new appreciation for the importance of these tales from a multidisciplinary perspective."

Editorial Reviews

"For each novella, the reader will find both a good summary of the precedent critical literature and new and innovative interpretations of the role of the beffa within Decameron’s eighth day and in the context of the two precedent days of narration."

—Nicola Esposito, PhD Candidate, University of Notre Dame, Annali d’italianistica

"This collection of fine essays breaks new ground in our critical understanding of the tales belonging to Day Eight in the Decameron. The contributions are independently rigorous and original and many will serve as the definitive treatments of these individual stories. Several of the essays draw upon fields outside of literary studies, such as legal and judicial history, social history, visual arts, and even geography. As a result, readers will have a new appreciation for the importance of these tales from a multidisciplinary perspective."

—Kristina Marie Olson, Department of Modern and Classical Languages, George Mason University

" The Decameron Eighth Day in Perspective offers a serious advance in state-of-the-art research. Given the challenges of the tales of trickery in Day Eight, this is no small accomplishment. Almost all of the contributors offer intriguing new perspectives on stories that, in the wake of these analyses, should receive more critical attention. Situating the work in historical contexts, these essays provide these stories new and richer meanings, and encompass the full range of Boccaccio’s world: legal, philosophical, social, Biblical, literary, mercantile. The strong scholarship will help other scholars and students to understand the complexities of Boccaccio and his world."

—Martin Eisner, Department of Romance Studies, Duke University

From the Publisher

"For each novella, the reader will find both a good summary of the precedent critical literature and new and innovative interpretations of the role of the beffa within Decameron's eighth day and in the context of the two precedent days of narration."

Annali d'italianistica - Nicola Esposito