Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LyrA (Lyric Authority: Editing and Rewriting Dante’s Lyric Poetry (14th – 16th c.))
Reporting period: 2020-10-01 to 2022-09-30
LyrA has investigated lyric collections as repositories of meaning and larger cultural discourses, thereby situating the reception and institutionalisation of Dante’s figure in a wide and complex context of cultural and textual practices. The project was constructed around four main objectives.
1. LyrA has deepened our understanding of how modern author-figures were born between the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance and how they were used in crafting diverse identities by scribes, editors, readers, intellectuals, and poets. The project has carried out the analysis of several anthologies/miscellanies from the fourteenth, the fifteenth, and the sixteenth century, both manuscripts and the earliest printed editions of Dante’s lyric poetry (produced between 1491 and 1532). It has also explored the relationship between disorganic series and organized sequences of lyric poems in these books.
2. Through the analysis of the books in which they circulated and were read, LyrA has delineated the relationship of Dante’s lyric poetry and its history with Humanism and Renaissance cultural movements, such as in particular the birth of Petrarchism. In order to fulfill this objective, a strand of the project has focused on Venetian Humanism in the fifteenth century. In particular, it has analysed the impact of the the Paduan Humanist Sicco Polenton (1375/76-1446/47), who included Dante in his Scriptores illustres, the first history of Latin literature.
3. Innovatively tying together theoretical concerns and actual books, LyrA has broadened our understanding of the early marketing processes concerning the politics of literature. Embracing codices and printed editions produced in the same period, LyrA has further investigated the links between manuscript culture and the early phase of printing. A strand of the project has focused on annotations on early printed books: a survey of reader notes in copies of the 1527 Giunti anthology of early lyric poetry has shed light on the ways in which Renaissance readers approached Dante and his fellow poets in the first half of the sixteenth century.
4. LyrA has deepened our understanding of the role of different environments, both geographical and social. In particular, building on the studies dedicated to the evident pre-eminence of Florence and Venice, the role of Milan, which had attracted far less attention, has been reconsidered.
1. LyrA has deepened our understanding of how modern author-figures were born between the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance and how they were used in crafting diverse identities by scribes, editors, readers, intellectuals, and poets. The project has carried out the analysis of several anthologies/miscellanies from the fourteenth, the fifteenth, and the sixteenth century, both manuscripts and the earliest printed editions of Dante’s lyric poetry (produced between 1491 and 1532). It has also explored the relationship between disorganic series and organized sequences of lyric poems in these books.
2. Through the analysis of the books in which they circulated and were read, LyrA has delineated the relationship of Dante’s lyric poetry and its history with Humanism and Renaissance cultural movements, such as in particular the birth of Petrarchism. In order to fulfill this objective, a strand of the project has focused on Venetian Humanism in the fifteenth century. In particular, it has analysed the impact of the the Paduan Humanist Sicco Polenton (1375/76-1446/47), who included Dante in his Scriptores illustres, the first history of Latin literature.
3. Innovatively tying together theoretical concerns and actual books, LyrA has broadened our understanding of the early marketing processes concerning the politics of literature. Embracing codices and printed editions produced in the same period, LyrA has further investigated the links between manuscript culture and the early phase of printing. A strand of the project has focused on annotations on early printed books: a survey of reader notes in copies of the 1527 Giunti anthology of early lyric poetry has shed light on the ways in which Renaissance readers approached Dante and his fellow poets in the first half of the sixteenth century.
4. LyrA has deepened our understanding of the role of different environments, both geographical and social. In particular, building on the studies dedicated to the evident pre-eminence of Florence and Venice, the role of Milan, which had attracted far less attention, has been reconsidered.
To optimize the project outcomes, they have been disseminated through international scientific publications and events. Research findings have been published in international peer-reviewed journals in order to have the maximum impact in all academic environments (i.e. widely diffused and recognized in Anglophone and continental European sphere). The researcher published three scientific articles. The researcher participated and organised panels at several international conferences (The Renaissance Society for America Conference, The Society for Italian Studies Conference), workshops and seminars, and has communicated her research to different publics. Within the Research Seminar of the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at Oxford, LyrA sponsored the talk by Eva Del Soldato (Associate Professor of Italian, University of Pennsylvania) “Philosopher of Love: Dante at the Florentine Academy” (23 May 2022).
The project envisaged the organisation of a digital exhibition concerning the history of Dante’s lyric poetry, comprising some of the materials that have been subject of research. The rich holdings of Oxford Libraries allowed for a reconstruction of the main lines of evolution and circulation of Dante’s lyric production up to the contemporary era: Dante’s Lyric Poetry in Oxford. A Digital Exhibition. University of Oxford, Taylor Institution Library – The Bodleian Library (https://www.cabinet.ox.ac.uk/dantes-lyric-poetry-oxford(opens in new window)). The online exhibition has been provided with a catalogue (Banella, Laura. Dante’s Lyric Poetry in Oxford: Catalogue of the Digital Exhibition. Oxford: Taylor Institution Library, 2021), available in print and digital format, and has been accompanied by an event for the general public and a workshop specifically for students. The latter was a organised in virtual format with the help of the Bodleian Libraries on 12 June 2021 and allowed students and colleagues to see and interact with the books, both manuscripts and printed editions, with the help of librarians. The former was a talk held on 1 November 2021 at the Taylor Institution Library within the 2021 Oxford Dante Festival: “Dante at Oxford: the Lyrics and Convivio” (combined event with Professor Nick Havely). The researcher has carried out other public outreach activities: with A. Granacki, “Canto per Canto: Conversations with Dante in our time” collaborative initiative of the Department of Italian Studies and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU, and the Dante Society of America: Purgatorio 23: Revisiting Dante’s Youth: A Literary and Historical Biography (June 2021); a radio interview in the Italian public broadcasting company (RAI) programme “La lingua batte,” episode “Tutti pazzi per Dante” (17 January 2021, available online as a podcast: https://www.raiplayradio.it/programmi/lalinguabatte/archivio/puntate)(opens in new window); and the talk “Dante dentro e fuori la Commedia” for high school students within the series “Nel nome di Dante,” organized by the Comune di Padova – Progetto Giovani (30 March 2021).
The project envisaged the organisation of a digital exhibition concerning the history of Dante’s lyric poetry, comprising some of the materials that have been subject of research. The rich holdings of Oxford Libraries allowed for a reconstruction of the main lines of evolution and circulation of Dante’s lyric production up to the contemporary era: Dante’s Lyric Poetry in Oxford. A Digital Exhibition. University of Oxford, Taylor Institution Library – The Bodleian Library (https://www.cabinet.ox.ac.uk/dantes-lyric-poetry-oxford(opens in new window)). The online exhibition has been provided with a catalogue (Banella, Laura. Dante’s Lyric Poetry in Oxford: Catalogue of the Digital Exhibition. Oxford: Taylor Institution Library, 2021), available in print and digital format, and has been accompanied by an event for the general public and a workshop specifically for students. The latter was a organised in virtual format with the help of the Bodleian Libraries on 12 June 2021 and allowed students and colleagues to see and interact with the books, both manuscripts and printed editions, with the help of librarians. The former was a talk held on 1 November 2021 at the Taylor Institution Library within the 2021 Oxford Dante Festival: “Dante at Oxford: the Lyrics and Convivio” (combined event with Professor Nick Havely). The researcher has carried out other public outreach activities: with A. Granacki, “Canto per Canto: Conversations with Dante in our time” collaborative initiative of the Department of Italian Studies and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU, and the Dante Society of America: Purgatorio 23: Revisiting Dante’s Youth: A Literary and Historical Biography (June 2021); a radio interview in the Italian public broadcasting company (RAI) programme “La lingua batte,” episode “Tutti pazzi per Dante” (17 January 2021, available online as a podcast: https://www.raiplayradio.it/programmi/lalinguabatte/archivio/puntate)(opens in new window); and the talk “Dante dentro e fuori la Commedia” for high school students within the series “Nel nome di Dante,” organized by the Comune di Padova – Progetto Giovani (30 March 2021).
With its focus on Dante as a lyric poet, this project extended and refined knowledge of his role in the shaping of European cultural history. The exchanges between north and central Italy had been explored from a textual criticism perspective, but we simply did not have a comprehensive detailed study of the interactions between these two regions with regard to how Dante became an author, and especially from the point of view of the circulation of his lyric poetry. The manuscripts and early editions that have been explored are known to the scholarly community, but they had never been examined as textual objects. The series in which Dante’s rhymes may be found in codices and printed editions had been used to establish the critical text, but not to explore the cultural history behind the process of institutionalisation of such a corpus in diverse series and sequences, with many other texts and authors.
This project has allowed for a significant expansion of the researcher's agenda and allowed her to consolidate her position as a fully independent researcher, while strengthening her career through the possibility of collaborating with the most advanced research group in her specific field. As a leading research institution, with its opportunities and infrastructure for helping early career researchers, Oxford University gives unprecedented opportunities of learning and networking: participating in existing units will strengthen the applicant’s skills, especially given the fact that the institution’s research on the Italian Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance is one of its strengths. The researcher has terminated the fellowship earlier because she secured a permanent position in the USA.
This project has allowed for a significant expansion of the researcher's agenda and allowed her to consolidate her position as a fully independent researcher, while strengthening her career through the possibility of collaborating with the most advanced research group in her specific field. As a leading research institution, with its opportunities and infrastructure for helping early career researchers, Oxford University gives unprecedented opportunities of learning and networking: participating in existing units will strengthen the applicant’s skills, especially given the fact that the institution’s research on the Italian Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance is one of its strengths. The researcher has terminated the fellowship earlier because she secured a permanent position in the USA.