Anticlassicisms in the Cinquecento

Italian literature of the sixteenth-century often described as Renaissance classicism is genuinely marked by its adherence to at least one of two literary models that are deemed classical: first, the literature of classical antiquity; and second, the classics of fourteenth-century Italian literature. However, this classicism-oriented focus on the Cinquecento established both in research papers and in overall literary- and cultural-historical accounts proves to be problematic. It often ignores the equally relevant literary countertendencies, or anticlassicisms that explicitly and implicitly contradict, subvert, or destabilize this idealised and (rather) limited perspective on Italian literature of the era. The research project Anticlassicisms in the Cinquecento proposed by German and Austrian specialists in the field, Prof. Dr. Marc Föcking (Hamburg), Univ.-Prof. Dr. Susanne Friede (Klagenfurt), Prof. Dr. Florian Mehltretter (München) and PD Dr. Angela Oster (München), will undertake comprehensive topological field studies embracing several different literary genres, that will allow for a systematic analysis as to the scope and functions of these anticlassicisms. Additionally, the group plans to publish both a printed and digital (open-access) handbook that will offer a conceptual demonstration of the many aspects of these anticlassicisms. In doing so, the project will deliver not only a more comprehensive, but a thoroughly novel perspective on Italian Renaissance literature as a whole.

No additional funding sources recorded.