Boccaccio - A Biography

A comprehensive biography of the celebrated author of the Decameron, a medieval masterpiece written in early Italian.Boccaccio (1313-75) stands with Dante and Petrarch as one of the "Three Crowns" of Italian letters, a trio of writers who shaped the history of humanism, literature, and poetry. In this book, Dante's award-winning biographer, Marco Santagata, takes up the moving life and legacy of Boccaccio-whose unflinching story of a pandemic-era community (the Decameron) created new possibilities for vernacular Italian prose.This landmark biography sheds new light on Boccaccio's life-his family, friends, and foes, his aspirations, fears, and frustrations-and it shows how he was affected by transformations in Italian society. It also charts the influences that shaped Boccaccio's understanding of literature: what kinds of stories it could tell and what kinds of characters it could depict; and, perhaps most importantly, what role art could play in a changing world. An insightful portrait of one of literature's most important figures, this book promises to be the definitive biography of Boccaccio for many years to come.

Product details

• Authors: Marco Santagata
• Assisted by: Emlyn Eisenach (Translation)
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 28.04.2025
• EAN: 9780226820941
• ISBN: 978-0-226-82094-1
• No. of pages: 424
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary Figures, Biography: general, LITERARY CRITICISM / Medieval, LITERARY CRITICISM / European / Italian, Italy, Biography: writers, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval