Petrarch and Global Petrarchism(s)

Catalog description

This seminar will explore the dynamic oeuvre of Francesco Petrarca. Alongside excerpts from Petrarch’s Latin works spanning poetry to letters, we will prioritize the Canzoniere, studying it in dialogue with critical theory and Petrarch’s metaliterary comments about his role as poet. To better understand the distinct nature of Petrarch’s vernacular poetry, we will also read his Trionfi and Rime disperse. We will chart how his lyric innovations differently negotiated genre and scope; responded to earlier poetic traditions; and established the pattern for the vibrant wave of Petrarchism that would indelibly mark Renaissance poetics. To this end, we will consider the global reach of Petrarchism throughout early modern France, Italy, Spain, England, and the Americas. The seminar will culminate in an examination of Petrarchism’s lasting imprint--evidenced in the works of a diverse array of poets from the 19th-21st centuries.