How Stories are Told: from Arabian Nights to Boccaccio and Shakespeare

Catalog description

Taking a comparative approach, this course explores the cultural and literal dynamics of multiple storytelling traditions across the world through the inter-textual and contextual analysis of major authors such Ovid, Chaucer, and Christine de Pizan. With an emphasis on reception studies, the course focuses on the case of Giovanni Boccaccio's legacy up to the early modern period. Students from disciplinary fields other than Italian Studies are especially welcome. All the class lectures and readings will be in English.