Italian literature
Petrarch's literary heritage
Italian literature encompasses the written works produced in the Italian language, from Dante's medieval poetry through Renaissance masters like Petrarch and Boccaccio to modern novelists like Calvino and Ferrante.
The tradition is foundational to Western literature, establishing forms like the sonnet and pioneering vernacular writing when Latin dominated educated discourse.
She's taking a course in Italian literature next semester.
Italian epic poet
- PetrarchMedieval Italian lyric poet
- BoccaccioItalian prose master
- DecameronHundred tales in ten days
- Divine ComedyItalian allegorical verse trilogy
Canzoniere · Inferno · Paradiso · Machiavelli · Ariosto · Allegory · Humanism
- chivalryKnightly code of honor
- heroicExceptionally brave and noble
- legendaryFamous beyond ordinary measure
- questSeeking journey for something
Ariosto · romance · Charlemagne · paladins · Angelica · ottava rima · knightly · adventure
Dante
Italian epic poet
Divine Comedy · Canzoniere · Inferno · Paradiso · Machiavelli · Ariosto · Allegory · Humanism
Orlando Furioso
- chivalryKnightly code of honor
- heroicExceptionally brave and noble
- legendaryFamous beyond ordinary measure
Ariosto · quest · romance · Charlemagne · paladins · Angelica · ottava rima · knightly · adventure · Saracens
sonnet
Fourteen-line metered poem
rhyme · ottava rima · canzone · lyric · ode · quatrain · couplet · sestina · hendecasyllable · elegy
Eco
Italian literary surname
- MoraviaCentral European historical region
tragedy
Disastrous or sorrowful event
- dramaTheatrical art or turmoil
- playwrightAuthor of stage dramas
- harlequinMasked comic servant character
pantomime · mask · farce · buffoon · improvisation · dialogue · monologue · costume · troupe · stock characters
- ItalyRome, Venice, Milan, Florence, Naples
- world literatureFrench novels, Russian novels, Japanese fiction, translated works, British novels
- Italian StudiesDante, Machiavelli, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Michelangelo
- Literary ClassicsFaust, Divine Comedy, Inferno, Paradiso, epic poetry
- Mediterranean LiteratureHomer, Virgil, Dante, Cervantes, Odyssey
- Romance LiteratureLes Miserables, The Divine Comedy, Madame Bovary, Don Quixote, Candide
Italian literatureAfrican literature
Works from the continent
French literature · Spanish literature · German literature · English literature · Russian literature
Italian literatureoral tradition
Culture passed by speech
folk tales · oral poetry · storytelling · griots · spoken word
literature, literary, literate, literacy, illiterate, Italian, Italians, literatures, literalism