Boccaccio and the Consolation of Literature

Download or read book Boccaccio and the Consolation of Literature written by Gur Zak and published by Studies and Texts. This book was released on 2022-08-15 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is the first sustained study of Boccaccio's consoling fictions as well as his reflections on the way literature can, and should, offer solace. It analyzes the affective, exemplary, and cognitive modes of consolation that mark the poet's works; but it also underlines the critical dialogue with the ancient and medieval traditions Boccaccio inherits. The limits of Stoic, Boethian, and Dantesque views of consolation are laid bare as Boccaccio fashions a new vision of consolatio for the later Middle Ages.