For a History of the Idea of Poetry. Poetry and Contingency in the Italian Middle Ages

Weekly internal seminar by Sonia Gentili, Professor of Italian Literature (Sapienza Università di Roma), multi-awarded writer, and 2021-2022 Paris IAS Fellow.

Communication discussed by Laurent Baggioni, professeur de Littérature italienne du Moyen Âge à l'Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, responsable du Centre d'études et de recherches sur la littérature italienne du Moyen Âge (Cerlim).

Presentation

Is it possible to write a history of ideas that deals with poetry ? This project aims to respond to this question, while focusing on the Italian domain. It will reconstruct the medieval birth and evolution of perennial and nonetheless conflicting ideas on poetry bringing to light the roots of long-standing ideas on poetry still alive today, crossing multiple discourses (philosophy, science, literature) and developing its specific epistemic trajectories.