Boccaccio's Women

Italian 537 - Fall, 2002

Thurs., 2-4, Williams 29

Professor Victoria Kirkham

534 Williams Hall

Office hours: Tues. 4-5; Thurs. 11-12

vkirkham@sas.upenn.edu

215-898-6028

Sept. 5. Intro. to course. Discussion of Decameron Proem (handout).

Sept. 12. Decameron, Intro. and Day I

Additional reading: Boccaccio's "Life," Ch. 2 of Bergin, Boccaccio; Kirkham, "Boccaccio's Dedication to Ladies in Love," in The Sign of Reason in Boccaccio's Fiction

Responses:

--I, 5

--I, 10

Sept.19. Decameron, Day II (5, 7, 10); Day III (Intro., 1, 9, 10)

Additional reading: Kirkham, "Love's Labors Rewarded and Paradise Lost (Dec. III, 10," in The Sign of Reason

Responses:

--II, 7

--III, 10

Sept. 26. Decameron, Day IV (Intro., 1, 5, 8); Day V (1, 8, 10)

Additional reading: Kirkham, "The Word, the Flesh, and the Decameron," in The Sign of Reason

Responses:

-- IV, 1

-- V, 1

Oct. 3. Decameron, Day VI (1, 7); Day VII (2, 7); Day VIII (3, 7).

Reading: Kirkham, "An Allegorically Tempered Decameron," in The Sign of Reason

Responses:

--VI, 7

--VIII,7

Oct. 10. Decameron Day IX (2, 3, 9); Day X (8, 10); Author's Conclusion

Responses:

--X, 10

--Kirkham, "The Last Tale in the Decameron," in The Sign of Reason in Boccaccio's Fiction.

Oct. 17. "The Little Decameron." Ameto (Comedia delle ninfe fiorentine)

Reading: Smarr, xxx, in Boccaccio and Fiammetta; Kirkham, "A New Flame," in The Sign of Reason

Midterm paper: Ideals of Female Beauty

Oct. 24. Amorosa visione.

Reading: Kirkham, "Amorous Vision, Scholastic Vistas," in The Sign of Reason in Boccaccio's Fiction; Kirkham typescript, "Virgils in Skirts".

Responses:

--Fiammetta in Ameto

--Fiammetta in the Amorosa visione

Oct. 31. Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta (Amorous Fiammetta)

Reading: Hollander, xxx, in Boccaccio's Two Venuses

Nov. 7. Corbaccio. The misogynistic tradition.

Reading: Introduction to the text by Cassell (Corbaccio, Univ. of Illinois, 1978); Marcus, xxx, Stanford Italian Review

Response: "Woman as Sewer"

Nov. 14. Famous Women (De mulieribus claris). Chs. 1-51.

Response: "Eve." Reporter to present also "Adam and Eve" from De casibus virorum illustrium.

Nov. 21. Famous Women. Chs. 52-Conclusion.

Response: articles by Philippy, xxx??? Benson???

Nov. 28. Thanksgiving

Dec. 5. Famous Women (De mulieribus claris). Chs. 52-Conclusion.

Second half of class: Hour Exam

Requirements:

1. Regular attendance, preparation, and participation in class discussion.

2. Three 7-min. class reports.

3. An hour exam to cover all readings on syllabus, December 5.

4. A final paper (15-20 pp.@ 250 words/page), due in my box in 521 Williams by 5 PM, Tues., Dec. 17. Possible topics might be: a work of your choice other than those we have read with emphasis on the feminine or gender issues; a focus on a particular category of women: e.g., the Amazons (cf. Teseida); or on mythological women, e.g., the goddess Diana; the goddess Venus (cf. Diana's Hunt, Filocolo, Genealogies of the Gentile Gods); Boccaccio's mistress Fiammetta; allegorical females; literary females (e.g., Boccaccio's two Dido's); characters created by Boccaccio (e.g., patient Griselda).

Required texts:

Boccaccio, Giovanni. Diana's Hunt. Caccia di Diana. Boccaccio's First Fiction. Edited by Antony K. Cassell and Victoria Kirkham. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991. Hardcover. ISBN: 0-8122-8219-1. [Amazon lists it discounted at $27.97] 8 copies.

------. Amorosa visione. Milan: MONDADORI. Paperback. ISBN: 8804481404. [Schoenhof's Foreign Books list price $18.95.] 6 copies.

------. Elegia di madonna Fiammetta. Corbaccio, ed. Francesco Erbani. Milan: Garzanti, 1988 paperback. ISBN: 8811583586. [Schoenhof's lists at $15.95.] 6 copies.

------. The Elegy of Lady Fiammetta, trans. Causa-Steindler and Murch. Univ. of Chicago. Paperback. ISBN: 0226062767. [Amazon lists at 14.95.] 4 copies

------. Decameron, ed. Cesare Segre. Milan: Mursia, 1966. ISBN: 8842504211 [Scheonhof's lists at $18.95.] 6 copies

------. Decameron. trans. G. H. McWilliam (Penguin, most recent). [Amazon lists at $11.16.] 4 copies

------. The Corbaccio or the Labyrinth of Love, trans. Anthony K. Cassell. Pegasus Paperbooks, 1993. [Amazon List Price: $10.95.] 4 copies

------. Famous Women, ed. and trans. Virginia Brown. I Tatti Renaissance Library. Harvard Univ. Press, 2001.Hardcover. ISBN 0-674-00347--0. [Amazon lists at 29.95.] 10 copies

Kirkham, Victoria. The Sign of Reason in Boccaccio's Fiction. Florence: Olschki, 1993. ISBN 88-222-4111-8. Paperback. 8 copies.

Bulkpack with selections from Filocolo, Ameto, Genealogie deorum gentilium.

On reserve in the library:

The Amorosa visione in English w/ facing text in Italian, edited and translated by Robert Hollander et al. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 1986, is prohibitive--about $110. It will be available on reserve in library.

Kirkham on Boccaccio Chianti.

------. Fabulous Vernacular. Boccaccio's Filocolo and the Art of Medieval Fiction. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001.

////////// Amorosa visione.

Reading

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