InProV · An inventory of the prosimetra in vulgar tongue in the early centuries of Italian Literature (1250-1500)

My research project aims to provide an inventory of the prosimetra written in volgar tongue (InProV) from the origins of Italian literature to the end of the fifteenth century (1250-1500). There exists an abundance of critical bibliography on specific major works written in prosimetrum, from Dante’s Vita Nova to Sannazaro’s Arcadia. However, this peculiar form consisting of prose and metre, which has customarily received cursory treatment in the history of Italian literature, appears only recently to have attracted scholarly attention (cf. Il prosimetro nella letteratura italiana, eds Comboni and Di Ricco, Trento 2000). Yet a thorough investigation resulting in a detailed inventory of the extant texts has not hitherto been attempted. In keeping with other works recently published (such as the Atlante dei canzonieri in volgare del Quattrocento, eds Comboni and Zanato, Florence 2017), the inventory will provide a useful instrument to gain a deeper understanding of the employment of the prosimetrum in the early Italian literary tradition when its use represented a third alternative to the literature either in verse or in prose before evolving into an imitative expedient or a literary exercise. The prosimetra included in the inventory will be examined according to specific criteria concerning textual tradition, typology (lyric, pastoral, philosophical, etc.), metre and subject-matter. The inventory will be published as a hard-copy and on-line, thus enabling researchers in different disciplines (Italian literature, comparative studies, philology, linguistics) to have easy access to extensive information on the prosimetra. Further, it will be possible to update the on-line version in accordance with potential new research findings in this field. The fellowship will give me the opportunity to bolster my academic career and to acquire new competencies in the analysis of early literary texts under the supervision of high-profile scholars in Renaissance studies.