TrAdE-Pic - Translate and Adapt an Erotic Story in the Age of Printing - The Vernacular Tradition of Piccolomini’s Historia de Duobus Amantibus. Study and Critical Editions of the French and Italian Prosimetra

ID Call: HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01 MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships

Sapienza's role in the project: Host Institution

Supervisor: Gioia Paradisi

Fellow: Pauline Otzenberger

Department: European, American and Intercultural Studies

Project start date​​​​​​​: October 1, 2024

Project end date: September 30, 2026

Abstract:

The project aims to examine the vernacular tradition of the 'Historia de Duobus Amantibus', written in Latin in 1444 by Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, and to edit the French and Italian prosimeters. The 'Historia' is an example of literary and commercial success in the 15th-16th centuries: the novella was translated into many languages and circulated widely throughout Europe, in both Latin and vernacular versions. The research will focus mainly on French and Italian prosimeters.

They will be studied in a comparative manner, taking into consideration cultural and bookish history, the impact of new readers, translation and rewriting processes, and changes in the representation of characters (particularly women). The research will provide the first critical editions of these translations, the first comprehensive analysis and comparative study of all texts.