Prose

Brian Richardson

doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521434928.012

11 - Prose

from The Cinquecento

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008

Brian Richardson

Edited by

Peter Brand and

Lino Pertile

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Peter Brand: Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Lino Pertile: Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts

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Summary

The forms of literary prose

The expansion of the vernacular

In Cinquecento Italy the vernacular finally asserted itself alongside Latin as a widely used medium for literary prose. Confidence in the vernacular grew as it was cultivated by leading literary figures. Its use was further encouraged by the increase in the number and output of printing presses: this development made more easily accessible the texts which were regarded as models of good usage, and it provided new opportunities for writers of widely differing social and geographical origins to gain fame and fortune from work aimed at readership more varied than that of the age of manuscripts. Vernacular prose was used for all types of subject matter – from fictional narrative to the study of politics, history, social and personal relationships, art, and the vernacular language itself – and for an increasing number of translations from Greek and Latin. As these new horizons were opened up, prose style became more varied. Some writers were indebted to the model of Trecento Tuscan prose; others developed a more agile, informal manner which set out at times to capture the flavour of speech. Prose writing was, however, still by tradition principally the preserve of men, in contrast to lyric poetry, in which women were increasingly finding a voice.

The flourishing of prose was accompanied by a process of standardisation of the literary language during the first half of the century. Around 1500 almost all authors from outside Tuscany were using a type of vernacular which varied to some extent from region to region, indeed from author to author. They owed much to the stable model of the great Trecento Tuscan writers, particularly Boccaccio, but they introduced elements of Latin spelling, syntax and lexis in order to lend greater dignity to the younger language. They were also influenced by the usage of their own region, especially when this usage coincided with Latin spelling.

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge History of Italian Literature , pp. 179 - 232

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521434928.012 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 1997

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