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5. The theory of fabula in Castravilla’s Discourse against Dante in the context of sixteenth-century Italian Aristotelianism (OPEN ACCESS)

The theory of fabula in Castravilla’s Discourse against Dante in the context of sixteenth-century Italian Aristotelianism (OPEN ACCESS)

Lozinskaya E.V.

Lozinskaya Evgeniya Valentinovna – Senior Researcher of the Department of Literary Studies, INION RAN, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: 0000-0001-8521-8583

Abstract

The article uses Castravillas Discourse in which the imperfection of Dante’s Comedy is proved and against the Dialogue on the Languages of Varca (c. 1572) to examine the key elements of the Aristotelian theory of fabula, which posed difficulties to theorists in the sixteenth century. The statements on fabula made with regard to Dante’s Comedy are compared with the theses of the commentaries to the Poetics and other theoretical treatises. Three sets of problems arising from the superimposition of the Poetics on the preceding Italian theory of poetry are identified. The first is connected with the concept of verisimilitude, the second – with the idea of the unity of the fabula and the understanding of the episode, the third – with the concept of imitation of action.

Keywords

poetry; Aristotle Poetics; Italian Renaissance literary theory; fabula; unity; episode; imitation of action.

For citing: Lozinskaya E.V. The theory of fabula in Castravilla’s Discourse against Dante in the context of sixteenth-century Italian Aristotelianism. Humanitarian aspects. Moscow: INION RAN. Vol. 3(59). Р. 128-149. DOI: 10.31249/chel/2024.03.09

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