On the Historical Novel - Hardcover

Manzoni, Alessandro

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803230842 ISBN 13: 9780803230842

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, 1984

Synopsis

Alessandro Manzoni was a giant of nineteenth-century European literature whose I promessi sposi (The Betrothed, 1928) is ranked with War and Peace as marking the summit of the historical novel. Manzoni wrote “Del romanzo storico” (“On the Historical Novel”) during the twenty years he spent revising I promessi sposi. This first English translation of On the Historical Novel reflects the insights of a great craftsman and the misgivings of a profound thinker. It brings up to the nineteenth century the long war between poetry and history, tracing the idea of the historical novel from its origins in classical antiquity. It declares the historical novel—and presumably I promessi sposi itself—dead as a genre. Or perhaps it justifies I promessi sposi as the climax of a genre and the end of a stage of human consciousness. Its importance lies both in its prospective and in its retrospective contributions to literary debate.

About this title

About the Author:

Sandra Bermann is a professor of comparative literature at Princeton University and the author of The Sonnet over Time: A Study in the Sonnets of Petrarch, Shakespeare, and Baudelaire. Her introduction illuminates Manzoni’s career and his historical and contemporary significance. Manzoni’s original notes are retained and expanded, and additional notes are supplied for present-day readers.

Language Notes:

Text: English, Italian (translation)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0803230842
• ISBN 13: 9780803230842
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 134