Epic as Translation: From Song to Text, and Back Again

Examines practices of translation, imitation, reception, and adaptation between epic poetry and related literary and performance genres (e.g., chivalric romance, Baroque tragedy, and early opera). Navigates the histories of epic's local and global resonances, from antiquity to early modern Europe. Studies the representations of cultural unity and difference, intertextuality and intermediality, and the changing audiences between literature and performance. Enhanced attention to questions and transgressions of linguistic and national 'origins' between genre theory and practice. Materials include works by Virgil, Petrarch, Ariosto, Tasso, Camões, Corneille, Monteverdi, Lully, and Purcell.